Aldi Seedlings |
This year the seedlings were very advanced which is OK for Tomatoes, Eggplant and Capsicum but makes things like Dill and basil a bit straggly. Still, all good fun.
This year our own seedling have been the best ever in terms of health and size. Could be the weather and possibly because they were potted up very early?
Our seedlings |
The cosmic forces that govern the building of Tomato beds are obviously in a playful mood. Todays first disaster was the box trailer. It needs to be ready to haul some more silage and hay this coming week and it was noticed yesterday that the lights were inoperable. First eliminated the vehicle as the cause then dismantled the light fittings and cleaned all the connections - one loose bulb and one broken wire. Half the lights now working. Checked all the other fittings. This is all very difficult as the trailer lights are out of sight when working behind the vehicle. Mounted a vanity mirror on the ground. Aha the lights flicker when playing with the main connector. Stripped that down checked it all over and adjusted the connection points. Finally after an hour and a half all is functioning.
Now back to the planned job of the day i.e. Tomato bed. Spread a goodly amount of Dolomite to sweeten the bed and covered with a thick layer of mulch Hay - very thick. Hay bales come apart in different sized biscuits depending on the grass type and in this case woody long grasses resulted in biscuits well over 100mm thick. Fine that should keep weeds at bay for longer. The mulch hay was a special deal last year about a 120 bales at cost of production price of $2 from a friendly farmer. Enough to keep us in mulch hay for a few years and at a price that means we can be generous with the application.
The next step 19 bales of mulch hay over 25 metres. The last 5 metres will be held back for succession planting. |
This is what is left of a junior Red Belly Black snake near the old Tomato bed after a little slashing recently. Only just noticed it. |
Just before dark we noticed the Viburnum hedge looking a bit sad. Just a simple matter of turning on the automatic watering system? No such luck, no water coming through. After a quick investigation the culprit was the gate valve back at the pump. There are three valves splitting the watering system into three sections to simplify leak tracking. This one has broken in the off position. Fortunately we were able to patch in a hose from a working section to the Viburnum system and provide them with a drink. The valve replacement can be tomorrows emergency repair.
The shut off valves have proven a worthwhile addition to the watering system |
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