Garden – Page 28 – Head in the Clouds

My Clever Husband

Today Jeff completed the little house to cover the bore and bore pump.
Apart from a few nails and screws, its all from reclaimed materials. Some pallets, some freebies from the hardware shop and some were Ruby’s old fence! Tin at top came from Tip Shop ages ago.

It was pretty heavy – so I was all ready to go Egyptian on the moving side of things

Disappointingly it moved well with a couple of ropes under it and both of us carrying it down into the yard.

It was only a little awkward to get it over the structure and get the pipe threaded up and out the gap in the roof

So fabulous to be hiding the unaesthetic pipes and switchbox (Which up until now was covered by a bucket weighed down with a brick!!)

I spent the rest of the day puttering about the garden doing a lot of ‘this & that’

Firstly I got onto that pile of silage

A bit painful extracting what I could of the blackberry canes

Figured the tomatoes could benefit from some mulch first!

The zucchini & pumpkin also really needed some

Also enough to surround the apple cucumber too

I did a bit of weeding and hoeing just to try to keep on top of it a bit

I feel better that at least something is mulched!

On advice of a reader, Elizabeth, I decided to also try grass clippings as a mulch. Since Jeff also mowed the lawns today, I thought I would rake up some and use it.

There wasn’t a lot to collect – mostly scattered too thinly now the rain has eased a bit, things aren’t as lush. Still… every bit helps!

Then it was time to dig up some of those self seeded tomatoes in the hothouse that were thriving!

I put several seedlings in a bucket then went all about the yard and randomly planted them!

The silverbeet in here was racing to seed, so I pulled it out and chucked it over to the more than happy chooks and put 4 of the tomato seedlings in here instead

All in all… a most productive day! (Not to mention another half a kilo of strawberries!! 🙂 )

Cheers!

The Garden Makes Money

Maureen & myself – happy with an armful of fresh greens!

Well – I was a little bit excited to sell my first bit of garden produce today. I was late strolling down to the markets, but my lovely friend Maureen said she would take some of my lettuce to try to sell.

Basically by the time I walked up past the stalls, chatted to a few people and wandered back, 5 out of 6 were gone! She sold the last one as she was packing up!!

So there! $12 more dollars towards my Texas Fund (Which is now well over $400 so I am pretty happy about that!)

It was a lovely day out at the markets.

Back home I scored a bit of free mulch. Some leftover silage from the paddock behind us.

Pallet ladders to get over the barbed wire

The chap who manages these paddocks is getting them cut for hay in the next few days, but needed this last bit of silage gone. We obliged. It will make a start while we wait for seaweed. The weeds in this should be minimal as they have been wrapped up and the heat generally cooks the seeds. Anyway… can’t be worse than my current weedy patches! 🙂

So – I had a little project this afternoon to do. It needed some specialised equipment, pictured below.

I’ll leave you with that bit of weirdness and let you know tomorrow night what it was all about 🙂

Look what I discovered in the hothouse! Baby cucumbers!

It was a good Sunday, and what better way to end the afternoon, than by making a strawberry milkshake with fresh picked strawberries!!

Cheers!

Garden at Capacity (probably)

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…

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 done

Good 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!

Hope your day was great!

Cheers!

Time and Space

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 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)

I still needed to leave some kind of path between the tomatoes and this new patch

ooooo! 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.

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!!!

Hope your day was also great

Cheers

Quiet Day

Well… Mum & Dad gone, Rachel gone, Jeff asleep & Pip snoozing somewhere – its a quiet household today.

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!

Sorting Out The Hothouse (Again)

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 Jeff

I 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!

Hope your weekend is super!

Cheers

Beach & Garden

So, the other day I managed to take Rachel to the beach at high tide – and there was pretty much no beach.

And then today where we arrived at low tide

River is a trickle and acres of sand at our feet

Mum & 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 weeds

First 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.

Several wheelbarrows full taken out – and still not finished!

Still tucking up the tomato seedlings – bit of wind resistance for them

Anyway, it was a productive and enjoyable day.
Hope yours was great too

Cheers!

PS occasional extras on my Facebook Page

Tasmanian weather showing off for my parents!

Gardening (only a bit)

Hello!

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!

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 well

I 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??

Well, they finally started showing some roots!

Hope you had a lovely day

Cheers

Fabulous Friday!

Hello! End of another week!!

I had quite the productive day.

There was a small calamity in the house as we ran out of plum jam (A staple at breakfast!) I took a container of frozen plums out to thaw so I could fix the situation. Happily I process (cook, de-pip & mooley (squish to pulp) ) the plums before freezing so I dont have a lot of extra work to do when I am ready to make something.

So six pounds of plum pulp became several jars of jam

We picked up our friend Rachel tonight at the airport… she took quite the liking to my banana/raspberry loaf, so as a good host, I made one up.

Then I thought I might as well make a cake for the chickens, as I hadn’t done that for a while…

Will give the chooks a few slices tomorrow!

(Spoiled chickens much??)

On a roll… so I baked some bread too – have to do something with all that plum jam I guess

Somewhere in all that I premade a tomato/vegetable sauce mix so when Rachel got in, we just had to cook the pasta to complete dinner. Glad I did as her plane was a bit late. I think we were eating dinner at about 10pm, then chit chatted forever which is why I am now blogging at nearly 2am!

Of course there was some garden stuff to do – mostly watering today.

Love the little increases in size each day!!

Lots of self seeded tomatoes popping up in the hothouse. Will re home soon

Zucchini and basil… second wave. Also need new homes

Hothouse cucumbers – pleased with their progress

Ok – better get a wriggle on towards bed! Going to be hard to get up mildly early tomorrow!!

What’s happening on the weekend around the world?? I am hoping for some beach time!

Cheers!

Netting working… strawberry still whole! Yay !!

Halting the Demise of my Strawberries

Taking a moment to lay back on the grass and admire the blue sky!! Action not complete without a Siamese plonking himself on top of me!

Hiya – Midweek is upon us. Well… actually its just passed me by!

I finally stirred myself to get the strawberries netted. It was getting a bit depressing coming out to see this –

So I found all the stakes and polypipe I used last season and started to put it back together

Hopefully that will now thwart the pesky birds that are taking a bite out of each strawberry that’s showing a wee bit of colour!!

Happy to put another tick on my list. (Ok if I actually WROTE a list, then I would feel good about ticking that task off)

Hope your week is going along splendidly!

Cheers!

Jeff working hard in the background while Pip and I goof off