This weekend just gone, I planted out many of the seedlings that I’ve been cultivating in the lounge for the past month. It’s very early in the season and the weather’s quite unfavorable. So, to give the seedlings a fair chance against the Wellington wind, I’ve made a polythene tunnel out of 2omm electrical conduit, weighed down by LOTS of bricks. I’ve kept adding bricks wherever the wind blows the polythene off — it takes approx two or three bricks every half meter to secure the polythene against the wind.

Here you can see it on the day it was erected — many more bricks needed since then!

Inside are 20 silverbeets, 6 cabbages and 4 beetroot, all seedlings grown from ecoseeds seeds. The bed was prepared by the chooks, then double-dug and covered with a thick mulch of straw and semi-composted manure and wood chips.

I pruned back some more trees last weekend to let more light in for the fruit trees. When I arrived last April there was one pear tree full of many tiny pears. I’m hoping that, with a bit of care, I’ll get a better crop from it this year. All the fruit trees have been smeared with biodynamic cow-dung, have a ring of mulch to keep the grass from competing for their nutrition, and now, much more light.

There’s a row of tall non-fruiting trees at the back of the section. I’m tempted to cut several down to let in more light (especially important for a passive solar designed house). But I’m finding they’re serving a useful purpose as a wind-break — and in Wellington a wind break is more important than copious sunlight. Even the pruning I’ve already done seems to let in more wind.

As a fringe-benefit, I made a japa-meditation seat out of one large trunk. It’s great to sit in the back yard and chant — so peaceful.