It is so dry here. We have had a days of humidity where you think, a storm is surely just around the corner. But in November we have only had one afternoon of rain. I feel grateful for that – I know some areas have had nothing.

Long Hot Spring

The lack of rain and humidity sees everything wilting – even humans! I haven’t spent much time in the patch due to the weather as well as other commitments. Most days have hit mid to high 30s and without that relief of an afternoon storm. My veggie patch is looking sad.

The green manure crop that I wanted to put in this month didn’t go in. Because I was away most weekends, I didn’t want to take that risk of not having the area watered while the crop was still seed in the ground. But I’m hoping that next month, I will be able to write, guess what I sowed that green manure crop!

Pesky Wildlife

Last month, I wrote about the cane toads getting into my lettuce.

This month it was the beetroot seedlings that were attacked by the cane toads. I know the cane toads don’t care about the actual seedlings but the mess that they cause by burrowing in the boxes uproots the seedlings.

I meant to move I did move the boxes to another area because I was concerned. Every morning they would look OK so I kept putting it off….and those boxes were full of potting mix and heavy! One morning my luck ran out and those cane toads had a party in those boxes at my beetroot seedlings expense.

So I moved the boxes as well as some pot plants. A few seedlings did survive the cane toad party. But even in this new area, the party still continued! I don’t remember having this much trouble or the large number of cane toads since we moved here.

I will look at surrounding the boxes with a barrier to stop those toads from hopping in.

King Parrots are also being a bit cheeky. I have only ever seen them eating my snowpeas. Usually towards the end of the season – so I don’t worry about it. But I was surprised when I noticed two of them, sitting on top of the trellis eating green cherry tomatoes. I have trellised the cherry tomato plants instead of letting them trail all over the ground but after seeing this cheeky parrot behaviour, I may have to re-think this as I don’t really want to net a whole trellis.

That weekend I was at a school working bee and two of the other mums let me know that king parrots were also eating their green tomatoes!

Silverbeet and Sorell

I still getting some leafy greens out of the patch – my trusty standby crop of silverbeet and sorell is still making me feel like I have a veggie patch at the moment!My goal for next year is to create a detailed crop succession plan. I am not a planner by nature but I can see the benefits of such a tool.

Highlights this month was an early morning discovery of an apple cucumber starting to grow. Also, noticing the kale plants growing new baby leaves at the base of its stem. Enough for a stir-fry! Moments like these that encourage me to keep growing even with wildlife challenges, crazy weather and lack of planning!

That’s all for now. For more regular updates, don’t forget to Like our Facebook  page.

WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR NOVEMBER HAPPENINGS IN YOUR VEGGIE PATCH? WE WOULD LOVE TO KNOW! PLEASE LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.