The Last Day

I thought I'd use the last day of the year to recap what 2010 has taught me...

1) Patience. Without it, I would have never discovered that worms WOULD grow in my worm farm. Guavas WILL grow on the Indian guava tree. And eggplants WILL develop when given the proper conditions - after 6 months of trial and error. (They are also extremely thirsty!)

2) Progression. The garden will continue to evolve, and remain in a state of flux. If something dies, it can be regrown. Or replaced. There is never an absolute, absolutely. I will continue to view it as a journey, and not as a final destination.

3) Natural does not always mean Non-harmful. Take the case of Neem Oil for example. Spraying it on capsicum plants caused fruit to rot. Leaves were also affected and appeared 'burnt'.

4) Perseverance. Like some of the plants in our garden, which have amazing abilities to persevere despite my mistreatment of them; I too, must learn to overcome setbacks and keep going.

Full Wet Season

It has been raining just about every day. The Wet is - without a doubt - finally here.

The buckets I have strategically placed about the garden are doing their job and I have plenty of rainwater to water the undercover plants with.

The passionfruit trellis has sufferred a setback; the vines are so vigorous they have collapsed the archway! Hmm... I'll have to motivate myself to do something about it soon, but have been busy entertaining a visitor from south.

A strange thing has been happening to the capsicum plants. The capsicums are growing and ripening, but when picked, they are soft and rotten. I have a feeling it may be the Neem oil I have been spraying to deter mealybugs, which are everywhere in the garden.

Although deemed organic and has been used for centuries, Neem oil is also harmful to certain plants. It seems to kill mealybugs ok, but may also be responsible for the rotten capsicums. So I have stopped spraying Neem and am now just waiting for a good capsicum. If I'm wrong about the Neem, then it must be a rotting disease - heaven forbid!

Oh, and the zucchini plant has well and truly died. It had blossom end rot. The rot starts at the flowering end of the fruit and spreads, rendering malformed lumps on the fruit and eventually the whole fruit decays - from the inside. The zucchinis looked almost normal except for the external lumpiness. I guess the rot spread throughout the rest of the plant and the leaves started wilting and eventually the whole plant died.

I REALLY hope this is not the same thing happening to the capsicums... The chillies are going strong though. Brilliant yellow colour. When will they turn red? It's been at least 6 weeks already...