Two chooks and three sisters...
Well, the chooks are gone. The front garden feels a bit empty. I am so happy that they've gone to a good home in the country though (thanks Pixi!). Sleeping in until 7am feels wonderfully luxurious. :-) Next step is to find a local breeder of Australorp chooks.
Anyway, farewell Queenie and Rhode Runner - have fun with your new flock (AND boyfriends, whoo-ooo!).
On the vege front, this year I'm going to try to do a "Three Sisters" garden in the whale bed. This method of space-saving gardening is South American. I've been reading a fair bit about it over the last couple of years, but here's a really good succinct explanation from the Yates site:
"In the 1500s, when they were colonising the Americas, Europeans found that many of the Indian tribes grew three native vegetables - corn, climbing beans and squash - together, and harvested them to provide the basis of a healthy diet. The Indians called these plants the ‘Three Sisters’ and, while there are many Indian legends about the origins of this name, science has shown that these three plants, as well as being nutritious, do help each other to grow.
How? Well, for a start, upright corn stalks provide support for climbing beans. And beans, being legumes, use the bacteria on their roots to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into plant food, thereby fertilising the hungry corn and the squash. Squash does its part by sprawling over the ground and shading the soil, forming a natural mulch that keeps the roots cool and helps hold moisture in the soil."
Yates of course goes on to recommend all its products for the perfect Three Sisters garden - yeah, whatever. :-)
I had a go at it last year, but unfortunately didn't realise that the corn needs a bit of a head start. So my corn was rapidly overwhelmed by the pumpkins and I ended up with a lovely pumpkin patch. :-) Here's hoping the Mark II version will work a bit better this year! I'm hopeful because the whale bed is a big round bed, and corn does better when it's grown in a nice solid block.
Right, better make use of my morning off and go do something in this garden of mine instead of just blathering on about it!
Anyway, farewell Queenie and Rhode Runner - have fun with your new flock (AND boyfriends, whoo-ooo!).
On the vege front, this year I'm going to try to do a "Three Sisters" garden in the whale bed. This method of space-saving gardening is South American. I've been reading a fair bit about it over the last couple of years, but here's a really good succinct explanation from the Yates site:
"In the 1500s, when they were colonising the Americas, Europeans found that many of the Indian tribes grew three native vegetables - corn, climbing beans and squash - together, and harvested them to provide the basis of a healthy diet. The Indians called these plants the ‘Three Sisters’ and, while there are many Indian legends about the origins of this name, science has shown that these three plants, as well as being nutritious, do help each other to grow.
How? Well, for a start, upright corn stalks provide support for climbing beans. And beans, being legumes, use the bacteria on their roots to convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into plant food, thereby fertilising the hungry corn and the squash. Squash does its part by sprawling over the ground and shading the soil, forming a natural mulch that keeps the roots cool and helps hold moisture in the soil."
Yates of course goes on to recommend all its products for the perfect Three Sisters garden - yeah, whatever. :-)
I had a go at it last year, but unfortunately didn't realise that the corn needs a bit of a head start. So my corn was rapidly overwhelmed by the pumpkins and I ended up with a lovely pumpkin patch. :-) Here's hoping the Mark II version will work a bit better this year! I'm hopeful because the whale bed is a big round bed, and corn does better when it's grown in a nice solid block.
Right, better make use of my morning off and go do something in this garden of mine instead of just blathering on about it!