The end of May

Lovely weather for the whole weekend, nice to dry out after the rain we have been having. A large branch came down from the titoki tree in the gusty stormy night. I gave the jasmine hedge a serious trim so that you can get to the car with out being entangled in vines. Raised the stepping stones that were under water during the worst of the rains. Re-arranged the bougainvillaea along the pergola so that it will be most wondrous when it goes mad again.
26 detroit dark red beetroot seedlings were planted as well as half a dozen triple curled parsley plants. Removed the last basil plant, poor thing and I have been eying up the chilli plants, you can see they are at the end of their tether. Have to remember to just cut them back to survive winter so they will be away strong and fast in spring, I pulled them out last year not realizing they are perenials. Garlic seed stock is due any day, been bursting to plant some.
Some shots of the patch, the broccoli need their middles picked and eaten, there are small side shoots already.

Tidy time

Winter is gently edging in, I was a good gnome today and cleaned all the dreaded build up of soot in the chimney. Great risk to life and limb with ladders and long poking equipment. Extra cosy fire ensued.

A weekend of tidying and sorting things out. Pulled out the bean plants, they had come to their end and now that bed can be prepared with some blood and bone and compost for garlic planting. I think there are few things that are worth growing as much as garlic and chillies, you use them the whole year with easy almost fail safe storage.
The broccoli has now formed nice small heads



Weeded the leek patch and they are looking twice the size they were. Planted seeds of beetroot, silver beet and white onions. The new pea seeds are up and looking strong and determined, as are the whispy seedlings of the carrot and parsnip planted last weekend.
Ran about with citrus tree fertilizer as rain clouds loomed overhead, just managed to get it forked in around the drip line as the drops came down.

Mother'sDay

and a lovely day it was, a peach tart and lemon cupcakes and all!

The dreaded duck hunters even managed to constrain themselves thankfully, unlike Saturday morning (opening morning) when it sounded as though they were at the end of the bed (well almost).

The sun even shone, after days of rain it was nice to be able to get out and do stuff. Planted carrot and parsnip seeds in two neat rows and covered the rows with planks to keep them moist and cat free till they germinate. Spent a fair bit of time digging the area very deep, to at least a spades' depth making sure it was finely tilled so the roots would be able to get down deep.
Spread a fair bit of lime amongst things to stop the soil from clogging. It gets leached after all the rain. Removed the netting from the broccoli plants as I haven't seen a cabbage butterfly for about a week, the plants look wonderful. with almost no blemishes. The peas have just pushed clear of the soil, and I picked another handful of lovely butter beans.
Planted the mini silverbeet into the large tub

Mini daffodil (pressie for my Mum) and we haven't even had winter yet, what can it mean?

Mayday Mayday!

Wow, 2nd of May already!
Pulled out all but two of the capsicum plants, they were not turning red anymore so out they went. Still got about a dozen green peppers off them so we'll have to find something nice to do with them, unfortunately it's the red ones that we much prefer. I did get a good bed ready for the garlic season, we intend to plant them as soon as some good bulbs become available, I don't think you need to plant them on the shortest day, in fact the sooner the better to get really nice fat bulbs by the longest day.
A photo of the harvest from the weekend, still picking heaps of lovely yellow beans as well as the last of the current carrot crop.



Planted out some nice rocket seedlings, as well as some petit provencal pea seeds,( a heritage variety that can handle the cold) and also some of these cute bonsai pak choi plants (look for all the world like small silverbeet). They should be nice for a winter green stir fry with lots of soy sauce and garlic!



The broccoli is looking very strong now that we've kept the dreaded cabbage white butterflies at bay with the bird netting.




I was a very good gnome indeed in distributing the compost that was ready around the garden as well as turning the current lot over into the vacant bin, an amazing amount of sweat was involved in the herculean task! Now we can start a new one again, which will probably be ready for spring now that the cooler temperatures slow the process.
:)