Back from Holidays

Taking a break from the homelife, my partner and I went camping and four-wheel driving around the central Australian outback. It proved a good break from work and civilisation in general. We saw plenty of wildlife, and even desert in bloom after unexpected rain. While away, we had asked our nice neighbour to look after our garden. She did her best, however...

DRIED UP GUAVA

A few plants have suffered, such as our guava tree, mangosteen and the cucumbers.

However, some of our hardier plants were still doing great.

RIPENING BANANAS

We replanted some plants again and did what we could to revive the rest.

Below is the passionfruit vine, covered in netting. A mystery bird had taken to eating fruit every day, stripping the vines of ripe AND unripened fruit. When it destroyed FIVE unformed fruit in one day, that's when I decided it would no longer get ANY. I don't mind sharing fruit with local wildlife, but when they destroyed unripened fruit in search of edible ones, that's when it got personal!

PASSIONFRUIT PROTECTION

Take only what you need guys! I now learn that even nature can be wasteful, and animals aren't necessarily good at keeping the balance.

The New Pond

PUTTING IN THE POND

We have started a pond in our garden. Yes! A water feature seems to be a must for most gardens, and attracts local wildlife. Unfortunately, one of the first visitors to the new pond have been the dreaded cane toad. My boyfriend discovered a pair of them living amongst our empty plant containers... :(

For those who don't know, the cane toad (Bufo marinus) is an introduced species which has since become an invasive pest in many parts of Australia. It produces a highly toxic venom, which if ingested by other animals, may cause death. Definitely one to keep away from pets and small children!

FILLING IT UP

Another problem we are encountering with the new pond is that the lizards and skinks which are attracted to the insects - and water source - are also drowning in it. Hopefully they'll grow to remember that there is now a large body of water in their area. I haven't been able to think of any ways to "lizard-proof" the pond.

FIVE DAYS LATER

It's been a slow start to the second season in the garden. Three Lebanese cucumber seedlings are in the middle bed. There are also a couple of pumpking and watermelon seedlings scattered around the garden. All grown from seed!

Fortunately the passionfruit vines which I thought had been poisoned by the council's annual weed-killing in the adjoining laneway haven't been much affected. They are both in full fruit and give off about one fruit per week.

Bucket University

Almost all the green tree frog tadpoles have grown into froglets and "graduated" from the plastic bucket they called home, to the big wide world. All except for one. We've had the tadpoles since early February. They have survived a mini cyclone, my initial experiments in feeding them, plagues of mosquito larvae and visits from a neighbour's inquisitive cat.

The thought that tree frog tadpoles consume mosquito larvae is a myth. I have witnessed many a tadpole surface for air right near mosquito larvae and completely ignored them. The fact that these larvae developed in multitude to latter stages also proves the lack of interference from tadpoles.

Contrary to popular belief, green tree frog tadpoles also don't eat each other. The dead tadpoles I found (two in total) bobbed on the surface unmolested and intact. What caused their deaths, I know not, but I assure the reader there was plenty of water and food.

Green tree frog tadpoles are definitely herbivores. Once developed however, grown frogs eat insects and spiders, smaller frogs and even small mammals.

Here's an example of a 'graduate frog' in the backyard (note the tail):

Going Bananas!

Looking out from an upstairs window this morning, my boyfriend remarked "What the heck is that on my banana?" We were both in the bathroom at the time, so it could have led to all sorts of smart comments. However, we both ran excitedly downstairs to investigate the bigger of the two banana trees in the backyard.

Upon a closer look, we found that the banana tree was starting to form the beginnings of a BUNCH of bananas! Having never seen how these actually take shape, I was naturally intrigued. I have seen fully developed bunches, replete with pendulous purple hearts, but never one in its infancy. Here's a picture...

I'd also fertilised and mulched the banana trees the day before, so I thought it was a bit cheeky that my partner could call them his bananas! But fair enough, he had bought and planted them as young plants, so they could be seen as his banana trees.

On a side note, due to the cyclones which have devastated banana-growing regions of Australia, the prices of bananas have quadrupled. Usually around $3 p/kg, bananas can now cost as much as $12 p/kg in supermarkets.

So we're definitely looking forward to the day when these beauties ripen into yellow, golden goodness which we can munch on! Definitely worth their weight in gold at the moment.

First Taste!

We finally tasted our first home-grown passionfruit this morning!

My boyfriend found two ripened passionfruits which had fallen off the vine. One was perfectly juicy and sweet. However, the other had started to rot a little.. very disappointing.

At least now we know when to pick them off before they're over ripe. I have been eyeing the passionfruit for weeks now, but have resisted temptation so far. Who knew my patience would outlast the ripening process? We've had a LOT of rain lately too, which may have helped the rot factor.

MMMmmmm.. I know of at least 3 other passionfruit ripe for the picking!!

The colour of ripened Panama Red is a dull pink. You can wait until it becomes a more brilliant shade of red, but that runs the risk of other critters (which also LOVE passionfruit!) eating it before you do.

Yellow means the fruit isn't quite ready yet, just halfway. And green is definitely NOT ripe.

Worm Harvest

Last month, we upgraded the worm farm. It now has a catchment box, tap, better-fitting mesh-filter and a hessian covering. While relocating the worms, we thought we would harvest some vermicast as well.

WORM PILES

The worms have only really been thriving for the past 2 months. From what research I've done, most people think harvesting should be done around the 4-6 month mark.

I have put what little vermicast I could find in the worm piles as food for some container plants. Will see if this makes much difference to their growth!

VERMICAST

In relocating the worms, we tried to save as many worm capsules as possible. But worm capsules are tiny semi-transparent yellow things which proved very hard to find. So I'm not sure if the worms aren't producing a lot of capsules yet, or we just couldn't find them to begin with.

GARDEN WORM

Generally the worms in the worm farm are smaller than the ones found in our backyard. I wonder if that's because the local worms have acclimatised to the type of soil in our area.. or maybe they're just different species of worms. The worms I'm farming are Red Wigglers, Indian Blues, Tigers and Gardener's Friends. The last species supposedly grow to quite a length and is the best for soil aeration - hence the name.

Critters as Pets

A resident frog has spawned some tadpoles in an abandoned bucket. We suspect they are offspring of a dark green frog which hides regularly in our collection of empty plant pots.

Mosquito larvae also hatched in the same bucket, but I scooped them out. These are easily spotted as they wriggle in a haphazard, side-to-side fashion, unlike tadpoles which may swim in a more linear style. Tadpole larvae are also bigger and rounder, whereas mosquito larvae tend to be skinny and long. So if you spot mosquito larvae, get rid of them unless you like mozzies hanging around!

BABY GREEN TREE FROG

TADPOLES
I feed the tadpoles wilted lettuce leaves. (Microwaved for about 10 secs.) At first the tadpoles were only eating about half a leaf per day. But now they definitely go through more than a leaf per day. Chinese cabbage leaves also seem to work, although you have to nuke them for slightly longer than lettuce. The tadpoles are SO cute. They surface for air at regular intervals and blow bubbles with their mouths. They often feed while showing off their bellies, which are taking on a silvery-green colour. Evidence that these are frog tadpoles and not the dreaded cane toad.

(CLOSE UP) TADPOLES

We're also farming earthworms - finally! I bought these as juveniles & worm capsules. It has taken two months for them to grow into adults, and another two months for them to start eating worthwhile amounts of foodscraps.

I find worms to be quite awesome. They are the best thing on this planet for plants. We have harvested small amounts of vermicast from them. The plants which I put the vermicast on seem to thrive and have grown new shoots / buds / flowers!