In The Organic Garden This Week
Spring Is Springing
Well not much happening in the organic garden this week, other than watching my seedlings grow. I have seen a surge in caterpillars so I have been picking them off and using a little pest oil as well.
Our weather is very spring! We have thunderstorms one day and then high temperatures the next! I have lost a couple of seedlings to the hot weather since I have been sick with the flu and so did not get out enough to check on the little ones!
This is why I usually plant more than I could hope to eat so no great problem so far with the losses.
The silverbeet is thriving and is soooo green!
The corn, cucumber, zucchini and eggplants are doing well – as are the onions!
I have planted lettuce between the corn rows since I will harvest them long before the corn block out the sunlight!
The tomato seedlings are coming along at last and I should be planting them out soon!
New Flowers
As the weeks move on into late spring the type of flowers around the yard starts to change some what. The bulbs are browning off now and the roses are racing ahead. A few of my newer plantings from last winter are now flowering and we are enjoying a few different splashes of colour.
Compost Heap
The compost heap has grown to huge proportions as I am pruning and thinning out all over the yard.
This is currently about 1.5m high and will settle down as the rot sets in! I will need to add some blood and bone and give it a good turnover when I feel better.
Meanwhile the sweet-potato are enjoying the boost of nutrients that they have access to near the base of the heap.
I also think that the mulberry tree is also benefiting from the heap since they are well know to seek out nutrition over quite large distances.
Fruit Trees Racing Along
My Pinkabelle Apple tree is flowering – exciting prospects of lot’s of apples this year!
Apricots are on the tree now! I will be watching keenly for any fruit fly – have found an organic bait to control them this year!
Still lot’s of mulberries!
My fig tree is loaded and carries so much fruit for such a young and little tree!
Fruit Fly Control
The organic bait and control is quite an easy product to use. I simply mix it as directed and spray over 1sm of fruit tree in the yard. This attracts and kills the fly for roughly 70sm of garden – so for me just one spray once a week or two should control all the fly problems – tomato to apricot tree!
A great way to control the pest without the toxic chemicals of the alternatives!
Of course basic garden hygiene is also important – all waste fruit should be composted quickly or given to the worms to reduce the chances of the fly getting into the yard. Infected fruit can infect the soil and then the fly is a major challenge for many years to come!
