Spring is feeling near and we have hopefully left any cold nights behind, not that we had many, but most importantly it has been raining after a very long dry spell. I see that other gardeners in the region have been winding back their vegetable planting until wet weather returns, so I guess there will be a lot of people out getting their hands dirty now. The forecast is for showers for at least a week, so it’s a good time to get the last of the August seeds in, and buy some seeds for the Summer season.
Now that we are better settled here I have space for less ad-hoc solutions. For instance I had been making seed raising mix from sand, coarsely rotted leaf litter, and a little loam, but this week I took Tino Carnevale’s (Gardening Australia) advice and made a seed raising mix of 10 L vermiculite, a rehydrated block (about 10 L) of coir peat, and sand.
It mixed quickly in the wheelbarrow, is so much easier to handle and should raise seeds a treat. I’ve now got a few trays of things like the last of my bunching onions, rosella, a honeydew melon, and the purple mustard greens that mice find irresistible as seedlings, in and enjoying the rain.
Other veggies like the beetroot and carrots I have sown direct in beds that have sat waiting for rain for two months, sown a little thinner than last time so that I don’t lose so many to thinning. I put in another sowing of coriander, garlic chives and caraway too, direct in the subtropical part of the herb garden.
Finally, last night I ordered around 70 packets of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds for the warm months. I’d better get out with the hoe and prepare some more ground.