Friday done and dusted!!
I escaped the kitchen and took a drive out to Bunnings with my $50 voucher that I won at the garden tea party a number of weeks back!
I had intended to buy a tarp so I could get and store lots of straw bales…
But I stopped by my cousins shop to say hi and hand over a bag of tomatoes and she gave me one!! How great is that?
I went to Bunnings anyway and got some cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower seedlings as I am figuring with the time of year and still another guest to arrive that I wouldn’t get seeds in in good time. Might as well jump start with the seedlings.
Plus got some extra netting of the fine mesh to thwart cabbage moths.
(Oh and I might have treated myself to a snag in bread with onions and sauce and a coke – Bunnings often have a sausage sizzle…mmmm)
I dropped into spotlight to get some yarn for another planned Christmas present – and also found tablecloths on sale at $10 each. We haven’t had new ones in an eon and I found two large square ones and picked those up too…
Onward to Wynyard where I bought a mini wheelie bin and put it back at the cafe for coffee ground collections now that I have time and a compost again.
I might have picked some more tomatoes yesterday!
I also chopped up 6lb with onions and half cooked my relish… I’ll probably have to finish it tomorrow.
I started reducing a batch of tomato paste too late yesterday and was up horribly late while it did its thing. Made the mistake of trying out the cast iron pot and it was too slow. Lesson learned. Will go back to the baking trays instead.
I also sold another 3kgs of tomatoes – but still doesn’t look like I have done anything because of the new pick I did haha
Will take some to the cafe as thanks for the coffee!
Last night when I locked the chooks up I noticed a
cornucopia of slugs (yes that is the correct collective noun) feasting on my lettuce!!
I spent a very sticky 20 minutes picking them off! Yuck!
The chooks weren’t interested (rightly so) so I jumped on them.
I reckon I could go out there with a bucket one night and fill it! Maybe … when I feel keen. And its not raining.
Oh, and I picked our first watermelon! For someone that can grow massive potatoes and tomatoes, this is hilariously small!! I’ll have to check the seed packet. Maybe its a small variety? It was tasty and sweet though!
Hope you have a great weekend planned!
Cheers
Looks like your watermelon wasn’t pollinated. Or, was it a seedless variety?
Actually there were seeds in there – just didn’t show in that slice! It was sort of perfect but in miniature lol!! I looked at the seeds hoping it was a small variety but no… supposed to grow up to 5kgs!! ha! I am a bit short there!
Hello Lisa,
When you say you “jumped on them” about the slugs are you meaning you stomped on them? I’m not trying to be gross but wouldn’t it be super squishy and slippery? I’m still trying to figure out how to get rid of my slugs during the summer, my chickens wouldn’t eat them either. I’ll have ducks this year and hopefully they’ll be more interested.
It’s been a lot of fun reading about your garden during the long winter here, thanks for all your posts! 🙂
Yes – I did just stamp them into the dirt and yes it was pretty gross!! Ducks would be awesome! I think they are so funny! Apparently slugs/snails don’t like crossing copper. Would like to experiment with that.
Glad the summer posts have been entertaining enough while you were getting through winter! You must be so ready for the new season!!!
It sounds silly but you are so brave and determined, slugs gross me out so much and the thought of stomping on them fills me with terror. I’ve heard about copper repelling slugs too. I’ve always thought it would be really pretty to have pennies lining the edge of a raised bed but I haven’t experimented with it yet. Now that Canada got rid of the penny I don’t think I’ll get it done, ha ha.
Yes, I am excited for spring!! We just moved to a new province so this will be a completely different year for me as I have no idea what to expect for weather/soil/critters, etc. We’re finally on a well (I’ve always been on a cistern so hated to water) and we also have a pond that I can gather water from. Yay!
Maybe you don’t have watermelon-growing weather in Tasmania. I certainly don’t where I live. Watermelons need lots of sun and heat.
Drown them. Use water with a few drops of dish detergent in it and drop them in. Or, use some cheap beer in a bowl and drop them in that. The slugs, and snails, will drown.