Week Four- First Pickings

Now, the garden has been growing for almost a month, and we're seeing the first pickings - or at least the local possum is! It has taken a liking to Mizuna, young radish leaves and the first leaf of a sprouting bean. The radish bulbs are starting to swell, and we did get some parsley this week.

We have caged our bush peas and beans. One other little sideline has been comparing the development of bush-planted and seedling-planted peas, the ones grown from seeds (on left) are much stronger.

The no-dig garden now has baby spinach planted. The spring onions have got over transplant shock remarkably well, and the garden only awaits the tomatoes and capsicums seedlings that are being grown in the laundry.

Next week should see more changes with an animal-proof fence going around the garden (but it won't stop the possum)

Week three

Week Three - The greening continues

We have transplanted some peas and beans into the garden this week, thinking the seeds had failed to germinate. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a couple of days later, some seeds started to push through. The peas come up like a spear, the beans looking as if the shell of the seed is used as a crash helmet to push through the soil. The carrots have started to appear now, too.

The first plants were put in the no-dig garden a week ago, with a second planting of peas also put in. In the laundry, we have seen the first two tomato seeds germinate. We have planted a variety of herbs in this bed, and also have planted some red onions, who are currently suffering due to their planting mix not really attaching to their roots.

I do like the way this garden self-mulches, but it does mean you can only plant seedlings.

Just a picture of the herb tubs (now cleaned up) between the two garden beds.

Week two - the story continues

Another week, and the gardens continue developing. For my part, I installed a drip irrigation system. This is more efficient than a spray system and did a good job for my vegies up here last year.

We have solid growth on the early risers, some are putting out their first differentiated (or "true") leaves.

The peas are new-comers this week. They come up almost like a spear, and rapidly grow their new leaves. As their seed is bigger, they have a much more robist approach to early development.

The key negative issue of the sieved garden relative to the "no-dig" method is rapidly appearing, there are small sprouts appearing everywhere. Until the desirable plants get stronger, it is too dangerous to disturb the soil to remove the weeds.

The "No-dig" bed

As you can see, the degradation in the no-dig bed continued this week. In fact, it has got to the stage where I planted seedlings in this bed in the evening. The layer under the top mulch is deep brown and rather free flowing. In fact, it collapsed in so readily that putting the seedlings in felt like plugging them into a socket.

The winter solstice has now passed, looking forward to a bit more sunshine (even up here in the tropics)