This week’s Over the Fence comes from the cabin of my windrower where I am windrowing canola. This activity will keep me busy for several weeks.
Surprisingly canola has stood up to the dry conditions well and I am hopeful of a pleasant surprise when the headers arrive in a
week’s time.
Hay is also finally going into a bale and it will be interesting to see what the quality is like after recent rain events. Expect lots more activity on farms over the next month before everything starts to wind down.
Good luck and giddy up.
Getting dirty with the Composta
After many letters, phone calls, emails, etc., the Composta is back by popular demand with another gardening update. Well that, and everyone is sick of reading about what Parks did on his latest holiday.
Spring has sprung and summer is just around the corner and that means it is time to get jiggy in the garden. Soil temperature is creeping up so, if you have not already, get your tomatoes into your well-prepared site, also cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini, melons, etc. can also go in – seed or seedlings.
Water in well when transplanting and protect from snails and slugs for the first couple weeks at least. Use plenty of mulch, you will save heaps on watering.
You can also put in summer climbing beans, cabbage, lettuce, beetroot, leeks, lettuce, chilli and capsicum.
Some people have already sown their sweetcorn but I like to wait until the end of November before sowing the seed into a well-prepared seed bed with plenty of sheep manure.
Sow into a block rather than a single line, this will help heaps with pollination. Aphid season is upon us and you can use two different strategies to keep the numbers down.
Either go the natural way and let the beneficial predators control them, or pull out every insecticide you have in the chemical shed and nuke the shit out of them.
I go the latter because I do not have time to wash leaves with soapy water and other unicorn remedies. Now that the soil has warmed it is also time to get your citrus trees in – once again water in well and mulch, mulch, mulch.
Check roses weekly for aphids and blackspot, and treat accordingly. Keep the fruit trees, vegetable garden and lawn well-watered, moist but not wet, and you will have plenty of food available for when the war breaks out.
Remember to check out the Composta website for all your gardening merchandise, just in time for Christmas, and you will be the coolest gardener in the street.
Composta out.
