Kingscliff Community Gardens: Etiquette

Just a bit of housekeeping is in order.

Despite feeling exhausted from 5 days of a very sick child and limited sleep, and completely over the unseasonable, constant rain, I decided to make the most of the day, buy some new tube stock, go to the gardens and do some planting, taking advantage of the wet soil and free watering. 

It's my happy place.

I thought I'd see how the veggie garden was faring after the rain, seeing as it had a bit of wind/ rain damage the last time I looked. Then I realised what had happened. Look on...

Yes, we have a lot of basil, but why did someone feel the need to remove an entire plant?

There once was a lettuce in the middle.

Not anymore. And yes, you left your footprint behind!

Uprooted rosemary :(

One uprooted marigold. No idea where the other one went.

A whole zucchini plant has been taken. Why? 

The one in the photo is only just flowering.

My beautiful, huge dill, completely gone!

Hubby helped me load this barrow up so I could plant. Energy levels low today, but at least I managed some beautifying through plants.

My jonquil bulbs are pushing up through the weeds and flower seedlings. Several have appeared, and I can't wait to see them bloom :)

After checking these bulbs, I looked along the front garden to discover another whole plant had been removed. Really people?!

It's always an idea to take cuttings. Cuttings encourage new growth. 

This handful of parsley looks a lot. And it is- plenty for my family. And plenty is left to regrow too.

I pinch pruned this basil to show that even without cutters, and me feeling quite weak today, it isn't hard to hand prune enough for a meal.

My kitchen bench with today's pinch cuttings, ready to enjoy.

COMMUNITY GARDEN ETIQUETTE

• Please prune and not pull whole plants out. Pruning encourages more growth.  
• Feel free to donate back-plants or time.

These very simple guidelines mean that everyone benefits from the garden.

Kingscliff Community Gardens: Veggie garden post rains

After my post earlier today, I decided I had better check out the veggie garden. I needed to get out anyway- a wet week and being stuck at home with a spewy/pooey toddler meant supplies, especially some cleaning products, were in urgent need of restocking.

For the most part, the garden looked ok, but closer inspection revealed some rain/wind damage.

Take a look at these pics...

My poor mint. It's withstood dry spells & constant kids shortcuts. I'm not sure if this is a bug attack, or if the winds were just too much. In my experience, mint prefers a sheltered position, so while it's out of the sun here, it's still prone to wind.

The zucchini's are all looking a bit powdery and sad. Hope they still produce fruit.

The lettuce looks quite brown on the outer leaves. Wind and unrelenting days of rain haven't helped.

I hope the outer leaves don't mean the insides will rot or are ruined? Time will tell.

The little tomato seedlings are looking a bit lopsided (as are the chili plants)- difficult to see, I know  but otherwise, they are growing well, as are the basil and flowers.

Over all, I'm feeling a little disappointed, but losses are bound to occur in a large garden. If the weather stays favourable, hopefully, plants will bounce back, even the lopsided ones :)

A small bit of joy- my first wild iris!

A year and a half from planting to blooming, and so worth it.

I will keep updates coming. Stay tuned!

Kingscliff Community Gardens:flooded gardens

You can have too much of a good thing. When rain was predicted last Friday, I was relieved. The gardens were looking a bit dry. Quite a bit dry actually. As we were finishing for the day, the rain began. And has kept on going.

I'm blogging this Saturday morning. It's the first sunrise I've seen all week. It's wet, more rain is predicted. Honestly, we've had enough thanks.

Despite the rain, Paul & hubby did a brilliant job yesterday. I was home nursing a sweet Miss 3 who has a recurrent gastro infection. Poor kid. Poor me. So much washing, so little sleep.

Take a look at the weekly pictorial update... 

This was taken Tuesday morning. A few days later, the water was level with the brick path. Haven't been to the garden for a few days, so I'm not sure how the plants are coping with very wet feet.

Hubby's camera on his old phone isn't the best (his good phone is being used in an artwork currently), but this shows clearly how much effort the guys put into edging the bike track.

It's great to see shape coming to the track at long last.

It's anyone's guess if these tyres will stay put, but at least for now, they are marking out a new path.

More tyres ready for burying next week.

A neat row, ready to go...into the ground :)

Not sure what this is about, but they make a great jump/hole filler!

And more tyres. Lucky we have over a hundred.

The creek has flooded again, spilling onto the bike track. Pity, as we only started dredging it out.

Paul did a great job cleaning debris from the bush. There's been a whole lotta neglect going on out there for too many years. But no more!

The bike track is deceptively large. The completed track should keep the local kids happy.

Awesome Paul, sorting the rubbish from out back and disposing of it responsibly.  There's a lot of glass waste, ie beer bottles that are now being recycled correctly, and making the track so much safer with their removal. 

Look carefully, and you'll see ducks on our new lake. The guys started an awesome job of filling the sunken ground, and a digger would have completed an arduous task. Sadly, the rains hit before the job could be finished.

Oh well, if all goes well, we'll revisit this task in a months time.

The lake is not all that far from the chess board. Can't wait to see that ground built up, the creek dredged and a drainage channel put in. That way, the area will be usable even in inclement weather.

At least wildlife are enjoying the circumstances :)

There you have it, another week, albeit a very wet one, done and dusted. Stay tuned for more soon.

Kingscliff Community Gardens:Productive day!

Let me tell you, today was a productive day! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Lovely lettuce, growing very well. 

The veggie garden got a good watering, and some fertiliser to help keep things growing.

Before the others arrived, hubby got stuck into digging out some sandy soil to help build up the flood prone area of the garden.

While walking back from taking a photo of hubby, I needed to snap this...it's growing so well and is thriving on almost complete neglect.

My first jonquil has popped through! Only 20 more need to do the same :)

Paul took over collecting barrow loads from hubby, and stuck at it for hours.

Shane did a brilliant job raking the newly dumped soil out.

This is the result of last week's clearing- creating space for a new pathway :)

All three men worked so hard today.

For the third week in a row, kids have decided to add their own makeshift bridge. We aren't playing that game anymore. It stays for now.

This is another project for myself today- get rid of this singapore daisy.

Going....

...nearly all gone.

Another view of the veggie patch. It's looking so good!

Hubby has decided to clear out the creek and use that soil to build up the ground beside it. Hopefully, this will mean that next heavy rains, the water has a deeper creek channel and the ground shouldn't bog so quickly.

A large black rubbish bag crammed with singapore daisy and weeds. Not a bad effort :)

After a lot of smelly creek digging, hubby has decided that we need to hire a digger. It will save months of back breaking labour, and will allow us to make so much more progress.

I'm supporting this decision!

My black bag of weeds ended up in the newly created huge hole. I'm not keen to add singapore daisy to my compost so it can regrow happily.

Shane is still hard at it.

This may not look like much, but after nearly 2 years, the bottom of the picture shows a swollen stem just about to burst into bloom. Gardening requires so much patience, and honestly, the rewards are so worth it.

I also did a spot of pruning today. I'm allowing these branches to stay put for now until the leaves drop, which will help mulch the soil. Then I'll remove the branches.

After the creek clear out, hubby took Paul into the bush to help remove these old hardwood fence posts. This area is going to be cleared so a path can go in. 

So excited to see the track opened!

For probably the first time, I went for an explore. Winter is a winner- no snakes, giant, bitey ants or a trillion mozzies. I'm pretty thrilled to think that this area will be accessible via proper pathway soon.

So good to be away from houses and deep in the trees. Love it.

New pathways are going ahead...watch this space!

Remnants of a glorious tree. Now, home to creepy crawlies. 

This image (thanks pinterest!), is the new inspiration for our bike track. Pallets are apparently great to use on sandy soils, and it will hopefully prevent kids from 'rearranging' the track themselves, often dangerously. I'm so keen to see it go in!

Remember my weedy dilemma? Well, some research has turned up this felt weed mat. I'm so thrilled! It's lightweight, assists water retention and isn't an ugly black. 

Bunnings, you really do deliver!

Let's just hope you have it in stock next payday :)

Phew! That was a lotta information. Hope this satisfies your curiosity for another week.

Until next time :)