We had an owl in the garden!

It landed in the tree near us while we were looking at the moon. Awesome!!!

Soil bacteria is the new black for gardeners.

There is more and more talk recently of adding soil bacteria to increase productivity and disease resistance.
It is an interesting time in horticulture as more poisons are removed from the arsenal of biocides and more natural methods are being reintroduced. Combining traditional methods with modern technological knowledge has the capacity to increase soil and human health, stopping the need for chemical fertilisers by creating fertile soils that are more active and full of carbon.

Biochar is an example of a soil ameliorant that can increase the health of a soil by providing somewhere for bacteria to lurk about. The large surface area provides sites for cation exchange, where nutrients are held and released around the fine root hairs of plants.
Bentonite clay and humus from composted organic matter also provide sites for nutrients to stay around the plant roots and organic matter also holds water. These characteristics are important in sandy soils, especially, as nutrients and water can easily leach away without the addition of organic matter, humus, compost, manures or minerals. You don't need to use all of these products but it is important to add some form of soil enhancer to help the new plant grow.

Uni meltdown time.

Although I am not highly intelligent nor highly daft, I am not very good at maths. I am okay once I know what I'm doing, but some of the concepts are confusing and very hard to grasp, if you're not used to thinking that way. I have been tackling an intro to stats unit at uni this semester. I have done better than I suspected but now with the exam looming and last assignment due, I have been feeling quite unsure. There is a pretty good chance that I can scrape by, despite the fact that I am ignoring one section of the unit. Hopefully it won't be in the exam too much (it will def. be in there).
My preservation instinct will kick in and I will start to revise properly...soon.

Last week we bought some endemic species to put in the garden. We included a tuart tree, which will hopefully get to grow for a long time. When planting the natives, I just mixed in the top soil that was formed and didn't add too much fertiliser, just a bit of minerals that I like to add here and there. I enjoy adding a little bit of habitat to the local landscape.

We have been getting many kinds of honeyeater birds in the garden lately. They love the trees and the smaller shrubs. So many places to hide out.

Urban orchard in the city..coming soon.

I saw this very encouraging sign the other day. Seeing the words beneficial insect and companion plant right in the centre of Perth-Northbridge was quite a surprise. It will be interesting to see how it looks when it's done.

Cooler season vegetable gardening.

Perth's gardener's holiday is over and autumn is trying to cool us down. It is a good time to get some vegetables in for the rainy season, meaning we don't need to rely on daily water to get them through to maturity.
We made the mistake last time round of planting cabbages. They take up a fair bit of room and we don't really eat much of them so I am making sure we only plant what it going to be of most use to us. It's only a small patch, too, so it needs best use of the area.
Little seedlings.
I put in some lettuce seedlings (various, as I rescued some from work, too) and broccoli and popped some peas in near the best climbing spots.
The soil is looking really good, too, despite being the end of summer, it is still quite brown and rich. Is it because of the biochar we used when the bed was set up? It's sure to be helping. We also regularly apply minerals, bentonite, various organic manures and composts and it shows.
Soil profile in our veg bed.
You can see the good soil above the line of original sand.