This week’s Over the Fence includes a few things to do in the hot weather – focusing on your garden and – when it gets too hot in the middle of the day – retreating to somewhere cool to listen to a good podcast.
It is also a pretty good time to go fencing, because heat softens the wire making it easier to handle. But back to podcasts and gardening …
‘Bagdad Nights’ podcast
I listened to this compelling podcast during harvest. Cast your mind back around 20 years ago.
Do you remember that photo plastered across the front page of Australian daily newspapers of a greying shirtless Australian businessman abroad, with a gold necklace smiling casually whilst aiming a revolver at the camera?
That man was Trevor Flugge, an Australian farmer and businessman, former chairman of the AWB 1995-2002. After being voted off the board in 2002 he was appointed as a consultant to AWB.
Later that year, he travelled to Bagdad with then AWB chairman Andrew Lindberg to rescue an AWB wheat export deal with Saddam Hussein’s regime engaging the Oil for Food Programme.
Journalist Richard Baker’s ‘Secrets We Keep’ season three, titled ‘Bagdad Nights’, takes you behind the scenes to explain what really happened – and find out what eventually led to, I believe, the premature and accelerated dismantling of Australia’s single desk wheat export monopoly.
It is a gripping tale and can be found on all good podcasting platforms.
The Composta Swimsuit Edition
Well, it certainly feels like the middle of summer with a number of consecutive days in the high 30’s and the weather bureau and media putting out “code red” alerts like we have never had a summer before – plus the usual TV weather reports live from the beach.
Next thing they will be interviewing someone who works in an ice factory (I mean frozen water kind, not the Smithfield ice joint).
Anyway, it looks like Greta Thunberg was correct and climate change has found us, and it was not just a money-making scam after all.
So, to the garden, it’s quite simple really, hot weather equals lots of watering. To keep your garden looking good you need to water enough but not too much and the secret is knowing how much water are you really putting on.
For example, your lawn needs about 20mm of “rainfall” in each spot at least once a week to keep it looking fresh. The newer water-saving sprinklers may only be putting out 10mm per hour and so that means you would need to leave it in one spot for two hours to get the desired water on.
Tip of the week: Buy a rain gauge and put it under your sprinkler. After 30 minutes see how much is in it. This will give you a much better idea of how long you need to water for.
If you have fruit trees loaded with fruit they will need between 300-500 litres of water per week. A good dripper system works well but once again how much is coming out? You may need to leave it going for 12 hours at a time, a couple times a week.
Another great tip: Put a slow running hose under the canopy of the tree. Get a measuring jug and time how much water is coming out per minute. A three-litre rate per minute is what you want so the water will soak in and not run away.
This means you need to run your hose for 2-2.5 hours per tree per week. You can also move the hose to the other side of the tree after an hour or so for a better all-round soaking. This idea also works well with deciduous trees and roses, etc.
Do not forget the importance of a good thick layer of mulch. I have been banging on about this for some time but it will save heaps in water by preventing the soil from drying out quickly.
The vegetable garden is a bit different as most of those plants are shallow rooted and therefore do not need deep soakings.
Vegetables like lettuce and cauliflower have a big leaf area so they need regular waterings, preferably in the morning and to a depth below their root system.
Protect tomatoes, strawberries, pumpkin, etc, with shade cloth. They love the hot weather if they are being watered correctly, but the direct hot sun will damage the plants and fruit.
An easy solution is to cover them with a 30 per cent shade cloth just to take the bite off – it works a treat.
That is all for now. As I write it is 41 degrees and so on goes my limited edition Composta mankini and it’s into the pool for me. Stay hydrated!
Composta out.
