The Garden of Woz...

[Whwoz]

Seed sowing season has arrived here at the Garden of Woz, with three varieties of peas sown before we went away to QLD. These were Willow, shelling pea (older commercial seed, needs to be soaked before sowing next lot) only moderate germination, Sugar Anne sugar snap pea, self collected seed, germinated well and Jupiter, a purple podded snow pea, supposed to get to 1.5m/5 feet tall, self collected seed, germinated well. All are growing well and nearly up to the climbing trellis mesh, which is roughly 100mm/4 inches above ground. Need to start next lot soon.

Peppers, seed went in on Thursday, with the following varieties sown:
King of the North
Horizon
Beja
Antohi Romanian
Round of Hungary
Perennial
ODA
Antep Aci Dolma
Ramiro Red
Tolli's Sweet Italian
Red Bulls Horn
Leutschauer Paprika
Pimenta Crystal
Shishito Black
Keystone Giant
Trinidad Perfume
Chillie Pie
Midnight Dream
Orange Bell ex commercial
Yellow Bell ex commercial

About 25 Giant Single Sunflower seeds were also sown

Beetroot for seed, those relocated for seed production have recovered from there relocation experience and are doing well.

The parsnip top is showing signs of growing out, hopefully it has put out some roots as I would like seed from it.

Have planted Seven cherry trees, which will be set up on trellis wires in an attempt to fan espalier them
Minnie Royal
Royal Lee
Starkrimson
Stella
Lapins
Black Cherree
White Cherree

The last two have been released here by Flemings Nurseries, our biggest fruit tree nursery as part of their "Trixzie" range of dwarf fruit trees on root stock that will limit them to about 2.4m/8 feet instead of a more typical 5m/15-16 feet. A couple of poorly shaped roots were removed and stooled to see if they will shoot for me to form new root stock for grafting a couple that Mum and Dad have growing, Bedford's Prolific and its pollinator Eagle. These have been setup in the big garden bed, which will hopefully give them enough drainage to do well.

Tomato seeds are due to go in within the next fortnight.

[GoDawgs]

I had to think for a minute but yep, you're swinging into spring as we make our way toward fall. Time for peas Down Under! And off you go into a new glorious season. I hope it's a good productive one.

[Ken4230]

Loving the Aussie garden info and pictures!

I can tell already that I am going to love this and I am still on the first page. Will be up all night finishing this. Love the pictures of the flowers.
Thanks @Whwoz for the awesome pictures.

[Whwoz]

I had to think for a minute but yep, you're swinging into spring as we make our way toward fall. Time for peas Down Under! And off you go into a new glorious season. I hope it's a good productive one.

Thank You @GoDawgs

[Whwoz]

Loving the Aussie garden info and pictures!

I can tell already that I am going to love this and I am still on the first page. Will be up all night finishing this. Love the pictures of the flowers.
Thanks @Whwoz for the awesome pictures.

Hope you enjoy it @Ken4230. This type of thing where new members join up and can see what others have done over the years is why we setup glogs, plus they serve as a useful garden diary for ones own reference down the track.

[Whwoz]

Bees,

As most of the longer term member here would know, I like having bees about for pollination of the various fruit trees we have on site. We had to have them removed earlier this year, aiming to do some earthworks, concreting etc. Bees do not like diesel or diesel exhaust fumes and so are incompatible with most machinery for this type of work. Works have not happened yet for one reason or another but we had call from the bee keeper last weekend saying that he has been asked to get some bees off where they are and could he move 4 hives back to our place. As the fruit trees around the place are starting to move and a lot of the ornamental ones are now flowering the answer was yes.

This lead to a mad flurry of activity to get an area ready for them, this time where I want them long term rather than just a quick throw down some pallets and there you go type of thing.

Bee 1.jpg

Using the walking tractor with rotary hoe on it, I chopped up a bit on the dam bank them dragged the loose soil over against a retaining wall put in for this purpose, had to buy in a bit of soil to finish the job. I was originally going to put a concrete slab along the top of this but time did not allow, so mulched it instead.

Bee 2.jpg

After the mulch went down, some heavy plastic and plastic pallets went into place, with more mulch around the edge of pallets. This should keep all the grass well away from the hives while the 400mm/16 inch drop at the front will allow plenty of room there as well. Easy enough to mow along the front, just a matter of doing it in the cool of an evening, closing the doors on the bees for the short time while I am in front of the hives or leaving it a bit later and doing the mowing in full dark with a red light.

Bee 3.jpg

The first four pallets in place, now have six and can fit another six along there which would allow for more hives than the bee keeper currently has to be located there. pallets slope slightly to the north which will allow any rain that gets into the hives to drain. A frame and shade cloth will be located over the hives for summer to keep them a bit cooler.

[bower]

Can't wait to see your new cherry trees in bloom!

[Whwoz]

Can't wait to see your new cherry trees in bloom!

I can't either @Bower2, but as most were whips it will be two or three years away..

[bower]

@Whwoz I'm very interested in the espalier process. I've given some thought to it as a means of building in animal protection for some trees here. So I would love to see how that process is carried out, when your whips have some branches! And we'll all drink champagne when they bloom

[Whwoz]

@bower This is the first time that I have attempted to espalier anything, so it will be a learn as we go session. Getting most of my inspiration from here https://www.woodbridgefruittrees.com.au ... s-learning, they have other pages with more info as well.

From what I understand, semi-dwarfing rootstock (say 50-70% seedling rootstock size) is probably best. There are plenty of rootstocks available for apples that are suitable, but not as many for the other types of fruit trees, at least down here, you may have more selection available to you over there. There are many different arrangements of espalier, just a matter of looking and seeing what works best.

[JayneR13]

That's very interesting to see how you're setting your hives up! Do you use European honey bees or a local species? And why mow at night with a red light? Does mowing during the day upset the colony?

[Whwoz]

That's very interesting to see how you're setting your hives up! Do you use European honey bees or a local species? And why mow at night with a red light? Does mowing during the day upset the colony?

These are going to be your typical European honey bee and they do not appreciate mammalian activity near the front of their hives during the day. where I had them last year I was able to mow to within about 6 feet of the front of the hives if I was careful and did it in a controlled fashion. The thing to remember is that bees do not like other creatures, especially mammals who have been known to rob hives, within their flight path, which is the 90 degree arc from 45 degrees either side of their hive entry point. As bees generally fly up, the closer to the ground you are, the closer to the front of the hives you can get. You can walk up to the back of the hives and careful touch it, as long as the bees do not think that they are under attack you will not be stung. If you thump a hive hard, they will come to investigate.

Bees do not see red light, so you can walk right up to the front of the hive at night with a red light and they will not realize you are there. White light at night they will come out to investigate.

So the mowing at night is really just a risk (of stinging) minimization thing, especially if one does not have a bee hood. Mow as much during the day as one feels comfortable doing without upsetting bees then finish at night with red light. the other thing to be aware of is the bees can track us if they can smell our breath, it is an attack response trigger for them.

[JayneR13]

Interesting! The species I deal with the most in my garden is the bumblebee, which is basically a flying panda. I've weeded next to the plant(s) they were foraging without difficulty, but I've never tried to approach either. Bumbles are ground nesters so I've never seen a hive. I do try to leave plenty of spaces for them to overwinter though. I also leave my yard waste until I absolutely have to deal with it, since bumbles nest under fallen leaves as well. I had no idea bees could smell my breath, or that such would trigger an attack. Wow! I've considered getting hives but my garden/yard is small and the neighbors already hate me LOL. So perhaps I should just stick with happy bumblebees and a few Masons.

[Whwoz]

Interesting! The species I deal with the most in my garden is the bumblebee, which is basically a flying panda. I've weeded next to the plant(s) they were foraging without difficulty, but I've never tried to approach either. Bumbles are ground nesters so I've never seen a hive. I do try to leave plenty of spaces for them to overwinter though. I also leave my yard waste until I absolutely have to deal with it, since bumbles nest under fallen leaves as well. I had no idea bees could smell my breath, or that such would trigger an attack. Wow! I've considered getting hives but my garden/yard is small and the neighbors already hate me LOL. So perhaps I should just stick with happy bumblebees and a few Masons.

That's a good way to describe bumblebees @JayneR13. There are some in Tasmania, imported from where and when I do not know, but they are more passive than honey bees. If you have a small yard, the only place that you could put a hive would be on a roof if you have a flat, solid one with good access and room for working it. A full hive is HEAVY, a three box hive pushing 100lb is not out of the question.

[JayneR13]

Nope, no rooftop hives here My roof is incredibly steep with several dormers and no flat spaces whatsoever. I like to sit on my deck and enjoy the plantings there, so hives there are not a good idea. Sounds like I'm best off sticking with the flying pandas! They do a great job pollinating my small garden.

[Ken4230]

Interesting! The species I deal with the most in my garden is the bumblebee, which is basically a flying panda. I've weeded next to the plant(s) they were foraging without difficulty, but I've never tried to approach either. Bumbles are ground nesters so I've never seen a hive. I do try to leave plenty of spaces for them to overwinter though. I also leave my yard waste until I absolutely have to deal with it, since bumbles nest under fallen leaves as well. I had no idea bees could smell my breath, or that such would trigger an attack. Wow! I've considered getting hives but my garden/yard is small and the neighbors already hate me LOL. So perhaps I should just stick with happy bumblebees and a few Masons.

We put a 300 acre field in the CRP several years ago, had to mow it 2 times a year. second mowing felt something on my neck, grasshopper I thought, reached back to squish it and realized that it was a bumblebee that I had by the wrong end. Bumblebees always got a little aggressive around mufflers on tractors. When I would disturb a hive, I would hold my breath until I drove past them. Other than that I have no problem with them, Rare sight now to see a bumblebee.

We still have a lot of Carpenter Bees here. A storm tore the top out of a Cypress 4-5 years ago, as I was cutting it up, Bumblebees started swarming out of it. The top is still there, when they leave, I will finish cutting it up.

[Whwoz]

image.png

The two hives at home so far, sitting on plastic pallets which are anchored to the retaining wall with a heavy black sheet under the pallet which extends somewhere between 3 feet and 1 meter out the other side, with the excess covered in mulch. European honeybees are apparently quite fond of mulch that is kept damp as they can extract their required water from it more easily and safely than from a dam. Easy enough to keep some of it wet so we shall see how it goes.

Those boxes can get rather heavy if the bees get going properly, just need a few nice days for them now with a lot of ornamental fruit trees in flower, plus the wild mustard in full bloom. Each box, if full of honey can weigh around 40kg/88lb so that 4 stack could potentially top 160kg/350lb!

[PlainJane]

Great looking setup!

[Whwoz]

Great looking setup!

That setup extends either side, a total of 12 pallets, about 48 feet so far. Was aiming to get a strip of concrete about 3 feet wide at the base of that retaining wall, but did not quite make it this year. So far only about 1/2 the north side of the dam bank/yabbie pond bank done like that, I need to get the rest finished the same way. Will make keeping that area clean a lot easier. 12 months ago it was 8 feet high with blackberries.

[Whwoz]

Off shortly to pick up two more bee hives.

IMG_20240907_160703_936.jpg

IMG_20240907_160719_243.jpg

One of the Cylindrica beetroot that is still in the garden, initially thought it was running up to seed but just tall.