Mulching day
For a while now I’ve been meaning to write a post and then I’ve been put off because there are about twenty or thirty posts that I should catch up on first. Needless to say this has led to a great absence and lots of procrastination. Not so much in my growing mind you which I have continued on with varying degrees of success.
So I thought today I’ll just write the latest post and catch you all up as I go along.
Whilst the other half of the world is beginning to feel the light (in some places the rather heavy handed) touches of the cooler seasons those of us in Australia are getting a sneak preview of how bloody hot it’s going to get.
Since I had a little re-potting to do today I picked up some generic potting mix and what seems to be a nice commercial mulch. I’d much prefer to make my own but I frankly don’t have the space or really the time so commercial off the shelf will do me just fine.
So I went around to all the remaining plants and topped up their pots with the mulch. You do it for a couple of reasons, the main for me though is using water in pot more effectively.
There are some plants I don’t make it down to see all the time so they tend to go for about five days between drinks. Some of them don’t mind it at all but as it gets hotter the soil is drying out sooner and even some of the hardy upstairs plants are wilting a couple of days in. The mulch is supposed to help with this and really given the choice I’d rather maximise the water they’re already getting rather than making night-time water runs to the plants in the front yard - lazy I know but I got a tonne of stuff to do!
Picked some cherry tomatoes today and this evening I’ll be picking about five green chillies which we’ll either freeze or I may take in to work to see if anyone wants any.
December 9th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Sounds like a great plan. I am doing much the same thing in my garden at the moment that is very much in its infancy. I also seem to be in a similar boat with work fluctuations leading to other commitments, such as the garden, suffering neglect.
Your garden is much further ahead than mine and is a fine example of where I want mine to go. I am still awaiting my first harvest. Although I am beginning to see buds and flowers appear throughout most of the crop. Just a wait snd maintain game now I suppose.
Great site and I have included you on my website as a link and the RSS feed.
December 9th, 2007 at 8:58 pm
Well you can probably tell by the time that’s elapsed since that post that the work and other commitments have all taken over and let a lot of my garden die.
Cheers for the link love - I’ll be sure to add you in here also!
January 13th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
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Regards,
Wilson.
January 13th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
[...] mulching has been a weak point in my gardening quests. This became very apparent when I read Mulching Day over at Urban Cultivation very early on in my gardening quest. Lee talked about the many benefits [...]
January 17th, 2008 at 9:33 am
I have a chilli plant but didn’t think about freezing them. Anything in particular you have to do or just whack them in and defrost when needed? This is starting to sound like a stupid question - oh well./
January 17th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hi Christine - nah there’s nothing special to do to them just stick them in a zip lock bag or freezer bag. Sometimes I don’t even bother defrosting especially on pizza with a sharp enough knife.
To cut them with that is - not to eat on the pizza.