rain, fruit trees, seed germination

It's raining here, meaning a lull in gardening activities. Just as it was beginning to rain on Saturday evening, after a burst of rain the day before, I decided that the feijoa and tamarillo trees absolutely had to be planted. We've only owned them in tiny pots for a month after all. I couldn't get the spade or fork into the ground until the rain came, but on Saturday evening I dug holes twice the depth of the pots, half filled them with home made compost and then planted each tree, put most of the soil back in, watered with seaweed/comfrey brew and then mulched with pea straw. Then the warm rain settled in to do its job. All this detail to remind myself that I did it properly, like the books recommend. Not sure if fh followed this procedure for the lemon tree last year - it sure is taking a while to settle in and start growing.

Seed germination hasn't been particularly high of late, including from seed packets with a better rate earlier in the season. I think the hot dry weather has dried out those little pots too fast, and am hoping that the current warm rain prompts my seeds into growth. Maybe I'll even get some success with carrots. Ha ha ha. Still haven't decided on an occasion special enough to harvest my ONE carrot out of the previous two sowings.

The beer traps are working well though. I have six set up and each has caught at least three slugs. No good setting them down in this rain, but I'll put fresh beer down when the rain stops.

The pods of my borlotti beans are going a deeper red over time. Haven't eaten any. I was growing them for drying for winter use.