Aquaponics is Fun

Well..... it lasted about 15 minutes anyway....Last 2 days have been fairly dry but now the Washing machine has thrown a tizzy fit so I cant take advantage of the few sunny periods we have been having until it gets fixed... Such is....

 Havent been out in the veggie patch other than squishing the White Butterfly eggs & tending the Chookies.... I have been slack & not made up the Decoy butterflies or fruit fly traps as of yet... Was busy last week with school reports & curriculum writing for the Moo... All reports have been posted to the Home Ed unit & next years Curriculum for the Moo has been sorted.... Just need to do up Koos application for starting grade 1 now... 3 days of no school & they are already
B O R E D !!! Might get the girls to make some decoys up to keep them occupied...


The plants...
The Bush beans are going great guns as you can see from the flowers in the pic to the Left... We are getting a few plants with beans that are "browning off" as soon as the beans start to form...I have Googled & checked up in our books but havent come across the cause as of yet...

A bit of pruning has taken place over the last few days.. The Pumpkin has been cut back to 3 leaders.... The tomatoes in the bed to the left got some manky looking shoots trimmed as well.. The bottom leaders are growing more victoriously as well as looking a lot healthier so will let them become the dominant leaders...

The Kohl Rabi (Left) is coming on great as is the cucumbers at last... A dried bean was found on one of the paths so B? popped the seeds into the Cucumber bed & they all sprouted within 5 days... I am itching to harvest the carrots so I can plant some more Beans...
The Turmeric, & Ginger are loving the warmer weather... Both Barrels have new sprouts... The Mini Romas are giving us about 2-3 Kg per week... The poor Golden Nugget in the left of the shot has had its day I think... Time to dig through some compost & plant some Melons...Hopefully the powdery mildew wont get them...
The Zucchinis were pulled out & Cape Gooseberries (Left) were planted in the barrels as well as 2 into the Eggplant bed (Bed #4)... Just to much powdery mildew with all this damp weather to keep them...
The Silverbeet seed head (Right) is rather impressive... Really want it to hurry up & produce seed so we can get our first saved generation in the ground...


Shots of the Garden...
Here is a few shots of the garden & gnome taken from opposite corners...
Feels great to sit amongst all the greenery.... Well, it would do if it stayed dry long enough....




Wild Life....

Got a good shot of a juvenile Kingfisher having a snack... We have seen 4 fly around together so this years clutch must be doing alright..
We have also had a couple of visits from 2 Channel-billed Cuckoos...
I have now found the culprit behind this song...


Weekly Harvest...
Orange Chillies, Shallots, Baby Carrots, MORE Mini Roma Tomatos, Strawberries, Basil, Sage, Lemongrass, Kaffir Leaves, Thyme, Mint, Beans, Beetroot leaves, Eggplants, Silverbeet, some Lettuce found hiding under the Carrot leaves & 3 eggs a day...

Rainfall...
Since the last post on Nov 28th we have had 68mm of rain, with 57.8mm falling in the past 7 days... More is on the way as those on the eastern seaboard would be aware of by now...

Thats about it until the weekend when I will update on the Worms, Decoys & traps...
Have a great one all....
: )»