Great moments in agriculture award:

• Balinese corn  -- finally found one that I can grow.
• Perennial Capsicum -- producing AGAIN as we speak.
• Dragon Fruit -- keenly fruits.

Festering Passions:

• Squashes --…

This month's harvest:

-20 passionfruit + 20 for the possums (have proof!) and half dozen for passersby

-5 broadbeans

-3 chokos

-6 red eggplant

-2 large couve trochuda leaves

The garden is in bloom, there is rain, life is good.…

Where to start....an update.

A year ago I was put in the position of having to sell my home, well established food garden and bee hives. Painful to say the least, especially as the agreed trigger to sell was the passing of my last two dogs. 

As I owned only half of the house there was never going to be enough left over to buy another house....even if I could get another loan at my age I simply didn't want a mortgage hanging over my head.

Rent? (Expensive and would…

So I've just come back from Melbourne - more specifically Phillip Island where my Aunt lives.  Popped down to drop my eldest daughter off to gain work experience as my Aunt runs her own coffee and lolly shop as well as a weekend market and took all of us on for summer jobs when we were younger and is still continuing the tradition with her great nephews and nieces.   Great for me as I have one child gainfully employed over summer!! I love my Aunt but what makes this even better is that she…

It is the time of abundance.  I am getting WAY too many trombonccinos, eggplants, cucumbers, beans and eggs at the moment so every Friday lately, I am taking in a basket load of goodies for people in my school to grab.  It means I am keeping on top of the harvests and not letting things go to waste which I absolutely hate. 

I've started harvesting peaches but my poor tree is almost laying on the ground it is that overladen with fruit. …

Just a few pics to show some of my garden.  We are planning to move some of the citrus so they can be together in same location. They need watching, and spraying with oil wash for bugs. Easier to do in one area. The persimmons are holding on to a few fruit but this rain is upsetting them now.  The red Shahtoot are giving me lovely long fingers of fruit.  The white Shahtoot has been potted up.   The Lamb Hass avocado should keep good company with the Dwarf Wurtz.  My order of little bananas…

Some years back we bought a small electric mulcher. Of oriental persuasion, the mulcher has whirred on ... and on ...

Through a change of blades - thoughtfully provided with double-sided blades, a strong arm and some know-how allows the blade life to be extended without the hassle of sharpening the blade.

The machine comes with a pusher. Another two indispensible tools are a device to poke choked-up material from the discharge chute and a whisk to clean out the cutting…

There's a way to extend the cutting season for Asparagus. Prune the plants after they flower, top up the nutrients to encourage them to re-grow and cut again for the pot.

This system can deliver fresh shoots three times in the course of the summer.

This year I have left some young stems which so far are not showing signs of flowering. Usually I clear fell, but observation suggests not all stems are going to flower.…

Of late I've been investing energy 'renovating' the school garden while 'maintaining' my own. That doesn't mean I've been neglecting my own patch.

Indeed the effort has served to offer me a comparison.

When I look at my own outback it keeps changing each year, each season, each…

Since we had a Community Day yesterday I used the excuse to renovate the school garden.

This is a primary school project I've been engaged in for a few years now. Each week we take almost all classes through the gardening program. At other times it is deployed as a chill out or distraction zone for problem -- as in acting out --students.…

October 2017 Harvest

- 3.6kg winged yam (exciting!)

- 4 passionfruits

- 150g Madagascar beans

- 4 little black eggplants

- 600g Sweet potato (1 tuber..I tripped on it haha)

I don't know what to think - on one hand I am loving the rain for the garden, on the other I am itching to spend more time in the garden - but then there's a heat wave! I hope this summer will be ok...

Was away for the start of Oct but starting to…

Finally finished renovating the old chook shed. The first new ladies have moved in. We have named them Queenie, Princess, Duchess and Lady. They will eventually have the run of the orchard once they have settled in. Hopeful soon have some "real" eggs. Also got two chicks, Buffy and Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam) for our granddaughter to grow up with.…

September 2017 Harvest:

-650g Black russian and black cherry tomatoes

- 10 passionfruit

- 150g broadbeans

Apart from the glorious black tomatoes (my fave), harvest looks thin but actually I was not home most of September. So I thought I'd include some pics from my travels too :)…

Hi everyone,

I'm feeling like my garden is just getting away from me at the moment.  I'm behind in my planting, things are going to waste, everything is messy AND I've hardly been on BLF at all! :)  I had planned to be out there all day today but I don't garden in the rain - not my thing.

I did see…

Costa Georgiadis is doing 2 events  4 th and 5 th October that are free for over 55 years but you have to give personal details to register for free tickets  which may not be a good idea.

http://www.retirementbylendlease.com.au/srf2017/qld/