The Quiet Garden Helpers

Gardener:Northland Backyard Gardener

Date:15 Oct 2022

Blog Type:Vegetables

As we have now hit the 'sit back, watch the seedlings grow, and wait for the weather to play ball', we have started to think about what will go out first, and which garden, or parts of the garden, needs to be ready first.

With that in mind, as the boys cleaned their rabbit cages yesterday, the manure, and bedding material was added to Connor's garden for the sunflowers and corn (aka Audrey and co). There is no denying that these babies will have to go in first.

Compost and Manure:

In our quarter acre section, we have our four compost bins, a bokashi system (that I need to get going again), a worm farm, our chooks and our rabbits. All these help to reduce the cost of gardening, and more importantly, give us a lot of enjoyment. They haven't eliminated the need to purchase compost, manure or liquid feed, but it certainly helps. The rabbit manure is, in our opinion, by far the best of the lot, simply because there is no waiting period. Unlike our chicken manure-which while it is a fantastic manure, it takes about 5 months before we can use it-the rabbit manure is a cold manure. Simply put, this, means that you can apply it straight away. Sheep manure is another one that is a cold manure. Since we have Flemish Giants,  there is a lot of it. 

What is ready:

Finally, we are eating our Romanesco Broccolli. These are definitely something I will be growing again. The first one I picked during the week and gave to my mum. The second one was added to dinner tonight. Apparently, it passed Mr 10s approval as he started eating it raw while he was assisting. The stems were also very tender. We have another two that I imagine will be ready this week, and the remaining ones next week. By the end of next week, I should be able to strip this garden, and prep ready.

The Quiet Garden Helpers