It's hard to keep up with both real life projects and projects on Steem (which includes keeping this @ulog updated). I neglected the garden, worms and black soldier flies during the winter but they did very well. I filled the breeding bins I use to produce worms for sale with horse manure and they have multiplied. I should soon be able to sell my first starter packs.
The black soldier fly larvae have survived the whole winter. The adult flies have all died but the larvae slowed down their metabolism. With the weather warming up, I noticed they are now more active and have increased their eating. I will need to harvest their frass and give it to the worms.
Many plants have died over the winter, some will come back to life as the weather warms up some will need to be replaced. Here is a little tour of the backyard garden to see what are the survivors. I will see which ones will recover.
The Dwarf Tahitian Lime is doing just fine. If memory serves, this is its 4 year and it is the first time I trimmed it down. It still has some limes from before winter and is already starting to flower. It is very productive, a lot of fruits will fall before becoming mature but there are always enough left.
The mulberry tree lost all its leaves during winter but has come back very healthy. I will have to take care of it so it keeps giving us yummy berries.
Like every year, the lemongrass has weakened but I think it is a mixed of being cold, in a pot that is not often fed and under a roof which prevents it from receiving the rainwater which has for consequence the quick drying of the potting mix. But my wife will harvest the roots (that's what we eat by the way, not the leaves) and will leave a few back to propagate, I will make a new mix then.
The two potted banana trees didn't look good at all! I had to cut their leaves off as they looked so sick. But they seem to be recovering now, I could see the center leaves developing. Fingers crossed.
The lemonbalm also died off a little bit and I trimmed it down several weeks ago. It is also recovering nicely. I'm looking forward for some nice tea mixed with thyme and chocolate mint. This year I will also combine it with Valerian and maybe Catmint to help with my sleep.
This is the Mushroom plant that is also very weak. I will cut it down completely and it will regrow again in several months.
The Moringa tree must hate me for taking it down all the way from Queensland where it is warm almost all year long! lol. We will also trim the branches down so it does not grow too high to make it easier to harvest it later on.
One of the classics is the common mint, we eat that a lot and they are easy to grow so that's good. I will dedicate a larger garden bed for it this year.
The sunshine chilli really need more sunshine! It's lacking of everything right now. I'm considering killing it and replanting some seeds. But I might leave it there to see how it recovers. Will need to give it more food.
Last year I planted some Chinese Lettuce and these are volunteer plants from the fallen seeds. They are practically low-effort type of veggies. I like that 😅
Another low-effort plant is the Aloe Vera, we don't do anything with it, just water the spearmint and purple perilla that shares the same bed as them.
The two new members of the garden are the Sage (left) and the Valerian. I'm not sure what to do with the Sage yet but I like the smell. The Valerian will be a sleep help tea.
The Tropical Lettuce Tree liked the winter and we ate the leaves several times already, definitely a keeper for this season. I've already have a second plant going.
The Spearmint (I think it is) is growing back from the dormant roots while the purple Perilla was from self-propagated seeds. The Perilla is quite a invasive plant. Each plant produce so much tiny seeds that fly all around that you can end up with your garden covered in them if you don't pay attention.
My Fishmint and Wild Betal Leaf (Lolot) have also slowed down during winter but are showing sign of recovery. Those are some of the very popular Vietnamese veggies. My parents used to grow them, I grow them now, maybe my son will grow them too 😊
The mustard greens has given us few meals already, the oldest plants are now flowering and there are some young seedlings that are now showing their head through the carpet of white clover.
I need to do something for the Blueberry Burst. They are supposed to give some huge berries but my plant gave tiny ones. I have to go find what they need.
What a mess hahaha. The chocolate mint shrank during the winter but it will come back to life very soon. You can't kill mint that easily. This is one of our favourite herbal tea plant.
This year, the papaya tree seem to be... not too bad... It almost died last year due to black spots on the leaves and some fungal disease that consumed leaves and fruits. I managed to save it thanks to dad who told me to cut it through the trunk way below the affected area and to cover the cut with a plastic bottle to prevent the rain from rotting the tip. The plant sprouted and now has three branches. In mid-Autumn, I gave the plant more manure and worm compost than usual and it seems to have given it enough strength to survive this winter. The black spots came back few weeks ago but they were less aggressive this time. I cut the affected leaves as soon as I see the spots. With the 20+ C temperatures of this week, I'm hoping that it will regain more strength to grow those little fruits that take time to develop.
Well well, it looks like I have a lot of work to do this season!
Previously on my Ulog:
- ULOG 080 - Helping the colleague reached their 10000 steps for Steptember
- ULOG - Weekly Stats 2018-09-10
- ULOG 079 - Little trip to Ettalong Beach
- ULOG 078 - Shopping in Cabramatta & Resuming Kombucha Brewing
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