It Feels LIke Makuru Has Arrived

Makuru is the Noongar name for the season which covers June and July here in Western Australia but while it's technically not June for a few days another storm front has just barrelled down on us. This makes me think we're already into Makuru, which the Noongar people, the first inhabitants of this area, say is the season of the first rains among other things.  Fortunately this front was not as severe as the last one but it was the third to hit in just a few weeks so things have been getting quite a battering. The good thing about this is we're getting some much needed rain. The bad side is we're getting it largely along with strong, and in some cases very strong, winds, but as you can see from the photo the garden is still doing pretty well.

The forecast yesterday was for rain, mostly in the afternoon and evening, so before it arrived I raced to the veggie garden to plant out as many seedlings as I could. The punnets they were in had been being brought in and out of the shelter of the veranda to avoid them being drowned or washed away for much of the last week and they were well overdue for putting into their permanent homes. Don't let the apparently bare spots in the photo fool you. Except for the bit in the middle at the front and along the right hand side fence at the back, both of which beds are reserved for seedlings not yet ready to transplant, the rest of the garden is planted out. The plants are simply too small to show up on the photo.

All this activity means that along with spring onions (the straggly ones have been left to go to seed), nasturtiums, broccoli, kale, beetroot, lettuce and rainbow chard (all of which are already being picked), together with red onions and sugar snap and snow peas - you can see them well on their way up the fence, I now have two kinds of pak choi, choy sum, tatsoi, more lettuces and more beetroot. Still not quite ready to plant out are brown onions, leeks and some romanesco broccoli - these three I got as freebies from Diggers Nursery and have never tried to grow before so that will be interesting - plus dill, nigella, calendula and yet more lettuce.

Today's forecast was for showers and it's expected to continue that way for the rest of the long weekend. This is a bit grim for those taking advantage of the lifting of some travel restrictions to head south for the break but for me it's good news with my plantings off a good start. It also means I probably should take advantage of any sunny breaks to put in some more more seeds and at least try to keep up a succession of new plants coming on - not one of my strong points. I really should invest in some bug control measures, too. Last year many of my brassicas were wiped out by whitefly, not something I want to happen again. I use poisons so it's time to get online and do a spot of ordering of organic controls I guess. Wish me luck.