It is a time of abundance! Not tooo much rain as first feared, all just perfect in my world. My garden is overflowing with fresh food, flowers and herbs to cater for the many wonderful friends and family who visit in this down time of work as we enjoy the  decadence we are blessed with.

The humidity is high which encourages black spot on Tomatoes and Silverbeet. Tie up your large fruiting Toms and remove spotty leaves and put in the garbage to avoid spreading the fungus and allowing it to live in the soil. Remove spotty leaves from Silverbeet and dispose of the same. If you keep the sun shining in on these plants and good air flow, this will extend a healthy life for you to reap the benefits.

Comfrey is producing many leaves for our use – mulch, forage for animals and liquid feeds. To make Comfrey liquid fertilizer,  fill a bin with a lid and cover with water, let sit for at least a month and you will have lovely organic feed for Autumn.

Tumeric leaves are too in abundance. I like to wrap what foods I like to infuse with the subtle Tumeric flavour and bake in the oven. Society Garlic flowers are never ending in array. Enjoy their purple Garlic flowers with sour cream on freshly dug Potatoes mmmmmmmmmmm or toss them through Tizikki.

Fruit fly are a huge nuisance. I classify them worse than Nut Grass, except I don't grow fruit which may be susceptible – I can't permanently rid Nut Grass. Bagging your fruit individually is very effective but initially very timely. White cotton bags do a good job or a opaque fabric,  possibly synthetic of some kind is OK, Fruit Fly Traps are good too. They lure the male to the trap and the female is therefore unfertilized and her eggs will not hatch rigglers. Open traps are just small containers without a lid. To make a closed trap, cut a plastic soft drink bottle in two at shoulder level. Turn the top piece upside down and insert into the bottom part and tape together firmly. Fill to a third with a bait solution. This attracts the flies and they can't escape.
Baits:
Bran, sugar and hot water
Banana peel in water
Orange peel, human urine and water
Vegemite and water
Molasses, flour and water
Vegemite, banana peel, urine and water
Fruit fly love the sweet yeastiness of these mixtures and drown in them.
Be certain to use Molasses, not honey or sugar. It is less attractive to bees.

The busiest time for me now is the harvesting which I enjoy immensely. This is a calm period before Autumn, which believe it or not, is not too far away.

Bon Apetit

Enjoy!
See you at the Summer Plant Fair Bello. Market Site

HOT, Hot & Humid is how I describe February. February is the most humid and  hottest time of the year. Don't over do it. Heat exhaustion can easily happen with you and your plants if we don't hydrate efficiently. Watering in these hot times is crucial.  Deep watering in the cool of the day – morning preferably to avoid fungal attack. Water the soil only to avoid drift, evaporation and fungus.

Water without flooding so the water penetrates deep, hence the roots look for the water deep and they are more protected from the heat deeper in the soil. I am in preference not to plant too much this time of year as my water supply is reserved for the nursery (and the Nut Grass is too aggressive). I spend my time buying local produce to help keep those who work hard in this difficult weather, than time planting and caring. I am still harvesting a plentiful but will end up with a gap in succession. If you are planting keep your aspect and micro climate in mind. Plant taller plants – Cosmos, Basil, Climbing Beans on the west side of your more tender plants –Lettuce, Stir Fries to help keep them cool from hot western afternoon sun. It is your last chance to plant Potatoes, Cucumbers, Capsicums, Zucchini's – Summer crops.

It is a month of extremities. I have mentioned the heat, this is now our wet season – heavy down pours and generally flooding. The soil will be leached of all remaining available nutrients and a little compacted from heavy rain. Good mulching practices will help avoid this. Once the flooding weather has passed. I lift the mulch and spread some manure, chicken manure pellets or blood and bone to raise the nutrient level again and give those plants that are still producing enough reserves to finish their crop.

Make sure you dig up your spuds before long deluges as they will rot in the ground. I dug up my small patch of potatoes, about 4m squares; and gathered about 20kg; after bandicooting them throughout late December, January. The soil was nicely tilled ready to plant a green manure crop such as Cow Peas in readiness for the Autumn plantings. More practices in the like can be forfilled now – composting, mulch gathering, liquid feed brews a going. Great preparation for Autumn.

You may have noticed certain areas where weeds are a pain to maintain. February is the last month to divide and move Lemon Grass and Comfrey. These guys make great weed barriers and a strong efficient fence to contain ducks and geese. Basil, Dill and Fennel is coming into flower, besides the benefits of seed collection, they attract beneficiary insects and pollinators. They will be standing ready for the Cabbage family to be planted next month.