Autumn Update

Well, the wet season sure was a wet one! We've had a surprisingly sunny start to Autumn, usually it begins to drizzle by now... They don't call this the Wet Tropics for nothing!

We've finally finished the second greenhouse. It has four circular raised beds and two rectangular beds. One circular bed was full of cherry tomatoes, so I simply mulched, fed and staked these as they're a terrific salad addition and so much easier to grow that large tomatoes. I planted a few onions into one side of the tomato bed for companion planting reasons, and to utilise the space. In the other three round beds I have seedlings of: peas, bush beans, broccoli (2 types), carrots, cabbage, kale, rhubarb, beetroot, onions, green button squash, lettuce, broad beans, bok choy and more. In the lower, rectangular beds I have seed potatoes in place.


The first greenhouse, affectionately known as "the jungle garden" had a clean up and is less jungle-like than usual. There are still rambling yam and sweet potato vines, pumpkins climbing the outer walls, a myriad of experiments like rice and water chestnuts in tubs, the odd assortment of potted trees and herbs, cuttings in wine and tomato puree bottles crowding one corner, boxes and pots and pieces of art... The giant Queensland Arrowroot, Tahitian Spinach and Golden Yam leaves add to the jungle atmosphere and provide ample chop-and-drop mulch. Amongst the madness I've planted Mizuna, eggplant, onions, lettuce, cucumbers, beans, bok choy, shallots, yellow button squash, cabbages and more. I have four round beds and a long, low bed in this greenhouse, as well as the many pots and plots on the ground.


So right now we're harvesting a few greens, dozens of pumpkins, some chokos, many kilograms of macadamia nuts, yellow guavas, the odd lemon or mulberry from the orchard, plenty of eggs (chicken and duck!) and the usual herbs, ginger and other yumminess. But hopefully within weeks many of the seedlings mentioned above will be maturing and we'll aim for substantial daily harvests. I've already sowed the next lot of seeds, so am expecting that the sun will continue to shine and our crops will be on the table in no time!