Market Day

Went to the local markets today, and ended up buying a whole bunch of seedlings from local growers. We now have two variety of tomatoes (Grosse Lisse and Cherry) corn, basil, zucchini and Lebanese cucumber.

I transplanted the basil and Grosse Lisse tomatoes into a polystyrene container. I punched holes in the bottom, layered with small rocks, yard soil, composted manure and compost mix from local green waste producers. Then I fertilised with Liquid Power Feed, carefully hand-watering, as the tomato seedlings were quite soft and fragile.


This morning I also transplanted the 'rogue' pumpkin sprout (we have determined it IS indeed a pumpkin). I was concerned that this rogue may impact on the sweet potato it is growing so closely next to.. in fact, directly on TOP of.

So with great care (and silent observation from my boyfriend - as he was the one who planted the sweet potato!) I dug up the earth around the rogue pumpkin and removed it to the official pumpkin patch - now its new home. We guessed that it may have sprung up from shovels of compost my boyfriend laid for the sweet potato. This was confirmed when I removed sodden, decomposing newspaper shreds from beneath the rogue pumpkin's roots. Proof that compost works!

NEW HOME FOR THE 'ROGUE'

I also noticed a couple of days ago, there were toadstools growing in the pumpkin patch. I am unsure whether or not this is a good sign. Perhaps the soil is too damp? I know that it is fertile however, due to the host of grass seeds that keep wanting to take over the patch! Grrr...

I have currently started to read yet another book by Jackie French. I was unaware she wrote books aimed at adults as well until I did some research! The book is called "The Wilderness Garden", and essentially spreads the idea that the Australian climate, weather, soil etc are quite unique and traditional ways of planting will not yield the best results, but only create unnecessary toil and introduce pests and diseases. The author looks to the Australian bush to provide guidance on how to let nature take care of pests and produce the most well-suited plants with minimal human effort. I'm all for it... however, at this stage I am more inclined to think a little more effort will not go astray in THIS slow-moving tropical food garden project I started.