This is an Earwig. They seem to have this habit of getting into anything in the garden made from wood, where they set-up little colonies. Then they become large colonies. At night they move en masse to the closest growing thing and start chewing it to the stump. Bastards!! But you see, there is a … Continue reading
Monthly Archives: September 2014
The Unravelling of Grapes in Spring
I always worry about grape vines in the Winter. They look dead for months, just until those leaves burst open into Spring sunshine. In preparation for the demands of the new season, the soil has been improved with basalt dust and vermicast made from coffee grounds and chicken manure. A good dose of fish emulsion just … Continue reading
Tamarillo Tree Following – August 2014
Way back in May we had a single Tamarillo fruit left on the tree – and then there was Winter! The Sun is returning to high arcs through the sky, and the wind has become less bitter. Spring and her promise of rebirth has arrived 🙂 So it seems for the Tamarillo, with rapid new growth in … Continue reading
Mulch on a Vegetable Garden
There was a time when I thought adding lots of mulch to poor quality soil would make for good quality soil. But it didn’t work out that way… What happened was that the 2 inch layer of mulch was cooking in the Summer sun, below which a thick layer of poor quality soil remained, impervious to … Continue reading