Hello!
This morning I enjoyed some super fresh strawberry jam on my toast. I made up a batch last night (at about 10pm as one does) from some fresh strawberries and a small stash I had leftover in the freezer from last season
Today I set about filling the last spaces in the garden. Not that there are many left…
Broccoli – its time to go!Sprinting chooks! Clearly keen for some fresh greens
I still had a pot or two of the heirloom capsicums… I really hope they produce something as I have dedicated a bit of garden space to them!
Left – slow growing basil. Right – heirloom capsicum
Now – where to put a few of those self seeded broccoli plants? Sigh. The duck yard was the only option where I could fit them in where it was also possible to net them too. Weeding – next task weeding!
The ground was so hard… I ended up giving it a good soaking first. Of course, I ended up pretty muddy by the end of the day!
A good section weeded – enough for my plot, but still more weeding to be doneGood sized seedlings I dug up from the tomato bed where they are growing as happily as the weeds!Dug in a bit of mushroom compost into each plant space
In the next couple of days I will rig up some stakes and polypipe and get them netted before the cabbage moths find them
The rest of the mushroom compost in the bag I scattered around the tomatoes
As you can see I will struggle with the weeds in here – this space has been neglected for so many years
But I am happy with these tomatoes – they suddenly seem quite sturdy!
I just had a bit of a chuckle at a comment I found in my spam folder.
“Great post! I am facing a couple of these problems.”
The thing that caught my fancy was that it was in reply to the post ‘Chook Poo’ Really… the mind boggles! 😀
Anyway – time and space. I seem to be running out of both! Anyone want a working holiday in Tassie?? haha. Side benefits? Raspberries. Soon.
I had to say goodbye to this patch of parsley. Its all going to seed, and there is enough in other parts of the garden to more than satisfy my needs. And I needed space.
I forgot to dig up a couple of these bottles I had set into the ground to deep water the zucchini last season. (The parsley had taken over the zucchini spot) Happy home for snails.I felt a bit bad pulling them all up.
Space!More of the heirloom beefsteak tomatoes
I now have over 30 tomato plants scattered about – not including all the self seeded ones in the hothouse that I want to try to relocate out somewhere.
I am not sure if this is excessive yet or not. I will be cursing myself when I am knee deep in tomatoes and trying to process them all!!
Well – if they do well I hope I can sell a lot of the excess anyway.
So… onto my next space issue. Where to put 4 more zucchinis without having to hurt myself with weeding (that pretty much means I was not in the mood to tackle the duck yard today)
This spot will do.I still needed to leave some kind of path between the tomatoes and this new patchooooo! Legs!! Look what I found under the zucchini pot!! A baby huntsman! (and yes I carried it all the way from the hothouse to the vegie patch before discovering it. Glad it didn’t run up my arm, even if it is small!!)Hoping this won’t be too madly crowded… time will tell!These were called a Black Zucchini, a type of heirloom vegetable. Looking forward to seeing how they go.
One of Margie’s sons, Simon, dropped our trailer back today full of Ruby’s old fence! Both the boys have been working hard around Ruby & Margies place cleaning up.
Soon to be kindling!
So this is another job added to my list – cut and split ready for next winter! I made a small start by emptying the trailer
I spent quite some time doing the rounds watering this evening. Some hand watering and other spots, letting the sprinkler do its thing. Its so lovely to have the bore water so I don’t feel bad about giving out every drop from our limited tank water supply (although they are still full due the the high rainfall)
It was a beautiful hot day! I enjoyed every second.
One more day and then its SUMMER!!!
Well… Mum & Dad gone, Rachel gone, Jeff asleep & Pip snoozing somewhere – its a quiet household today.
Pip’s snoozing spot
I eventually went and did some boring domestic things in town before pottering about the garden. I did get back to weeding the beetroot –
They are not dead, but I wouldn’t call them flourishing! A few more days of sun and they might perk up a bit!
I made space for two of the zucchinis that have been in pots in the hothouse – they were doing so well… but needed space!
The potatoes and snow peas are really looking good
I am seeing more flowers on the little outside tomato plants
I am going to need to cover the carrot seed heads soon too
I picked a handful of lettuce for dinner too!
Then I spent a fun hour dropping a strawberry into a glass of water (as one does in the afternoon)
I have just started another photo challenge and with everything that has been happening I am not really prepared. I needed a ‘Splash’ photo
You get a lot of failures, and make quite a mess, but I found the variety of ‘splashes’ quite mesmerising
I found it hard to tear myself away and do responsible things like – make Jeff some dinner before he had to go to work kind of responsible.
Anyway – maybe I will do some more tomorrow for the fun of it!
I think I have chosen the one I want to use (unless I get something better in the meantime)
*********** ************** **************
I was just finishing up this post when I heard a bit of a commotion outside. So I grabbed a torch to go out and investigate what all the crashing sounds were.
Eventually I spotted the culprits!
A brush tailed possum mother with baby on her back!
Have a great day
Cheers
Amazing they stayed put while I went back inside to get my camera!
Mum and Dad’s last day today! And what a beautiful day it was too! So glad they didn’t leave until later in the afternoon so they could enjoy it. We went for a last beach walk down at Wynyard beach
Haha – Mum in a borrowed T-Shirt of mine. (She wasn’t expecting t-shirt weather!)
Of course, we popped into Ruby’s to see her and Margie to have a cuppa and say goodbye
Then about five minutes before we hopped in the car to go to the airport, my very cool cousin, Fiona rocked up on her motorbike! She just got her ‘L’ plates and is getting braver at buzzing about the place.
A bit warm in the leathers today!!Strawberries getting better and better!The raspberry canes are FULL
So who is going to be clever enough to be staying here when the five million raspberries need picking??? mmmmm
Masses of flowersFruit forming
Jeff started a project out of some of that free wood we picked up a while back – a cover for the bore and bore pump switchbox!
Jeff cemented in a board and attached the switch box
I had been a bit busy to attend to my worms. Finally got to all the scraps and chucked them through the ‘Gee Whizzer’
Ready for the worms in the compost!
Then tonight I spent several hours with Margies daughter in law, Marsha, prancing about Wynyard with our cameras, trying to get some streetscape shots for the upcoming photo challenge – then ended up at the beach trying to take star photos! (I got home soooo late!!)
Time for bed I think! Hope your weekend has been brilliant.
As you can see, I don’t suffer from OCD! Overdue for a clean up
Hello – Weekend here and among various other things today, I got myself into the hothouse and did a bit of organising
First step is to take everything out and put it on the lawn to bug JeffI have decided I need a separate shed for all my gardening ‘stuff’ so I can keep my hothouse purely for growing things.Dug up a spot and added some blood & bone plus some mushroom compost
Slim pickings when it came to treasure today
Planted some more basil – they seemed so happy in the hothouse I figured they could stay. My outside basil is slooooow
I put the soaker hose around the hothouse so I can run it for a good soaking instead of hand watering all the time.
Less than a week ago I popped a few tomato laterals in a jar of water
This was today:
Roots everywhere. Might send them home with Mum to see if she can get them going somewhere in her garden. These are from the Russian Black tomato. (Yum)
I also took a couple of the advanced self seeded tomatoes out of the hothouse before they got too big and popped them in the outside vegetable patch. Made up a dodgy wind break and will just have to hope for the best.
The colour might frighten off the bugs… ??
Next task? Weeding the beetroot. Maybe a tomorrow job!
So, the other day I managed to take Rachel to the beach at high tide – and there was pretty much no beach.
Couple of days ago at high tide
And then today where we arrived at low tide
Same lump of wood! No water!River is a trickle and acres of sand at our feetMum & Dad enjoying some beach time (and no rain)
Earlier this morning, we said goodbye to Rachel, as she headed south to Hobart for a few days, before going back to the mainland.
My parents took our car and went to visit a few people, while Jeff and I donned the gardening clothes and made good use of the beautiful weather
First things first… I found a wayward chicken in the vegetable patch!!
I found this evidence of where she had been!!!
So, we had an impromptu wing clipping for Screecher. She stayed on the right side of the fence the rest of the day, so hoping she is now too unbalanced to be able to fly over the fence
I got back into the duck-yard garden. Lots of weeds to attend to.
Everyday I have been looking for the appearance of the beans. Everyday – nothing.
Then today:
Suddenly there are about 10 of them well and truly up!I wish my vegies grew as well as my weedsFirst priority to pull out anything flowering… however with the paddock unkempt next door, fighting a losing battle! Never mind. They will slash and bale at some point.
ImprovementsSeveral wheelbarrows full taken out – and still not finished!Zucchini’s & PumpkinWeeded!Slightly more under controlStill tucking up the tomato seedlings – bit of wind resistance for them
Anyway, it was a productive and enjoyable day.
Hope yours was great too
Sad news this week. Most of you know Margie, Ruby’s daughter.
Her husband, Des, passed away on the weekend just gone.
I think I can safely say that there are very few of us left that cancer has not had an effect on ourselves, family or friends.
It was scarcely a month from diagnoses to goodbye. My heart really goes out to Margie, her lovely boys and their families.
Des with his sons, Jason & Simon, along with grandson Thomas – and of course you know Margaret and Ruby
Des was a funny bloke. He loved our fresh eggs – it was like a password system to get in their house
“You got eggs??” He would shout from his chair when I would knock on the window
An affirmative answer and I was welcomed with open arms.
Then he would go on a mission to collect all the five cent pieces in the house to pay the $4 for them!
He enjoyed that as only a Dad/Grandpa could!!! (I still have a HUGE stash of five cent pieces that I haven’t taken to the bank to change! 🙂 )
Des was keen on fishing, he also swam frequently during summer in the ocean, which is right across the road from their home. Des & Margie did a lot of camping & Des loved a little flutter on the race horses!
Margie at sweet 16 when she met Des
I had the pleasure of scanning a bundle of photos for Margie for the funeral which will be on Friday. The above photo I love. It may be scratched and the colour faded, but its just the sweetest thing!
All Margie’s family is gathered around (And to be honest I think Ruby just signed herself on for another five years to be there for her daughter!!)
My parents flew in today. Its lovely to see them again so soon – I just wish it wasn’t under these circumstances.
Anyway – so Norwich House is a bit busy and topsy-turvy So I may or may not be swinging past the blog much over the next few days.
Make the most of every second with your loved ones. xxx
Today we trundled up the highway to Devonport to look at a few more properties with Rachel.
We got back late in the afternoon, but I thought I would spend a bit of time attending to at least one patch in the garden and de-weed. Rachel pulled on some old clothes of mine and joined in the fun… until we realised it was 7pm and thought it was past time to get inside and organise dinner!
Can hardly tell where the corn is! The weeds have been growing enthusiastically!This makes me feel better! Now to get that seaweed mulch ASAP
The zucchini and pumpkin plants are starting to make a move – they all have more than three leaves now!
Zucchini
The ‘runt of the litter’ in the punnet of apple cucumber seedlings has done very well. I babied it in the hothouse – now its far healthier looking than its poor siblings!
I am pretty sure this one is going to die – I may save the other 4 original ones (there were 6 plus the one above)
Tragic. I just learned that cucumbers really don’t like mulch near their stems.
On a brighter note – I finally spied some snow pea flowers!!
A few potato flowers starting to show as wellI think they are bigger today aren’t they?
Remember I plonked a couple of tomato laterals in a jar of water a few weeks back??
The thunder was rumbling over the hills just before dark tonight. I stood out the back admiring the lightning – and got quite a few shots of empty sky. The above shot was a bit of a fluke, but it made me happy! Very hard to capture a strike like that in daylight!
Anyway – Monday has been and gone for me. Just a couple of random images and events to share
Cut up my last pumpkin. I made part of it into soup and the rest of the pieces are now in the freezer waiting for the next time I need pumpkin on the table.
The soup is very straight-forward!
I bake my pumpkin – better flavour.
I fry up some onion in a pot, add some chicken stock, (I put in a litre today) added the pumpkin, and also a couple of potatoes to simmer.
Once the potatoes are cooked, I use the ‘Gee Whizzer’ to puree. I also then like to put in a can of coconut milk. Gives it that creamy-dreamy flavour!
(Probably add salt to taste)
Anyway – its easy with minimum ingredients and tasted pretty good!
I also saved the seeds
I filled this bowl pretty quickly. Have another bowl full. How many pumpkin seeds does one need?
Then there was accidental-guest torture
The chillies in the hothouse that stayed alive over winter have been putting out very very small fruit. So I went and nipped most of them off in hope that the plants will reflower and grow more impressive sized chillies over the summer. These, as well as being small, have no heat and are almost like a capsicum to chew on
So I am giving my friend Rachel the grand tour of the garden, I pick a chilli, bite the end off and wax lyrical about how sweet it is.
Then hand it over.
As Rachel takes a bite I am saying “See, not hot at all! Just like a red capsicum”
Her eyes welled up a bit as she said in a small voice “Well, it seems hot to me…”
She is thinking I am totally bad-ass chewing on raw chilli and I am thinking she must be pretty sensitive, so I took the chilli back and took another bite to make sure.
Holy Cats!! I made a bee-line for the strawberry patch to start trying to put the fire out in my mouth!! I think it was about half an hour before my taste buds came back to life. 🙂
Ahhhh – the perils of gardening!
(BTW Rachel has fully forgiven me.)
I bought an old ladder at the market yesterday – I wanted a shoe rack for the grungy outdoor footwear.
I might eventually paint it…
Anyway, hope your Monday is/was fabulous.
We have the rain back and the weeds are growing… like weeds!! Must get back into the gardening clothes ASAP!
My friend Rachel and I took full advantage! We started at the local markets by the beach, then moved on to Penguin markets, followed by a short tour of my favourite rock-collecting beach at Penguin (See here) (I only picked up 6 rocks today! Inconceivable!)
Sisters Beach – with a tide so high there was no beach!
We were very keen this afternoon for a decent stroll up one of the local beaches – so we trotted off to Sisters Beach. Note to self… must check tide times!!
Here is a reminder of how much sand and walking space there is at low tide:
This was when we got there this afternoon:
It was a bit disappointing not to be able to go for that nice long walk! Usually at high tide there is still a few meters of beach to walk on. Not today!
I like the tea tree stained water at the mouth of the river here that runs into the ocean.
So – thwarted there, we decided to drive one beach over to Boat Harbour for a look. The tide didn’t cover the entire beach at least – but even though its such a pretty area, not much space for a decent walk. Still… lovely to wiggle our toes in the sand and admire the view
Greetings from Rachel and Lisa
The drive along the coast had gorgeous views today
Looking inland
I am managing to keep the garden watered, and paying a little bit of attention to it – probably need a good days work tidying up the enthusiastic weeds that grow faster than anything and everything (except maybe the lawn!)
Raspberry canes full of flowers and forming fruit! Can’t wait to be picking fresh raspberries again!The original compost is sprouting a fine crop of potatoes!! Bonus!! They are even flowering! So they are way ahead of the main vegetable patches potatoes!
Little tomatoes getting bigger daily!The outside lettuce plot is looking pretty fabulous!Small lettuce from in the hothouse (self seeded) has been going well and we have been using them on sandwiches daily
I managed to take a little time (in between swanning about at beaches) to tie up my hothouse tomatoes. Instead of staking them, I like to hang some stocking from the roof and simply twine it around the tomato stems. As the tomato grows, I can untwine and redo tighter/higher.
Starting to sprawl everywherePulled back off the groundCarrot seeds forming well. Might have to put a little fine mesh bag over it to catch the tiny seeds
And we even got a tiny handful of strawberries to finish the day with!
Hope you are having (or have had) a splendid weekend!
