Gemma put lettuce, radish, carrot, pea and onion seeds in today and has ordered broad bean seeds.  We cleared an area of logs into her woodstore as she's decided to have a wildlife pond there.  Mick, my son lives on the next street to her and he's got newts in his pond, so she's hoping for the same.  It's all looking very neat at the moment.

Took delivery of two good sized raised beds at the weekend, will be putting them together later this week in perperation for the main growing season down here.

The sun is really starting to pack a punch here again now and I am busy trying to ensure that I manage to maintain some moisture in the soil by putting down a good layer of sugar cane mulch.

The citrus trees that I planted back in the Autumn are doing very well, I have orange, lemon, and a lime tree all growing well. If they really take then I am going to try a few more different varieties of citrus. It still amazes me to see citrus groing outside in peoples back yards here.

It has been a frostier than normal winter here so growth has been checked a little more than usual, but now Spring is here things are bolting ahead.

My brother bought a lemon tree earlier this year and has it in a big pot on his patio.  It amazes me how a lemon tree can have flowers and fruit of different stages all at the same time and all year long.  His seems to be doing well and they're actually hardier than you'd think but I doubt they'd survive some of the low temps we've had in recent winters without protection. 

Lovage is also known as Sea Parsley..A hardy perennial..Adds flavour to soups,stews ans stock.Has a celery flavour. Old English Cordial -Lovage Cordial can still be found.Try a Worcestershire Fyrtled Savoury Pudding....

Sorrel is another perennial.  Has a Lemon flavour so ideal in salads, soups and stews.Resembles spinach...Consume in moderation.Not the plant for people with gout or liver/kidney stones as can agrivate condition...

Gardiner's World tonight Friday at 9:00mp has about sowing seed this month ....

Thanks for the heads up.

I built two new raised beds this weekend, very satisfying. My 4 year old son enjoyed chipping in with it also, like weekends like this 

I am going to give one of the raised beds for him to look after, I had my own veggie patch when I was 4 and will be good for him to have the same.

I mixed some water retaining gel balls in with the soil, they swell up when you water the soil and retain the water and release it slowly over time. This stops the soil drying out even if you don't water for a week, really useful in Australia!

Now to plant them up 

Tis' Bulb planting time...New red centered narccisi going into pots plus all dived bulbs from earlier this  year..All old compost is placed in bottom of pots with the best on top...Save buying fresh or chucking in the hedge....

I dug the last of my potato crop last weekend - and very disappointing it was, too.

I'd planted 3 tubs with 3 spuds in the two big ones and 2 in the smaller tub. I'd only filled them half-way, then topped-up as the plants grew. Only four of them never grew at all. Of the four that did, 3 plants wilted & turned brown by mid-August and the disappointing number of potatoes were affected by scab. The other plant in a tub on its own looked healthy so I let it carry on, but this also started to wilt and when I dug it, only delivered about 10 small potatoes (thankfully only 2 were affected by scab)

I need to disinfect my tubs before I store them this year - and don't buy cheap seed spuds

On a positive note, my carrots are doing really well, and my cabbages are beginning to form heads (although I think it's too late in the season for them to grow much more). The sprouts look really healthy, although only just beginning to sprout sprouts so again may be too late in the season. Best performers are my leeks, which are getting really chunky.

Just two apples left to be harvested,but...there are the herbs that will carry  on for a whle yet...Just right for all those casseroles,,,,

I've picked a lot of runner beans this week and now have two large bags of them in the freezer, so I'm pleased with my first attempt at growing them in my border and will do it again next year.  My sister has a cherry plum tree that has produced a bumper crop but the fruit doesn't keep, so I've been busy making very yummy jam.

Only one of the two beef tomato plants I've got in a tub survived the winds, but it's laden with tomatoes that are now ripening.  I think I put my yellow peppers in a bit late as they have fruits on them but they're not very big yet and may not ripen before frosts cut them back.

At the weekend I planted

Cherry tom's (for my summer salads)

Roma tom's (best variety for cooking)

Runner beans (a variety that likes warmer climates, some don't do so well under a hot sun)

Peas

Chilli's

Peppers

Lemon grass

Corriander

Silverbeet / chard

Spring onions

All topped off with a thick layer of sugar cane mulch to keep some moisture locked in. The sun is so very strong here already, any exposed soil has its moisture sucked out quickly.

Also had a friend come and visit me whilst I was planting. A very large blue tongue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-tongued_skink came and had a look at what I was doing. Good to have these guys around as they eat the garden pests so didn't want to scare him away.

The only spuds I could ever be bothered growing in the UK were the small spring salad type variety that cook in around 5 mins and are as sweet as anything.

Spuds for me anyway take up too much room and you don't get much value for mine, one of those veg where buying a big bag in the shops works just as well.

Anyone got any ideas about compost heaps.

All the "experts" pontificate about how quick you can get useable compost etc

What ever I do it seems to take about a year, to get anything and even then its only about half way useable.

I need to utilise everything I can, to get anything out of this garden, as the soil is pretty poor, very heavy clay.

The subsoil is only about a foot down and is compacted clay.

I have built some raised beds, used soil from unused areas to bulk them up but need the compost etc to improve them, as we can't afford to buy any soil etc.

Try compost info guide . com..They have a 2 week ready to use...Lots of shredded or clipped with shears and  tuned regular-.paper-leaves-straw-cardboard-vegetable waste all can be piled ,turned then used 14 days they say...

If you put and weight in what Bob Flowerdew says then you'll be peeing in your compost too!

Apparently male pee has the same goodies in it as compost accelerator so speed up the process......that's my excuse anyhow!

I've tried that too, in fact I have a growing "collection" in my garage as I write. Hasn't made any discernable difference so far.

Certainly is convenient way to avoid bother of going back indoors, with muddy feet anyway

I'd say urine as well as its nitrogen content is a good compost activator and it's organic.  Incidentaly, it's not that male urine is different to female urine, it's just that it's easier for men to pee on the compost heap.  

Make sure you turn your compost heap over when it's reached a good temperature, to add more oxygen and keep the composting process going.  It's probably too late to talk about the content of your compost heap now, but there needs to be a balance of materials and don't use too much woody material such as cabbage stalks, as they take longer to break down. 

Some of my veg waste such as carrot, apple and parsnip peelings, go straight into the border, as do tea leaves and coffee grounds as I've never found composting to be a quick process either.  Good luck!

I turn my compost heap over regulary as I have 2 large pens to alternate the pile in.

However it never seems to reach any kind of temperature.

I keep it covered over so it doesn't get too wet, but generally it seems too soggy.

After about a year it now seems, to be a pile of semi-compost, sludgy and smelly.

I have seperated the more recent still discernable green and brown stuff, elsewhere and am wondering how to move on to a finish what I have got.?

Try adding woodchips-sawdust-straw-or leaves to the pile to draw away the moisture...If the sun ever comes out then turn to dry....  

You could also try mixing in a bit of soil to add the microbes that decompose the vegetation, it's this action that produces the heat.  Actually, your compost heap sounds pretty much like the ones I end up with.  I know in theory how they're supposed to work but I never end up with the lovely looking crumbly compost that Alan Tichmarsh produces. 

I'm the same and have never made a compost heap work. I've just taken one out that I inherited with the house, it was the usual dank smelling slimy mess full of rubbish. It has now gone and I've extended the lawn into it.

We've had nearly four inches of rain this month and I was still able to get out and mow the lawn at the back this afternoon.