Usually I leave the slugs to the bluetongue. I’d hate to starve him (or her) into deciding to live somewhere else. But he’s a bit too well fed, and I’m not. A cup with an inch of beer, buried so the rim is at the soil surface, overnight collected all these. The chooks will feast on beer marinated slugs.
Like these little origami seed packets, taught to me by Morag Gamble from Our Permaculture Life. Such a pleasure chopping up junk mail and turning it into these, and it makes sharing seed so barrier free.
There are many, many organic remedies for cabbage moth caterpillars (and the web moth caterpillars that will be next to arrive). There are nets and traps and fake moths and eggshells and trichogramma wasps and dipel. But the only one I reckon is worth the time and effort for results is timing.
It’s the southern hemisphere equinox at 3.30 pm today, the moment when the earth is exactly half way on its journey round the sun between the short shadow full face to the sun days of midsummer, and the long shadow late mornings and early evenings of midwinter. In gardening terms, it’s time to start planting things that need the threat of winter to persuade them to store food- garlic and…
Cucamelons (or mouse melons – Melothria scabra) were all the rage there for a year or two. For those who missed it, they’re little, melon shaped cucumbers. Very cute. And very, very prolific.
In Autumn 2000 I wrote an article for Organic Gardener magazine about worm towers. For years I thought the idea had sunk without a trace. When our daughter moved to a little flat in Brisbane we helped her build a garden with them. It worked so well that it crossed my mind occasionally, I wonder why that idea never caught on? Maybe I should write about it again in Witches…
Sisters and brothers, cousins and second cousins, grandmas and great aunts. Nineteen of us this time and missing just a few for the annual (most years) few days at the beach. It was nice this time feeling the change in the generations. My sister and I firmly in the great aunt’s generation, our daughters stepping firmly into the mothers’ roles, wrangling great gangs of kids.
There is a huge amount of skill and knowledge in living a simple, green,, frugal life. This is not peasant unskilled labour. This is application of intelligence, design, creative thinking, experimentation, research and practice to deeply held values. Simplicity is often deceptive. Simplicity is elegant, refined, efficient, beautifully designed, and highly skilled.
Most times I do my picking walk first thing in the morning before breakfast. It usually takes about half an hour, and its the most productive garden work I do. I walk with a bucket and a basket.
This is the lettuces for April and May, planted on the leafy planting days last weekend. These are my own seed so they are free and bountiful. But still there’s no point in planting more than a pinch of them. We take lunches and lettuce is in it practically every day when it is in season, and we would have a salad for dinner a few times a week too.…