Chook proof vegies

I've got a good vegie patch by the back of the house. It's close to the kitchen and gets plenty of north sun. The soil's getting better in it after repeated additions of gypsum and compost and seedlings seem to grow quite well in it. The chooks have scratched around and turned the soil nicely for me. Unfortunately this turning also destroys any seedlings I plant in the patch. The chooks also recently ate all of my beautiful pak choy.

I started by making mouse wire cages to go over each of the seedlings I planted but it really spoiled the look of the patch and of my whole back yard. Last week, I replaced the wire cages with bird netting hung over my old tent poles. I ran thin strips of wood along the ground with cup hooks in it to hold the netting down. This way I can unhook it from the bottom and get access to any side of the patch. So far, the chooks haven't found a way in and I think it looks much better than my wire cloche.

Garden Blog

Yesterday I had my last session with Cancer Care's "Seeds for Health" course. Julian from Composting SA came and talked about keeping a journal of your gardening. He finds his journal valuable since he can look back on it and see what he planted last year and how long it took to grow. I thought a blog was a good place to keep mine so here it is!

It will be interesting to see if I manage to keep it up. (I can imagine myself doing one or 2 good entries then forgetting to continue!) At least some is better than none.

All enthused after the course yesterday, I planted some cuttings:
THE BASIL
I took 3 cuttings of the perennial basil from Fern Ave and put one in a glass on the kitchen window sill, one in a pot and one in the ground to see which will take. (I tried a much smaller cutting from the same bush a couple of weeks ago but it shrivelled up and died.)

The basil in the ground was planted in an old plastic pot with a slit down the side and the bottom cut out. I first started trying this a few months ago before the rain started. I used the pot to keep the water by the plant. Even though I don't need to worry about water now, I've found it is a good way to keep the weeds out, make sure the plant is established in good soil and doesn't get trampled by me or the chooks since you can see the pot rim. In this pot, I used old cheap potting mix and some Dynamic Lifter. (Julian would be horrified!)

The other cuttings I planted were all in pots. There were a couple of daisies and a geranium I picked from the side of the road as well as a cactus, mint and sage from Fern Ave.