Winter Chores Time!

Due to buildings and trees my yard gets ALMOST NO direct sunlight all Winter!!! 

So sad! Maybe 2-3 hours if it's a good place. As a result everything is extremely stunted, half the peas didn't sprout...it's a bit horrible really.

Kale seedlings in biodegradable newspaper cups growing...and time to transplant the last of them!

Brassica Patch

 I added another 2 tight rows in the Kale patch, Brussel Sprouts (red and green)

left to right: Curly Scotch Kale, Red Russian Kale, Green Brussel Sprouts, Red Brussel Sprouts, Purple Early Sprouting Broccoli. And on a separate bed nearby on the right is Georgia Southern Collard, and at the back horizontally is Dino Kale. I also transplanted (white river?) onions, manglewurtzel or mangold, a beet, an amaranth?, and turnip. The carrot and hamburg parsley are just starting to sprout.

I had so many seedlings I had to squeeze in a few out of the neat rows (my garden is volunteers everywhere so I don't mind the mess, I do see it confuses pests if you clump the same plant in multiple areas, they will leave a patch unscathed!), and my dad also stuck two curly kales from before in a random spot in the middle slightly ruining my rows that I made today- so I had to bow the rows slightly to accommodate them instead of moving them. I also had 2 close together when I thought one seedling will die because I snapped the roots or whatever.

Today's harvest

And this is about half of ....no, a quarter of what I could have harvested today. So, I'm still getting a good batch of greens, edible flowers and such which is good, and some lovely root vegetables are well past ready too that I will have to pull asap (and some even have bolted with flowers so I'll eat the flowers instead!)! This portion will last my family over a week, and by next week there will be more to pick too! I have a bunch of hybrid rocket/radish, it grows pink stems, tastes super spicy. Half have started to bolt- no idea why. Some leaves are now bitter- it's like a lucky dip! I'm loving the Mache! But my favourite lettuce is still tom thumb! So buttery. Mache is creamy and slightly gritty, or grainy in texture- but still tender and beautiful, nice and bland. Arugula- BABY arugula is brilliantly flavoured without too much spice. Might need to pull out the rocket in the barrel as it's tall and bolting, but could wait till spring planting.

I tidied up some plants that died off for the winter and re-arranged my pot plants- tossing out a bunch of baby snails, sowed some upland cress, and put out the seedlings that were BEGGING to be repotted/transplanted. Those chores had been waiting for months! The weather combined with my hatred of cold, LIFE, and lots of work prevented me from doing it earlier!

I only have a few chores left to do and some seed saving- I doubt it will take over 3 hours, and then I can rest until the BIG SPRING chore list rolls around!!! I will likely get around to it....next weekend or a weekday if work is quiet.

Remaining Chores by spring:
- repot strawberry runners (in 2Lt bottles, because, why not)
- pull out mints, cut into a controllable size, return to pot.
- plant out 2 remaining red russian kales that I forgot to today
- harvest the mini shallots. Almost all of them, we have way too many it's impractical how they are taking over the place
- ensure repotted parsley is alive, (IT IS!) if not make a new one (need one under cover for when we need parsley but don't want to walk in the rain. I tore this ones roots but it was in the lawn so it was being weedy anyway)
- harvest rocket in veggie patch
- plant peas if it's not too late
- plant alfalfa and lucerne etc green manure, when time comes!
- remove Weedlings (yes, weedlings) in pots
- collect lettuce seeds, thai basil seeds, chia seeds and any other plant that is seeding currently.
- check on cress seedlings -1 germinated so far...
- water mushroom plant thoroughly
- plant a new batch of mixed lettuce and arugula as the rocket has bolted and gone bitter
- trim back the chinese celery to ensure my onion seedlings / brussel won't be choked
- remulch pots with grass clippings as soon as lawn is mowed- as i ran out this time, especially strawberries!
- repot beetroot/ruby chard seedlings (I'm pretty sure they are beetroot but I didn't label them...)
- collect a tray of compost, fill 2 together, and fill another full of food
- spread collected vermi-compost all over veggie patch- once mixing with dry clay = full strength doesn't work well I've found. Or mix in water in a bucket and pour all over the place mixing frequently- give them heaps of newspaper to un-bog their vermi-compost and add "soil wetter" properties
- top up pots with soil after harvest, they have sunken so much they are shading the plants
- net up lettuce and etc
- put lots of worms with chamomile pot
- plant nasturtium in side of blue barrel
- harvest jerusalem artichokes
- harvest sunflower seeds

Lots of volunteer borage popping about all over the place, I can see how if I didn't plant this in pots it would be a weedy issue here. The bees adore borage, so much that I think they ignore everything else, so I feel like I owe them quite a few plants of this, it's the only plant I nibble from the garden. So delish! The bees also loved the broccoli so I'm going to leave a head to continue on all year, I still have last years one but I cut it down to a lower sprout because it was getting too tall and in my way shading stuff.

I learned that plants entirely sheltered from wind REALLY are these weak soft fragile floppy things. It's crazy!!! I read it once but I didn't believe it...All plants are now free from their "mouse cage-turned greenhouse" prison. Hope frost doesn't get them now...I'm anxious to see which plants will overwinter and survive- that would rock my world if they all do! only 1 basil still surviving and 1 capsicum is at the stubs stage, lets see if it springs back in spring (must be why they call it spring!)!

Anyway, that's it for now!