Africanaussie

Golly how is it already time for another garden update! Yes, like Lizzie at Garden share collective    who hosts this link up, we have had a bit of rain over the last month, but not what we normally get.  We have also had incredible heat.  36 degrees celcius, with 68% humidity!  Basically the garden is just humming along on its own.  I nip out every now and then to check that it is still there, and dribble on a bit of water if anything looks dry.  Within a half hour it is dry as a bone again!  The okra is doing ok, although they still look rather spindly, I popped in a few more seeds, they have to be hardy plants to survive this weather.  I was hoping for a little okra forest, but not sure that is going to happen.  I have one little okra pod, and it has stayed this size for weeks.  Is it ready to be picked?  I thought it was supposed to be burgundy. The okra is in the front of the herb spiral - that area does not g...

Everywhere I look I see food forests being referred to as the way to go growing food in a small area.  I often have to put up a shade cloth to protect the delicate greens like lettuce.  I have toyed with the idea of planting a dwarf avocado, and growing lettuces and greens in the shade of the tree instead of putting up a shade cloth.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a grafted avocado which the market seller assured me was not going to grow too big for my little yard.  In a leap of faith I purchased it, pushing aside the memory of the 40ft tree that was growing in my back yard in Africa.  This weekend I added yet another shade cloth.  It is so hot and dry and the shade cloth helps to keep the plants cooler and they dont dry out as quickly. I had to prune back the long branches of the barbadoes cherry so that they didnt touch the shade cloth.  I have been mulching with my own compost instead of buying mulch, but at this rate if it doesnt rain soon I ...