Hello from Southern Adelaide

[Julie-Jane]

I'm very excited to join this community.
I love to research everything about backyard growing of edibles especially backyard orchard culture and food forest ecology with the added benefits of beneficial insects and a healthy soil food Web. Thanks

 

[GKW]

G'Day and welcome Julie-Jane.

Enjoy the forum. A backyard full of great info, tips and members.

 

[AndrewB]

Welcome, are you growing anything at the moment?

 

[Julie-Jane]

Thanks for the welcome.. Yes we currently have lots of young fruit trees on a suburban block, backyard orchard culture style.
Plan is to interplant with vegies once we have improved the soil a bit more and the trees can provide more protection.
Chickens one day along the back fence.
You?

 

[AndrewB]

Much the same, lots of fruit trees planted this year. I've interplanted with comfrey & other herbs which is doing a great job of keeping the soil cool. I have a temperature sensor at the base of an apricot tree. It was showing 25c, while the main unit in the shade of the deck was at 32c!

I also planted beans all over the place & let them die back to get some nitrogen & organic matter into the soil naturally.

It looks a bit wild, but everything seems to be doing really well.

I also have chickens along the back fence, well that's where they sleep, they spend most of the day digging through the mulch on the pathways.

 

[Julie-Jane]

Much the same, lots of fruit trees planted this year. I've interplanted with comfrey & other herbs which is doing a great job of keeping the soil cool. I have a temperature sensor at the base of an apricot tree. It was showing 25c, while the main unit in the shade of the deck was at 32c!

I also planted beans all over the place & let them die back to get some nitrogen & organic matter into the soil naturally.

It looks a bit wild, but everything seems to be doing really well.

I also have chickens along the back fence, well that's where they sleep, they spend most of the day digging through the mulch on the pathways.

Have you been there long?
How many chooks?
I have comfrey planted between my trained Cherry and flat peach. It got hammered by woolly bear caterpillars and earwigs in early spring
I'm thinking of introducing borage but not sure yet. I don't mind things rambling a bit but I don't really have much space..

 

[AndrewB]

I've only been here about 10 months & have 3 chooks, which are much louder than advertised. One seems to have taken on the role of rooster & squawks loudly at anything she sees or hears, I have to send the dog outside so she calms down.

I've been mostly pest free so far, I think it's due to the huge variety of plants, there is a pretty high diversity of insects & predators, which balance each other out.

 

[Mary Playford]

Hi Julie

Join Joes' Connected Garden FB Group. They are in the Elizabeth area not far from me, They are a bit like Mark growing fruit trees in their yard.