Winter in the Garden

We have started our veg patch in the front yard were the old orchard once stood. So far we have planted our garlic and onions. Did you know that Australia exports the vast majority of our home grown garlic, leaving us with imported foreign rubbish that is washed in chemicals before it can be allowed into the country.

So this year we will be growing as much garlic as possible so we can take the best and largest for planting next year – the rest we eat! We also want to grow as many pumpkins as possible to keep as pig feed for next winter. There is a couple of broccoli coming up inside the half tanks. These are great for bringing on winter hardy plants, the sun warms the metal during the day giving the plants maximum warmth during day light hours. They also reduce the amount of frost that covers the garden.

The compost heap will be getting an upgrade as well, now we have a good supply of cheap straw we can afford to turn over the pig pens more often. This should increase the amount of plant matter we can get into the soil.

I started a second garden in the wiener paddock, but Star has gone in there to be separated from her piglets. Hopefully she won’t dig the garden area too much before she’s ready to rejoin the herd. You can see the difference in the soil quality; surprisingly, they used to grow Lucerne in this paddock. The soil is really lacking in any carbon content, we know from the soil tests that it is phosphate deficient, so getting carbon into it is a high priority. We’ve started to grow green manures, and I’ve also planted some various hardy millets, these will be grazed and then dug in as soon as spring brings on the growth.