Blogtober Day 21

I had a beautiful walk to work this morning. The air was fresh and cool; the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and the eucalypts are in full bloom. 

High in the treetops, the Magpies were warbling, the Rosellas and the Lorikeets were squabbling with each other over nesting sites and the Noisy Miners were being, well, noisy as they defended their territory.  It was a perfect start to the day.

Australian Magpie

Adelaide Rosella

A pair of Rainbow Lorikeets

Musk Lorikeets

Noisy Miner
Photo courtesy of John Torcasio via Unsplash

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Blogtober Day 18

 I have been lazy this past week; I haven’t kept up with my Italian lessons; I haven’t written in my journal; my colouring supplies have been neglected and worse of all, I haven’t walked once this week when I usually walk 4-5 times a week. I know the reason for it, I’m tired. Our elderly dog has been waking us up during the night because she needs to go outside, once back in bed, it takes an hour or more for me to get back to sleep, by the time my alarm goes off I feel like I’ve had no sleep at all. I’m out of my routine and I don’t like it. 

I worked a half-day at the Heritage Centre today. At the moment, I am cataloguing school children’s copybooks they used for practising their cursive writing, not an easy thing to do with pen and ink. Some are very messy. There are also some history and scripture exam papers as well, they make interesting reading. 

When I arrived home, I noticed that the garden was full of blooms, spring has finally arrived. I will leave you with some photos I took.

Bearded iris

My favourite rose of all time, Double Delight.

Cornflower

Erigeron aka Sea Side Daisy

Grandma's Rose, beautifully fragrant and thornless.

Lewisia

Dutch iris

Red valerian "Kiss Me Quick"

I will be back tomorrow.

    

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Blogtober Day 16

My self seeded apricot tree in flower.

Another cold day today. I feel like spring is never going to arrive this year. I had quite an easy day today. I finished cleaning the bathroom, the laundry, watered some houseplants and vacuumed the floors. I had another go at fixing the pump in the hope that the missing grommet wasn't the problem but to no avail. I placed an order for the impeller which will hopefully arrive sometime next week.

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October in the Garden

October has been a  funny month weather-wise, it started out warm, then got cooler, then got warmer again so I packed away all my winter clothes and the following day the temperature dropped again and I was back in winter clothes. The last two weeks of the month have been almost identical temperature-wise, they started out warm and just got hotter with last Thursday's temperature reaching 39.1°C and today (Thursday) 39°C.

I spent a few hours out in the vegetable garden last week pulling out the brassicas and I also changed the layout because I realised with everything that I want to grow this summer there wouldn't have been enough room with the existing layout.

I removed the existing centre garden and widened the two garden beds, the bed on the left measures 7 metres x 1.9 metres, and the bed on the right measures 4.3 metres x 2.3 metres with a pathway running down the centre of the garden. I have five different types of pumpkin, two varieties of zucchini, as well as two varieties of squash that will be planted out in the bed on the left and I will also be planting sweet corn in this bed as well.

The bed on the right will be planted out with tomatoes, (which I have already planted out), carrots, lettuce, basil, beetroot, and I will be growing kujari melons, watermelon, rockmelon and cucumber on the cyclone fence that borders the vegetable garden.

Kestrel potatoes

 I harvested the potatoes this month and was happy with the number of potatoes I ended up with. It was my first year growing potatoes using the Ruth Stout method but because I was not as careful as I should have been in keeping them covered I lost about 1/3 of the crop because they went green. I will try this method again next year as it was so much easier than the traditional method of growing potatoes, and I will also be growing a lot more.

The beans are growing well despite the heat and although they are not very tall they have started flowering. I have been keeping the water up to them and covering them with 75% shade cloth on these really hot days and I'm hopeful of a really good harvest.

That's all for this month's garden update, I will be back at the end of November with another. Until then, take care. Jan.

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Bloomin' Lovely - Spring 2018

Spring is over and after a very mild spring, summer is definitely here, as I sit here writing this post (10 am ACDT), it is currently 36.6°C (97.8°F) with an expected high of 41°C (105.8°F).

Spring this year was the strangest one I've ever known, the weather was all over the place with days in the mid 30's and then dropping down to the low teens, it was unbelievably windy and nighttime temperatures got down as low as 4°C (39.2°F) which meant that up until three days ago I still had blankets on my bed, which I didn't mind as I love the cooler weather and dread the heat that summer brings, we did have some really good rain at the end of November, but it has quickly dried up with the heat of this week.

Despite the strange spring weather conditions the plants flowered as they normally would so I thought that I would share some of the flowers that bloomed in my garden during the past 3 months.

I bought some daffodil bulbs at the beginning of spring, planted them and although they all grew only these two flowered, the one in the bottom photo is definitely my favourite.

One of my favourite natives, Geraldton Wax, this one is "Raspberry Ripple".

I bought this Gerbera for $2 at a local nursery and managed to keep it alive long enough for it to bloom. The photo doesn't do it justice though as it is a lot more fluorescent in real life.

My "Lavish Rose" Lavender flowered so much better this year than it did last year it could be because I actually remembered to fertilise it this year.

I've waited five years for this Melaleuca "Apricot Delight to flower, it was worth the wait.

My rock orchid didn't flower at all last year so I was pleasantly surprised to find it covered in flower spikes this year.

I have never sown seed for or planted Hollyhocks, but every year they pop up in my garden, some years there will be a lot and some years like this year they will only be a couple.

I was lucky to have any Sweet Peas at all this year, every time I sowed seeds the Blackbirds would dig them up while they were hunting for bugs in the garden.

I love this Rain Forest Lily, the flowers last for weeks and when they are finished these unusual seed pods appear.

Scabiosa, it copes with whatever nature throws at it and the bees just love it.

They might be considered old-fashioned by some, but wallflowers will always be a favourite of mine, their fragrance alone makes them worth growing.

The Wonga Wonga vine was absolutely spectacular this year, but no matter how many photos I took I could not capture just how amazing it looked.

What flowered in your garden this spring? Do you have a favourite spring flower or like me do you love them all?

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Growing Asparagus

Asparagus is easily one of my favourite vegetables, and the best thing is that it is also one of the easiest veggies to grow and will supply you with delicious spears for twenty years or more if properly cared for.  

Bare rooted asparagus crowns can be bought from most garden centres or nurseries, as well as online and are usually planted out during winter through to early spring. Choose a sunny position with well draining soil that  has been enriched with plenty of organic matter, well rotted horse manure would be a good choice if you can get hold of some, plant crowns at least 10cm deep and between 35 - 40cm apart.  

During the first year of growth it is very important that the spears are not harvested as this will weaken the plant, a light harvest can be made in the second year, and in the years to follow the spears can be harvested every two to three days (they grow very quickly) over a six week period. Any spears that appear after that time should be left to grow into fronds. Pick only those spears that are at least as thick as a finger, and 15 - 20cm tall, any spears smaller than that should be left to grow. Keep your asparagus well watered during spring and summer and fertilise with pelletised chicken manure once harvesting has been completed.

Asparagus can also be grown from seed, but it will be three years before any spears will be able to be harvested.  

Asparagus fronds will start to turn yellow during the winter and this is when they will need to be cut down to ground level and the asparagus bed covered in a good thick layer of compost or manure, followed by a layer of straw, this will give them a good start when they start to grow again in spring.

Asparagus fronds ready to be cut down.

See, easy, the hardest part is waiting until you can harvest, but it is definitely worth the wait.

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Seeds

Hello, and welcome to this month's Garden Share Collective, the theme this month is SEEDS.

Seeds, they are natures little power houses. Enclosed within each seed case is all that is needed for a new life to begin, from the tallest of trees to the tiniest of flowering plants it all starts with a seed. 

The largest plant seed belongs to the Coco de Mer, commonly known as the Sea Coconut, it weighs 18kg (40lbs) and is 30cm (12 inches) in length, when fully mature the palm tree which it grows into will be between 25 - 34 metres tall. At the other end of the scale the seeds of the epiphytic orchid which at 85 micrometres (1/300th an inch) is too small to be seen by the human eye. It's seeds are dispersed and carried on the wind coming to rest in the canopy of the rainforest trees where, over time they will sprout and form new orchids.

There's a kind of wonder in growing a plant from seed, you put a dry little capsule in some compost, keep it moist, and in a week or so up pops a tiny sprout that with care in time will provide food for your table. 

A tiny carrot seedling with its first set of true leaves.

I use seeds nearly all the time in my own garden,  they are cheap to buy and readily available in stores or online.

I am very excited to be trying out some new varieties this season.

 Once you start growing your own vegetables a good habit to get into is letting one of each of your favourite variety of plant go to seed, this way you won't need to buy seed the following season and you'll save money. 

Sunflower seeds collected from the only sunflower I managed to grow this year, but one is all I needed, I now have enough seeds for sowing next year.

I've never  seen so many flower buds on a lettuce before. These will eventually provide me with enough seeds for the next few years.

I would love to have picked this sprout of the Italian Sprouting broccoli, but I will let it flower and when it sets seed I will harvest them and keep them for next winter.

Growing from seed is not always the easiest of options, but it is the most rewarding. There is a great sense of personal satisfaction in knowing that you have been involved right from sowing to eating.

So why not give growing from seed a go, you still have time to go out and buy some seeds and get sowing. 

Harvesting

Broccoli

Cauliflower

A few peas

Parsley

Sowing

Tomatoes

Beetroot

Eggplant

Capsicum

Leeks

Shallots

Coriander

Thyme

Marigolds

Zinnia

Bergamot

Sunflowers

Alyssum

Things to do

Remove wnter vegetables as they finish

Add compost and fertiliser to each bed

Sow seeds for chickpeas and beans

That's it for this month's Garden Share Collective, if you would like to see what's been happening in other people's garden pop over and visit our GSC hosts Kyrstie at A Fresh Legacy or Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb. I will see you again for next month's Garden Share Collective where the topic will be PHILOSOPHY. That is going to take some thinking about.

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Seeds

Seeds, where would we be without them?  They fill our flower beds with colour and fragrance, and allow us to grow tasty, nutritious food to feed ourselves and our family. They are the perfect little capsule, containing everything that is needed to start the next generation of plant life. They lay dormant sometimes for years waiting for the perfect growing conditions and then, they spring into life. 

This year I am trying to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed.

What I'm growing

Sown 24th September

Melons

Hale's Best 

Sugar Baby
Luscious Red

Tomatoes

Honeybee 

Rouge de Marmande

San Marzano

Unknown truss (seeds were from shop bought tomatoes)

Corn

Kelvedon Glory

Jubilee Bicolour

Cucumber

Lebanese (sprouted today)

Zucchini 

Green Bush

Beans

Windsor Longpod

Brown Beauty

Butter 

Cannelini

Red Kidney

Borlotti

Leafy Greens

Cos lettuce

Green Mignonette

Salad mix which includes

Lolla Rossa

Bionda

Red and green salad bowl and

Great Lakes

Endive

Kale

Medania spinach
Celery

Eggplant

Snowy

Rosa Bianca

Capsicum

Hungarian Yellow Wax Sweet

Basil

Sweet Genovese

Thai

Radicchio

Palla Rossa

And a new one to try this year, chickpeas.

Flowers
Borage
Alyssum Rosie O'Day
Poached Egg Plant
Nasturtium
Zinnia
Candy Tuft
Calendula

So, hopefully not only will my vegetable garden be productive it will look beautiful as well.

This is my contribution to this months Garden Share Collective 

hosted by Lizzie from Strayed from the Table, Krystie from a A Fresh Legacy and Kate from Rhubarbs and Rosehips. To see what they and others have to say click on any of the links above.

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The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring, Tra la

With so little happening in the vegetable garden at the moment, I thought I would share some of what is happening in the flower gardens right now. Enjoy!

Snap dragons

Nemesia

Geraldton wax "Raspberry Ripple"

Scabiosa "Samantha's Pink".

Wonga Wonga vine, this photo does not do it justice, it is absolutely gorgeous.

My favourite rose, Double Delight.

Sweet peas

Not technically in the garden but close enough, Swan River Pea.

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