June 14, 2009

Garden log 13.06.09

My reputation as a gardener who never grows anything is taking a dent lately . Whether it is due to my dabbling is permaculture or the abundant water from our greywater system or the sligh amount of soap that manages to get through the filtration system or the early onset of summer or all the above , it cannot be denied that the garden is blooming . The zucchini is going great guns , huge blooms and a lot of flowers . Today we harvested the sixth zucchini . Though there is some white powdery stuff on the leaves that is a bit disturbing . The tomatoes give me no reason to complain but still a way to go , beans we manage to get a handful every second day and some basil and rocket . But the pride and joy is definitely the melons , a nice decent sized melon , a small one and a few on the way .
The greywater system is giving me a bit of worry though . The water is down to a trickle and needs to be coaxed through . I suspect the sand layer ,since it was not protected with a geotechnic cloth has managed to find its way to the gravel and is creating a sludge which is pretty difficult for the water to get through. I have a taken out a bit of this sludge and gravel but the solution might lie in a reed bed that actively breaks down the soap and aerates the water . Next stage .
For the moment though we are enjoying watching the garden grow . If I had my way , I would've taken a chair and watched it all day long .
All the phots were taken by Ben . Going over the photos I remembered the pomegranate .












Ben performing at the circus and Rohan at home




June 01, 2009

Garden log 310509

End of may and the garden is coming along nicely . The tomatoes , bean and zucchini doing very well though only the zucchini has any fruit , lots of flowers on tomatoes . Fruit trees are coming along as well . We have added a grape vine and passionflower to the garden .


Zucchini living up to its reputation of being a fast mover , giant blooms , took me my surprise . I harvested the first zucchini yesterday but for some reason it was a bit soft at the tip .