Garden Scraps & A Beach Afternoon

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Soaking up whatever summer is left over

Such a gorgeous day today! Warm, sunny with puffy clouds!

We took our niece Emma off to Black River Beach and had a great afternoon! (More photos later, for now – on to the garden!)

Carrots. Decided I needed one for dinner.

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Probably the biggest carrot I have had before

Problem was I got my heart set on Monster Carrot that would not let go of the underworld! Really! It shouldn’t take 25 minutes to dig up a carrot!!

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Excavating Monster Carrot

So much for the gardening shows that you see the presenter grab a handful of greens, and with a gentle tug, up comes carrot!

Nope! Kicking and screaming mine was. In the end I dug up several more carrots surrounding it, went down half a foot (it seemed) and I still broke the end off it!!

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Bake or Cake??

But I did find the snuggle-carrots 🙂

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This was rather sweet

There are still things happening in the hothouse – notably the cucumber that has definitely got its second wind, as I counted about 10 good sized cucumbers coming along nicely!

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Never ending supply of cucumbers

Jam melon still steadily getting bigger

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I have two of these now!

The crazy carpet of broccolini is still sprouting. I have a feeling I am not going to be able to identify my small replanted mini cabbage seedlings among them now! I want to get a lot of these in pots tomorrow in the hope there is a rain free market on the weekend

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Broccolini by the million

The Salvia has gone mad – I cut it back to the nub every year and it bounces back bigger each time! I thought I killed it last season because we got some hard frosts after the last chop I gave it. Its pretty tough!

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Salvia

The one Protea I didn’t kill seems to be offering up some new flowers

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Protea – no idea what sort tho!

Remember the little roots on the tomato laterals that I showed you a few days ago??

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I think its time to pot them up!

Not all of the laterals grew roots, which is why I like watching them in a jar. I know what I put in the pots, at least is keen to live with a mass of roots like that!

One of our tree stumps develops a covering of fungi around the same time every year. I quite like watching them grow!

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Tree stump fungi

And our girls are hard at work too –

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Screecher doing her job well

I see so many tasks around the garden to get into – I end up turning in circles and not achieving much! Doesn’t help when you throw your hands up and say “Stuff it, lets go to the beach!”

Emma was pretty happy about it

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Its a joyful thing to have such a huge beach nearly to yourself!

We collected lots of shells, a stack of driftwood (I know!! Excited much??) and I added a whole bunch of new photos to my library on Black River Beach.

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I love the view that greets you as you come out of the scrub
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Emma and Jeff watching little crabs in the sand

This lovely bit of driftwood was a bit beyond my ability to drag back to the car – had to content myself with photos

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Driftwood
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Patterns left by the outgoing tide

At times we were sinking quite deep into the sands

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Where we have been

And the coolest thing watching the tide come back and fill holes and make new patterns –

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Where the river meets the ocean

Hope you have all had a wonderful day!

Cheers

 

Author: Lisa

A happy traveller through life! Right now living in NW Tasmania with a gorgeous Nurse-Husband, a fool of a Siamese Cat and several chickens. We love our fairly simple lifestyle of growing a lot of what we eat and enjoying the stunning surrounds of our little patch.

6 thoughts on “Garden Scraps & A Beach Afternoon”

  1. Thank you for sharing each day. I look forward to what you’re up to and the great photos you post. I am looking forward to seeing your winter and how it differs from Western Washington.

    Enjoy your guests!

    1. Hi Janet – Winter up here generally is gloomy and wet but no snow! There may be a lot more knitting photos… 🙂

  2. Stunning photos! Your beach is similar to our beaches here on the west coast of Vancouver Island Canada.
    really enjoy reading about your homestead in Tassie- what a beautiful part of the world!

    1. Your area is so on my list to visit!! One of my husbands-now-my-friends- lives over that way and I love her photos. So beautiful.
      I am glad you are enjoying our little part of the world!

  3. Lisa, as winter is approaching, what do you do with the rooted tomato plants to keep them until next spring? I’m fascinated with your post and would love to give it a try at the end of our summer season – if spring ever really decides to come that is.
    You live in such a beautiful place.

    1. Hoping to get them into pots today. Last winter I kept them inside like a normal houseplant (which is daring for me because I am not so good at those!) they don’t grow much but they seemed to remain static growth-wise. When I planted them out in spring one survived and is still giving out fruit, the other died. I will try a few this winter – just to see. Also curious to see if a couple might survive in the hothouse too. Apart from time and a bit of potting mix, there is no cost involved. I just like to see what might happen! 🙂

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