Month By Month of the Re-Design

In September I wrote of our New Design
This is a Month by Month view of the Re-Designed Main Vegetable Garden.

This is how the garden looked Nov (07) Shade covers over 10 beds.
Containers for watering attached to each...
filling those containers by hand was a nightmare.

Not much was left growing by Jan 08.

By mid Apr the shade covers were moved
to allow for the first rains of the year to get to the soil.

At the end of April 08
and we were ready to start dismantling the shade frames

By May it was in full swing

At the end of may the holes were dug and the posts up

The posts looked so bare that we decided to decorate them.
I received a wonderful copper rooster weather vane
from a fellow ALSer in North Queensland
in a 'HomeMade Item Swap'
and he was just the thing for this post.

On the other side of the garden we put this flue pipe
that we'd always considered to be a good representation of Ned Kelly
(we might even paint him black one day)

By the end of June the first Tank Bed was in place,
the fence was up and the new design was taking shape

Early in July the iron sheets were cut (thanks Doc)
and put in place for the raised wicking beds

They were put together and put in place while I was busy making compost to fill them.
During the next few weeks these beds were dug out to a depth of 10-15cms and lined with plastic sheeting. Drain hose in place and this area filled with sand. Some of the compost I'd been busy making was added.
See the basics of Wicking Worm Beds Here

By September they were ready to top up with worms
and mulch and let settle until planting time in Oct.

Meanwhile I started planting the pond edge
with beneficial creature attracting plants

In Nov 08 the beds were planted up and working well...
some passing storms gave us over 50mm of rain...
the highest monthly recording for the year.

Into Dec the storms continued...
the garden is looking like a jungle
despite the hail damage to exposed leaves.

By the end of Dec we were eating Zucchini, Beans and Cucumbers from this area and beginning to harvest Carrots.
Cherries, Peaches and Apricots have been harvested and Plums are very nearly ready. We continued to harvest Strawberries and had already harvested our best ever crop of Garlic from the Tank Beds.
The Sunflowers were enormous and flowering.
Some Aphid infestations have been brought under control by a ever increasing army of Ladybirds. See Here
Many other beneficial insects and lizards are present in the garden.

See Ned's View on the 3 Jan 09