This and That

Ominous looking hail storm clouds that thankfully passed over.

Flower head of the artichoke thistle that grows wild in uncultivated paddocks.

Baby Noisy Miners waiting to be feed.

We are lucky enough to have a family of Blue Tongue lizards make our yard their home, this one paid a visit while I was watering the garden one afternoon. 

A caterpillar of Phalaenoides glycinae or Grapevine moth feasting on my grapevine.

Another caterpillar, this one is the caterpillar of Spilosoma glatignyi or Black and White Tiger Moth. We were inundated with them this year, they even came into the house.

And lastly, a glorious sunset on the night of the red moon.

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Harvest Monday

The unseasonably hot weather brought the garlic harvest time forward a couple of weeks and I am happy to say that it is a very good harvest this year.

I planted 72 cloves and harvested 69 bulbs.

Some were a bit strange looking.

There were a couple of triple headers as well as a few small ones.

 But the majority looked like this, lovely big bulbs of garlicky goodness.

I also dug out the last of the carrots which have been in the ground for months and still weren't mature.

As well as some late season sugar snap peas.

Well, that's it for this weeks Harvest Monday, you can see what others have harvested from their gardens over at Daphne's Dandelions.

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Making Jam

It is something I had wanted to do for a while now but have always felt intimidated by the whole process. That all changed when I bought 4 1/2 kilos of strawberries for five dollars at the markets. I have no idea what I was thinking, but they were too good of a bargain to pass up.

I found an easy jam recipe on-line and set to work and it turns out it wasn't as hard or as scary as I thought it would be.

Hulling the strawberries was time consuming and the hardest part of the whole process.

When I tasted the jam at this point it was way too sweet, so I added more lemon juice to the mix and I am glad I did as it turned out to have just the right amount of sweetness and tartness that I like.

I didn't use any pectin so the jam is not as thick as commercial jams, but it taste so much better.

Now I know how easy it is I can definitely see more jam making in my future.

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Harvest Monday

Time for another Harvest Monday, where gardeners from around the globe get the chance to show off what they have harvested from their gardens, hosted as always by the lovely Daphne.

This week I harvested the last 3 cauliflower from the garden.

Some asparagus and podding peas.

And two very oddly shaped Chantenay carrots and a few side shoots of broccoli. What have you harvested this week?

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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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