If I have a giant pile of dirt, and a thin layer of mulch on top of that, will seeds planted in the dirt part usually be able to grow through the mulch or no?
Depends on the porosity/density/depth of the mulch. In my experience stuff will always grow through mulch, but itās easier to pull out if itās something you donāt want.
I would do big seeds maybe like peas, sunflowers, beans. For small seeds I would not personally not pre-cover, partly because of slugs and snails which might eat seedlings, but also especially for seeds that need light to germinate. Oh, well, actually, maybe not even big seeds if you have slugs or snails (which I guess you donāt know yet, but I do and I live in a dry climate too so YMMV).
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My experience with slugs and snails in my climate is that they laugh in the face of everything and will eat it, mulched or not.
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I received shade cloth and geotextile fabric today! Iām building raised garden beds over the next few months, loosely following some instructions from my āsquare metre gardeningā book. Iām hoping I am not making them too shallow to grow food, the book suggests only a shallow depth is required.
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What are you using the geotextile fabric for?
My plan was to use it as a barrier between my nice vegetable growing soil, and the alkaline sand (also full of ants) that is currently there.
My concern then would be root depth because I donāt think roots can penetrate through geotextile but I may be wrong on that. So then it depends on the veg you plan on growing there and maybe thinking of it in terms of a really large container?. If you wanted to grow just about anything, 40cm depth should be plenty. 25cm would get you many things. Less than that, hard to say. But I also donāt have a lot of experience in this, so take with a box of salt 
After actually going and reading a bunch of stuff this morning I think i donāt really need it because I am just building on sand thatās been underneath bricks, not over grass or weeds as many other people have done! Ah well, it wasnāt very expensive and Iām quite certain Iāll end up finding a use for it.
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Itās useful for making wicking beds 
I ordered luffah seeds today. Iām hoping if I sow as soon as they arrive, I can get fruit before the cold weather hits, and then Iāll officially be in the business of growing my own sponges. Iām thinking slices of luffah, a crocheted dishcloth and maybe some fancy soap make a pretty great gift, tooā¦
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The year I grew luffa, everyone got luffa gifts! I even made exfoliating soap with luffa bits in it.
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Oh I have some seeds but didnāt plant them yet! I better do that today.
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I have luffa seeds and a Pringles tube to make my own exfoliating luffa soaps. Just no space to grow them 
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what is the purpose of the pringles tube? Is it to shape the luffa as they grow?
I think I am winning the war on mealy bugs by spraying with a detergent+water spray. The ants have decided to just directly eat the strawberries instead of farming the mealy bugs. I gave up on playing nice with the ants and thereās someone at my house, spraying them right now. Theyāre probably an invasive species of ābrown coastal antā if my identification was correct.
This means in a week I get to start gardening again! Iāve been holding off since everything was eaten by ants (and failing them, slaters or snails).
Is anyone having success in the garden at the moment? Eaten any tasty produce?
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Iām picking and eating handfuls of cherry tomatoes every day!
Picking and eating lots of capsicum, eggplants and basil.
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Yum! Those sound like veggies that would cook up well together, too.
I came back when I remembered I have had a recent win: my apple tree bloomed a second time this season, and itās set fruit! That means a neighbour must have a compatible tree, so I have good neighbours and we might get an edible apple this year.
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Pop the dried luffa in the tube, add melted down soap, let it set, release from tube, slice into rounds and use in the bathroom, combined soap and scrubber in one.
Came from a segment in Gardening Australia.
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Oooooh 
Thatās clever