Autumn garden

We've been busy lately, doing garden things mostly, and Marty has been working long hours. A classic autumn sign is pumpkins drying in the sun.. so here is our harvest of blue hubbard pumpkins. (They're winter squash actually!)



I can't tell you how heavy they are. There was one more smaller one, but I gave it to the neighbour already. They've done great considering the lack of care and attention I gave them over the summer!

The choko is still doing well - we havn't had any frosts yet, so hopefully it will have time to fruit before they arrive. It's flowering little green flowers, so crossing fingers!



It makes the dead almond tree look almost nice again. :)

We have so many chooks at the moment, all growing fast, and I wanted to give them more free-ranging space. I replaced the old fence by the water tanks and put in a small gate for access. It was hard work, but great fun! I surprised Marty when he got home from work!



The chooks can fly over it, but they're generally happy over their side of the fence!



It's an old "rising sun" gate that we got from the tip-shop quite some time ago just because I liked it. :) I'm so glad it's being used now!

Other than that, we've decided to take out the veggies from two of the garden beds in the front yard. We transplanted Sparty (Spartagus the Asparagus), and the comfrey went out the back where the chooks can access it readily. We've put native plants in, since they look so good even in the hottest of weather - and need so very little water!



It's not all boring though! One plant has begun flowering already - very beautiful.



One more photo - our little parrot has a new larger cage! She can fly from one side to the other now, and around in circles. She likes the new space, but it was a little scary to begin with.



(It's taller than this pic shows!)

Until next time!

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!