September plantings are going well. All six bed are about to be fully occupied. The ground is warming up and everything is taking off. Looking at the picture above, we run the six beds in an anti-clockwise rotation.
Bottom Left (closest) - grew a crop of green manure over winter, now has corn and a few quick growing lettuce's, will fill the rest of the space with zucchini, cucumbers and pumpkins shortly.
Bottom Right - grew a crop of green manure over winter, now filled with three varieties of potatoes. They've been in for about three weeks and are about to break through any day. If all goes well, we'll be digging new spuds for Christmas Lunch.
Centre Right - root bed. Growing four varieties of carrots, spring onions, beetroot and pak-choi. Finishing off a crop of lettuce's to make room for more carrots or pak-choi.
Top Right - Filled with broccoli, flat leaf parsley and a row of sugar snap peas climbing up a wire frame. The peas are taller than I am and producing a great crop. We’re lucky the birds haven’t discovered them yet.
Top Left - Filled with four varieties of onions. They all went in back in June and are coming along well. They should be ready to pull in January.
Centre Left - grew a crop of green manure over winter, that’s rotted down and I’ve just dug in a load of compost ready to plant tomatoes any day. I’ll also plant egg plant, capsicum and loads of basil in-between the tomatoes.
Along the northern side of our patch we've put a series of grape vines. They protect our patch from the hot summer winds and gives the entire back yard a wonderful green backdrop all though the hot summer months. There are two varieties of grapes, one red, one white and although they've only been in for about 4 years, they produce more than we can eat. A few warm days over the last couple of weeks has seen all the buds burst open and the entire frame is covered with small green leaves.
At one end of the grape vine, in the back corner of our yard, we've partitioned off our compost bins. They're hidden away behind a bamboo fence just in case they get a bit untidy. They were very easy to make, I just used some old hardwood shipping pallets. Just stood them up and used a few steal posted to hold them in place. They allow plenty of air flow into the compost and are easy to get hold of. I found 4 bins are ideal. One (back corner) I use as a bulk holding bin for sheep poo, I can buy it locally by the trailer load. The next bin (far left) I use as a holding bin for the finished compost. The other two (right) I use for the fresh new compost that's still rotting down. Rather than trying to flip or turn the material in a single bin, I find it's far easier to toss it from one bin to the other. It does a better job of mixing it up and gets the air back into the entire load.
This load broke down over winter and is ready to start going out. I've just put a few loads into the tomato bed. The rest will go on over the next couple months as I finish off the planting.
This winter has been wet again after so many dry years. So the compost rotted down really well without drying out too much. The heats gone out of it now so the worms have moved in. It's loaded with them and the soil is holding plenty of moisture.
The veggie patch is partitioned from the rest of our back yard by a large East/West garden bed. It has a pathway thought it and a hedge along the back. Although the patch is not hidden, it is excluded sufficiently, that you're drawn along the pathway to see what is beyond the hedge. Once you move past it, the veggie patch opens up as a whole new area within the yard. The Western end opens out onto the children's cubby area. This is the only area of lawn we keep green over the summer months with gray water. But that's a subject for another day.
Peter W
Top Right - Filled with broccoli, flat leaf parsley and a row of sugar snap peas climbing up a wire frame. The peas are taller than I am and producing a great crop. We’re lucky the birds haven’t discovered them yet.
Along the northern side of our patch we've put a series of grape vines. They protect our patch from the hot summer winds and gives the entire back yard a wonderful green backdrop all though the hot summer months. There are two varieties of grapes, one red, one white and although they've only been in for about 4 years, they produce more than we can eat. A few warm days over the last couple of weeks has seen all the buds burst open and the entire frame is covered with small green leaves.
This load broke down over winter and is ready to start going out. I've just put a few loads into the tomato bed. The rest will go on over the next couple months as I finish off the planting. 
The veggie patch is partitioned from the rest of our back yard by a large East/West garden bed. It has a pathway thought it and a hedge along the back. Although the patch is not hidden, it is excluded sufficiently, that you're drawn along the pathway to see what is beyond the hedge. Once you move past it, the veggie patch opens up as a whole new area within the yard. The Western end opens out onto the children's cubby area. This is the only area of lawn we keep green over the summer months with gray water. But that's a subject for another day. 
This weekend we have played, napped, gardened and measured the house.
1st born was very lucky and won second prize in his school fathers day raffle!
Perfect Fathers day gift for Peter the handyman.
Here's helper #2 checking out the new corn seedlings after we planted them out in the patch. The boys saved seed from last years crop and we planted some a few weeks back in our new heated seed propagating tray. With 100% germination, it's been a great success. Since we've only just turned the corner into Spring, we covered the new seedlings with a sheet of clear laser-light. It increases the ground temperature so the plants get a great kick-start and frosts don't worry them. 
Here's helper #2 (#3 in the background) checking the sugar snap peas, they're flowering now and the first few pods are visible. There's no chance they'll make it inside though, the boys will clean them up before then. The peas share the bed with broccoli in various stages and they're surrounded by flat leaf parsley.
We sowed another row of carrots and thinned a couple of the other rows. The first rows are getting big enough to start using. Although they don't seen to make it inside either. The boys have polished the first of the carrots off as they play in the back yard.
Planted out some more Beetroot as well to give us fresh beetroot over a longer time. The first are getting quite big now and are not too far off ready. Planted more Lettuce seedlings in another bed, so by the time these ones next to the beetroot are finished we'll have more ready to go. That will make room for some pak choi in this bed.
Onion bed is full and they're all doing well. They'll be ready in January some time. They're mostly brown onions but we also have White and Red Onions, Garlic and Chives in this bed.
Peter's Turn to add a few pic's and a note or two;
We'd had three varieties of potatoes sitting out in a dry, sunny spot for the past few weeks. Most had shot and were ready to go in the ground. They were, Desiree, Nicola and Charlotte. The first potatoes will be ready to dig in time for Christmas Dinner.
Since he'd been involved in last seasons potatoes dig back in December, my little helper understood what was going on. Only problem is he asks every day if it's Christmas yet.
If anyone needs to know how deep you should plant them, they're an arms length down, a three year olds arm length.
Peter is on a weeks holiday at the moment, 
Here is the complete picture of the goodies I sent off for my Madeit button swap partner Narelle.
I have also been making a quilt for 3rd born's bed, he was sick a couple of Friday's ago,
Now to make one for 2nd born, then 3rd born.....
