August 2016 Blog Posts (12)

The only garbage that leaves our kitchen via the front door are those items that can't be eaten by either chooks, worms or their friendlies.

Any big item with a dead animal background -- if not fed to the dogs (or the chooks sometimes) -- is buried outback. 

The scrap bin that accepts all the chopped leftovers from food prep, is emptied into the chook…

My sweet potatoes are ready for harvest, and perpetual spinach is very reliable!

Choko vine happily climbing up the…

Spring is just around the corner.  My garden is bursting with flowers and I am planting more!  If you have roses, make sure you go out there with a strong spray and hit those aphids - I discovered that all my new growth was covered even though, from a distance, it looked exceedingly healthy.   I'm trying to let the lady bug population explode in response so am avoiding pest oils etc at this stage.  Plus, I just planted sunflower, zinnia, allysium, cosmos and marigold seeds throughout the…

For the first time I am growing dwarf low chill stone fruit. I bought 4, the only standard one died from maybe my inexpert pruning. Anyway there's 3 left, all blooming amazingly just now. Two are single small blooms one is a large double. I'm growing them for fruit but the blooms really are a delight to behold.

Anyway, some pix of the peach and nectarine flowers and baby fruit:…

I have a batch of 20 quail eggs in the incubator on day 15 now.  I took the egg rocker out today and laid them gently on the floor of what I am hoping will be their brooder soon.  What's the difference between an incubator and a brooder?  An egg rocker.  I use the same incubator for both purposes.  Real quail breeders have two separate bits of equipment.

The alcoholic ginger beer is ready to bottle tomorrow.   I'll try not to add too much sugar and avoid some beery explosions.…

We're away on another branch of the garden adventure.

You'll note the 'ground covers'-gone wild. I hack a space in that jungle to plant out seedlings and use the cut stuff as mulch.

The Compost Corral (that's the right spelling!) is a…

Hi all,

I'm having a day off work today as I have caught that awful cold going around.  I was going to catch up on some school work at the same time but am procrastinating at the moment.  Did the kid's school drop off and was wandering around my garden with a cup of tea and got inspired to post!

I don't know if you can see much in this photo, but this shot makes me so happy.  Everything looks lush and productive.  Right at the front, you can see the carrots, beets and…

This bed has been in place for a few years now and has never hit the…

Hi All,

Imagine my surprise today when I saw (I should say though - that she saw me as I'm hopeless) Sophie and Frank today at Bunnings and had the most lovely chat there and then they came back to my place and I had an impromptu garden visit where I showed off a little bit :)  You should see the yard now though Sophie, my husband mowed it and I cleaned out the front wicking beds and replanted with flowers -> Looks heaps fresher :)

So my trip to bunnings yielded an…

It is time to start planting those Spring/Summer Salad Greens if you haven't started already. Hopefully we will find something new for you to Plant.  There are so many possibilities for turning that Salad into something Special. I thought it would be a nice idea to have Members list a Favourite Green or Other Salad Additive. We could also put our Favourite Spring/Summer Recipes…

Just a few pix from the garden at the back ...

Dandelion in full swing. Originally bought a plant from Caboolture Seed Savers. It seeded all over the yard then was gone. Unaccountably, several tiny starving plants popped up on the front footpath. Took this one and fed it up, it's having a great time now:

Dwarf Nectarine starting to bloom. Been a year in…

2016

Out the front:  the building patch is still doing bugger all, in fact, it's mostly ornamental now.  The Mulberry seems to be thriving (although not right now due to winter).  The blood orange is dead.  The sugar cane is a real standout which I didn't expect.  The cumquats are being wasted because I have no room to freeze them since I shut down the second fridge.  The roses are…