Sunday, February 17, 2013

MULCHING THE CUCURBITACEAE - 11 December 2012

Things are really gearing up a notch here…the sun is shining and the temperatures keep rising: therefore the garden is drying out super fast!  So I’ve added some much needed mulch to my cucurbitaceae garden.  I mulched around the corn weeks ago with pea straw, so I’ve just carried it on around the courgettes and squash.
This part of the bed has some old broccoli in it which I’m just harvesting side shoots from at the moment too – I’ll pull it out in the next couple of days.  I’ve also got my little eggplant, cucumber and capsicum plants in here which grow under the polytunnel (which I removed in order to mulch).  They’re a bit difficult to see thanks to the squash and courgettes which are blocking them in this picture.
This is my first year using pea straw as a mulch and I have to say that it has been exceptionally effective on the corn, cucumber and tomatoes!  That is why I decided it would be helpful around the rest of this part of the garden, as this garden keeps drying out really fast and the pea straw has been fabulous at locking in the moisture really well.
The lavender border at the back is doing brilliantly and I counted in excess of 10 bumblebees and 5 honey bees out there doing their thing just now.  Pretty amazing given it’s well after 7pm!  I think pollenation has been phenomenal this year in the vegie garden thanks to the work of these bees and clearly the lavender (and my other flowers in my cottage garden) are really helping to attract the hardworking bees.
Just behind this garden, you can see the first of my raised beds.  On the left hand side is my allium bed which is brimming with leeks, spring onions, garlic and red onions.  On the right hand side is my brassica bed which is absolutely bursting with plenty of broccoli, silverbeet, pak choy, wombok and cabbage all ready to be harvested!  I’m going to have to mulch around these soon too I think!
 

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