A green February

The weather has sure been all over the place. It's feeling more like Queensland's hot humid weather than inland Victoria's typically dry summer heat.

First, an update of the chicks! They're all out with broody Dorking and loving life in the A frame chook tractor.



Remember how I said the heat wave killed the corn? Well, it doesn't mean the area isn't still productive! The beans are using the corn as poles, and the winter squash is starting to take over them all. There are a few volunteer plants as well, such as blackberry nightshade and sunflowers. So, not all is lost!



This is the winter squash I was talking about. Here in a different garden bed, it's fruit is growing nicely!



So, even despite the heat, most things are green and healthy because of the extra rain we've had. These are butternut pumpkin, there are lettuce in the freezer-bed, and the tomatoes are self-sown yellow pear.



Even the choko, normally grown further north, is starting to take over the chook pen fence. It'll be wonderful if the weather holds out long enough to get any choko fruit to grow!



The chooks have coped well with the heat, and we get around 4 eggs a day from the 6 girls left in the main pen. (One of the Dorking's is looking after chicks and won't lay during this time, one is a big rooster, and all the other chooks are too young still!)



So we're getting a few eggs, a few beans and as many herbs as we like.. but also this year we're lucky enough to get some of these..



The tree was so weighed down by apples, we lost a limb in the wind. You never know, perhaps next year we'll have pears as well? :)

..and everything else!

So, what else has been happening around the Old Miners Cottage?



As you can see, everything is flowering and looking lovely. We've got some corn growing, and beans to grow up the corn. I had planted squash seeds, but they didn't germinate. (I'm attempting to grow some more and I'll transplant them in between the corn if they germinate.)
Spartagus the Asparagus is very tall this year and seems happy!
We grew some purple broccoli next to Spartagus, and it was just lovely. I'm letting it go to seed and we'll be growing more of that again next season, for sure!

We were shocked to see the comfrey come alive again and now it's even flowering. Lovely little purple flowers.



Also out the front is this little fig tree. We planted it bare-root this last Winter, and it's showing off some lovely leaves now. A rogue potato is growing next to it. :)



Out the back I've gone crazy with the seed planting (trying to catch up before the summer really hits - I've been a little late this year). They're right next to the water tanks, and I'm determined not to let them dry out this time. :)



Over on the chook yard fence, we've planted a choko vine in a pot with the bottom removed. Hopefully this little thing goes crazy and provides lots of shade and chokos!



Speaking of shade.. We made some adjustments to the lid of the worm farm, giving them a little more air flow. Crossing fingers they survive this summer's heat.



I've left one variety of carrots to flower and go to seed. They're such a lovely carrot, I really want to plant some more! It's a rare yellow rooted carrot, and very tasty.



The fruit trees in the back yard have flowered already, have lovely leaves, and even some maybe-apples:



And this maybe-pear:



Even the lemon tree has quite a few little lemons and a few flowers. The nasturtiums are the real show though! They're doing a great job of covering the ground and keeping the grass away from the lemon tree. Funny though, these nasturtiums were suppose to be non-trailing, bushy types! I was disappointed when I found out, but they're trailing all over the place in their second season. Yay!



As for the chooks, we had no luck last weekend (our contact got cold feet I think!), but this weekend we're attending a poultry auction that has many interesting breeds available. There should be Dorking chooks and fertile eggs available as well, and all kinds of other poultry equipment. It should be a good experience! We're really looking forward to it.

Until next time!

Hooray for rain!

I'm not complaining about the rain - even though it found its way in through the roof this morning and we had buckets in a few different locations in the kitchen. I'm happy because the garden was desperate for the drink, and the water tanks are once again full to overflowing. :)
We had 32.4mm (1.27") of rain overnight! Most of it fell this morning, thankfully for the stove and floor! :)



Yesterday Marty and I set up the greywater system for the bathroom. Last year we used the shower water by plugging the bath while we showered (we have a shower over bath arrangement), and bucketed the water out to the trees. It was hard work and the water splashed as we carted it through the kitchen.

This year should be a lot easier! Funny thing though, when we purchased the plumbing parts, the sales person said "You know we're on Stage 1, right?".. that means we can use town water for watering plants and so-on. Yes, we're lucky to have had the water restrictions eased, but I know it won't stay like that for long! Besides that, it just feels like a waste of perfectly good shower water going down the drain.

I think we're getting quite good at plumbing! We're getting a lot of experience, anyway! ;) The water comes from the bath on the right of the picture and heads down to the drain.. but there is a gate valve that can be closed so that the water is then forced into the purple tubes going towards the apple tree. We plumbed in the bathroom sink, too, which made the whole thing a lot neater than it use to be anyway. Bonus! :)



(The hole in the wall has been like that since we moved in - we'll fix that someday!)

The apple tree is getting the benefit of the excess water at the moment, but we still have to shorten the purple pipe - as it's taking the scenic route around the yard before it gets there! Since Marty and I aren't feeling 100% today, it'll be a job for another day.



We weren't expecting any apples this year because we only have one planted, but it turns out we have a neighbour with an apple tree! Being it's first year in the ground, we'll be happy if just this one becomes ripe.

I have been umm-ing and ahh-ing about when to plant out the tomatoes, and I decided that Thursday was the big day, since we were expecting some rain Friday and this weekend. They're looking happy this morning! They're planted in the front garden next to Spartagus the Asparagus.



I pulled out the old peas and snow peas and cleared the area of pea-straw. The earwigs ran in every direction! Yuck! I'll leave the mulch off for a while and see if I can discourage them from that area while the beans and sweet potato are trying to get a start. Wish them luck!!



The corn is looking healthy, and the two surviving bean plants are happy as well. There are 3 earwig traps by the beans and 2 by the corn. It's making a difference!



This is how the earwig traps are done! No, it's not an advert for Nuttelex, haha. The holes are cut all around like this, and oil is filled till the bottom of the holes. The earwigs go inside (they love used cooking oil!) and drown. They seem to drown faster in oil than in water.. although the one drowned on the top of the container there probably wouldn't agree!



The potatoes are doing really well. The Saphire potatoes are very healthy - we're hoping for a good crop this year! The Russet Burbank potatoes have finally stopped being eaten by earwigs long enough to recover. I think they'll be ok after all!



Oh, that's the feijoa in the picture there, too. It's happy and growing. We hardly take any notice of it, because it just doesn't seem to need much attention. It seems a hardy and happy little tree so far - but I still try and keep it that way with a good layer of compost.

The lemon tree nearby is looking lush and healthy, thankful for the plumbing we did last year to get our sink rinse-water to it. No lemons as yet, although there was one flower, it fell off in the strong winds. :( Hopefully next year!



Down the back in our "pond", we lost two of the three plants back there, and I mentioned that I threw in some sunflower seeds as a desperate measure.. Well, the sunflowers have germinated! We don't really water them, either. It'll be interesting to see what happens, and especially if they all get to flower, it will be a show and a half!



Until next time!

Morning garden

There's one nice thing about getting up early - especially now as the weather is starting to heat up - and that's the nice crisp smell as the sun rises in the morning.



The lettuce and carrot bed is being watered twice a day (at least until the carrots sprout), and the lettuce are sitting upright now, so I think they'll be ok after the transplanting.



The pond has gone, and all the grass that use to be there is long dead. It's a very difficult area with the heavy clay. We've planted 3 different plants there in hopes that something will take - but at least one of them is dead already, and another is well on the way.



In desperation, I threw down some sunflower seeds...



Wish them luck, they'll need it! :)

In the front garden bed, I planted out some corn the other day, as well as some beans. The beans have already been eaten by what are probably earwigs.. *sigh* So, if you see a heap of Nuttelex containers around, they're earwig traps. They work quite well, too!



We just cut holes in the sides, fill the container up with used cooking oil, pop the lid back on and put them into the garden. Nothing seems to enjoy used cooking oil like an earwig or few. ;)

This is my favourite garden bed at the moment. There are peas, snow peas, cabbage, rosemary, corn and beans too. The beetroot are flowering!



The biggest cabbage! The variety is called Sugarloaf, and I'm so looking forward to trying it! All the cabbage at the greengrocer and supermarkets are looking very sad lately.



The apple tree is looking lovely! I planted out some nasturtiums around the base. Unfortunately we don't have a second apple tree, so no apples for us this year!



Same goes for the pear tree. Still, it's looking healthier than last year, and (hopefully) next year we'll have another pear for it to pollinate with.



Lastly, I spent today cleaning a couple of old Kenwood Chef mixers that I picked up yesterday. The second one was "thrown in" to the deal, which was fantastic value at only $45! They should make light work of the bread mixing, now that we're baking at least twice a week.



Until next time!