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!

Green everywhere!

Today.. Marty is experiencing the joy of a sharp and nicely adjusted push mower. :)



The scythe is great for the longer weeds and grasses, but the push mower does a lovely looking job. It's the season for lush growth, but come summer it'll all be dead again anyway.

I'm not sure if you'll remember the herb pot I planted out so long ago? I thought I might have parsley sprouting in the top.. well, it was parsley! We're just starting to pick a few leaves now and it's lovely. The oregano on one side is crazy as always, and we have one single chive plant growing in the other side.



The parsley grown from seed are doing much better than the parsley seedling we brought from the local market. The oregano tried to spread into the other openings.. it's a very tough and invasive plant. One I'd recommend for a difficult spot.

I've thinned out the bok choy in the freezer a little, but the rest I'll let set seed. The native bees are taking care of the pollination, when it isn't windy!



View from the front yard..



The peas on the ex-potato cages are flowering already, and the snowpeas (who are a little slow to start) are gripping their first and second string-lines now. They may be a little late in the season if it gets too warm too quickly, but that won't matter - we'll just start growing beans instead. :)

You can see the native grasses in that photo.. they're crazy right now. What may not be obvious is the bamboo, it isn't looking happy. It's leaves have turned an olive green colour. We're hoping it's just a "winter look" and it'll come back again in spring. Crossing fingers! (That's a $65 bamboo there!! That's more than all the other plants put together, I'd say!)

Until next time!

Worms and such

I was almost right, the worm farm did take a little longer than we expected, but we did finish it before the week was out! 2 days ago, to be exact. :)



What do you think? We've fed them and they seem happy. It's amazing how much bath there is for them to fill up. The full "Worm Factory" didn't even quarter fill the bath.

Of the 3 raised garden beds we have in the backyard, the freezer (wicking bed) is the most productive at the moment. We've been picking bok choy from it almost daily, and now the bok choy is starting to flower.



Under the bok choy is spinach and celery. The spinach is only now starting to get large enough to eat as baby spinach (very tasty!), and I imagine the celery will take a little longer still.

Just to prove that we do eat from the garden, today's lunch (well, part of it, anyway!)



The purple leaves are from the beetroot (it was steaming at the time), and I only picked a few peas today. I frightened a Blackbird in the process of foraging today - it frightened me too! The broccoli are side-shoots from the remainder of the plant we'd harvested earlier. This was the first time we've eaten any of Spartagus the Asparagus though, and boy was he sweet and yummy!

So, now the worm farm is up and running (with worm juice aplenty), the next big task is getting the chook pen ready. We would like to do our part for the rare chook breeds, so we're thinking of getting Dorkings. Nothing is final yet, and finding them could be another matter entirely.. but we'll see! We still have a chook house to finish, and a very secure yard to build them.

Until next time!

False Spring Update

The linseeds are growing well! The rains have not been very frequent, but they seem to be thriving anyway. Keeping the weeds down has been a challenge, but not impossible. The red-legged earth mites have not bothered them again this season, so, I guess there's nothing left for them to do but flower and give us their seeds! Crossing fingers!



Spartagus the asparagus has been completely fooled by the warmer weather this winter. We're not going to hesitate to eat these lovely looking spears!



The peas and snowpeas.. what can I say? I planted them far too close together, and didn't give the snow peas enough of a structure to grow on. Combine that with some strong winds, and we have a pea jungle. We still get peas from the vines, but they're difficult to find and get to. When I'm out picking peas, Marty says I'm foraging. :)

In front of the peas there you can see the carrots. I let the weeds overtake the carrots earlier, but now it's mostly carrots and grass now. We're both looking forward to home-grown carrots again.



We improved on the structure for the second crop of snow peas, and they're reaching up to the first string line now. The peas (behind) are nearly to the top of the potato cages, and there are some cabbage dotted around the place, but they're only small still. Behind the garden bed there is the green oven and the pigface is filling it out nicely now.



And lastly, here's a shot of the space between the footpath and the front fence. We planted these about a month ago. They're suppose to be native to the area and very tough, with a little yellow "ball" flower in summer (but don't ask me their names, because I honestly forgot!). We've had a little trouble keeping the water up to them while they establish, but we're keeping a close eye on them. Marty makes a point of weeding them regularly, so they don't get overwhelmed.



Despite the warmer weather, we're still getting very cold nights, and this morning quite a heavy frost was covering most of the garden. Thankfully none of the plants suffered, except the lemon-scented gum out the back. Hopefully it'll cheer up once spring really arrives.

Fireplace update

The fireplace is coming along! We've heard that our cowl and flue reducer are now ready - we just have to go for a long drive to get them. Oh well, soon! The fireplace is painted as of today, too. The before pic:



The after pic:



What do you think of the colour? Marty and I are both happy with it.. we're just hoping everything looks ok together - the oven, the stone hearth, the paint.. it could look like a disaster! ;)

We've been having some very chilly weather lately. The winds have been a little strong in the night as well. The peas and beans are all blown-over!



Keeping warm until next time!

It's greening up

It's been too long since I last showed what's been happening around the house and garden - so I thought I'd do a general update tonight. We've been pottering around doing odd jobs lately, so nothing too exciting!

We can only hope that these are flax / linseed plants! I can't find a good picture online of what they are suppose to look like at this stage, but we're weeding out as much of the other grasses and weeds as we can - and keeping ones that look like this.



By the looks of it, we'll soon find out what these little plants are.



Broccoli is coming along nicely. There are 2 out of the 3 plants that have grown large. I think I planted them too close together though. We've been overly generous with the well matured horse manure, and this morning I gave them a little sulphate of potash too.



The flower heads are just starting to appear. Hey, I didn't notice that big green caterpillar on there when I took the photo!! See how well they hide? Marty and I check them daily for bugs and aphids.



The peas and snow peas are going crazy and flowering. It feels like only yesterday I was covering the new seedlings with shade-cloth to protect them from the too hot weather.



We've left some of the purple king beans on the dying bushes to collect the seed for next year.



The newly planted peas on the ex-potato cages are just starting to poke-through the soil. You just can't have enough peas!



Here's a half-finished project - this is a water tank buried over an old (unused!) septic tank. We dug out the weeds and have thrown some of the Beneficial Bug Blend on it. Both flowers (I hope) and weeds have come up nicely - but I'm only half way through pulling out the weeds.



The big tree has lost many of its autumn leaves, but we're not going to rake them all up. The trees suffered during last summer, so the thinking here is that the leaves will help provide some much needed nourishment for them to recover over winter and next spring. This picture also shows the new water-tank garden bed. It's not yet filled, and we're still considering where to put it - but it's cut, painted and the sharp edge is covered by plastic pipe.



The lettuce bed is still going strong - we've put more Beneficial Bug Blend seeds into the garden bed around it. We're both looking forward to the winter flowering plants that will hopefully germinate.



We havn't had much rain lately (although, we're expecting some on Friday), but we've been using the water from the tanks since it did rain. We havn't used town water for the garden once since then! That'll save us a little money off the bill - and it means we can water whatever we want, whenever we want to. (Stawell is still on Stage 4 restrictions.)



We're looking forward to eating some parsley soon - and we've been lucky to have all the oregano we could ever want. :)



The chest-freezer garden bed is doing great! I finally got rid of the weeds (once I'd identified them, that is) and now the bok choy and other seedlings are going crazy.



Here's just a small selection of bricks found in the soil when we were planting trees. They're everywhere! Also, the local magpies are great. They're a bit like having wild chooks - but without the eggs. ;)



We're trying to get organised with the wood storage. Marty and I knocked-up this wood storage in an afternoon. Now we just need some proper wood!



Did anyone say bricks? :)
We've been collecting these whole bricks for a long while now - I think there's just about enough for a BBQ next summer. haha!



Here is the pile of broken bricks we have yet to deal with. We've got a few ideas on what to do with them.. you'll have to wait and see!



Until next time!

Projects galore

I'm a little late showing the peas that we planted. Today I took a quick drive down to Essendon because we found a supplier of lime putty! It's pre-slaked lime that's perfect for the re-pointing and plasterwork we intend to do on the walls. It was a 6 hour round trip, but hopefully it'll be well worth the effort.

We have since tested the mortar mixture we had put into the walls earlier, and it's very hard on the outside and quite soft and sandy on the inside. This is fine for what is known as a sacrificial mix - it's designed to attract the moisture (and salt, if any) into it and deteriorate much quicker than we would normally want.

Now we have isolated the cause of the rising damp (it is the concrete floors and fill that has caused the problem in our case), we can feel more confident about re-pointing in a more permanent mixture.

We have found all of the best information from the Heritage Victoria website. They provide the information mostly for heritage listed homes, but it's also very useful for old homes like ours.

Anyway, without further ado, here are the photos of the potato cages which hopefully will provide a good climbing area for the peas we planted the other day.



The wind had knocked over some more of the zinnias in the front garden bed and they were leaning all over the lettuce and beetroot. I cut them out today and would like to keep the seeds for next season. I assume hanging them upside down is a good way to dry them out!



Near the flowers you can see our front door! I havn't yet showed off our front door. We got it many months ago now. Hopefully once it's painted, it'll look nice on the front of the house. The current front door is just an internal door, and isn't really suitable. I'm looking forward to it being hung, but it's one of many projects "on the go" right now.

We've been having a little trouble in the kitchen lately. The "new" electric oven that came with the house is dying - only heats up to 150°C now (about 300°F) and getting lower every time we use it. The other thing is that we have this old stove in the fireplace that is rusted out and taking up space that could be otherwise more useful.



On top of all that, it's absolutely freezing in the kitchen, and it's definitely not comfortable to spend time in or cook in.. so we have been searching for a solution.

Yesterday we wanted to go see what a Nectre Bakers Oven looked like in the flesh, and the only one available to see was in Ballarat. Marty and I took a drive there and really liked what we saw. We're going to pick it up on Monday - with the help of Michael's truck, "The Bone Crusher" - and hopefully we'll get it installed in the kitchen ASAP.

It will provide a working oven, some heat, and as a bonus, a couple of hot plates on top (handy for a kettle)! It will go in place of the old rusty stove, so won't take up any more space, and make that area more useful again. We've never cooked using wood before, so it'll be a steep learning curve for us both. Still, I'm looking forward to the challenge (and the heat!). ;)

Other than that, Marty is about to attempt fixing the windows in the shed, which have rotted out so badly that rain gets in there. Things are being done on a "putting out the fires" basis - ie: the most urgent things are being done first. Hopefully we're not getting ourselves in too deep with all these projects on the go at once! One thing's for sure, we can't complain that there's nothing to do!

Until next time!

Autumn garden part 2

Here's the picture of the snow-peas and peas. I was worried that I planted them a little too early - we had to cover them with shadecloth during the hottest weather - but they seem to be enjoying the cooler Autumn weather.



The freezer now has worms in it and some of the seeds are sprouting. Planted are Celery (Tall utah), Spinach (Winter giant), Pak Choi and Bok Choy. If there is any room, I have some Cabbage (sugarloaf) just sprouting in some paper pots (actually they're toilet rolls, but hey!)



The lettuce have almost completely taken over the water-tank garden bed. Funny, we don't really eat a lot of lettuce. Oops!



Lastly, this Zinnia is changing colour as it's getting older. I think it's even more beautiful than the young flowers!



Until next time!

Plodding along..

Firstly, an updated picture of the front yard now the plumbing has been buried.



Of course, there's always another project on-the-go, so it never stays "nice" for long. ;) We are continuing making the garden bed using old roof tiles, but we needed to remove a concreted-in pole.



Lots of sweat and effort later, we finally removed it - and, not for the first time, curse concrete and everything it stands for. :p

Note to anyone considering using concrete to secure posts in the ground - PLEASE DON'T! (Unless it's a fence or a gate of course..)



So, we've nearly finished the garden bed. We're now adding lots of manure and compost to the poor quality sandy soil. It's now holding water and looking much better.. but there's more work to be done.

The vegetables are all doing well. These broccoli have had a few bites taken from the leaves - so I've put down some eggshells to help keep the white moths away. It seems to be helping.



The white inside the eggshells is suppose to make the moths think there is already a moth in the area, and being territorial, they won't bother landing. (Well, that's the idea.) I used it successfully with the beetroot, but I'm not sure if the beetroot were a big target anyway.

The peas and the snowpeas are up and at 'em. Marty keeps the weeds down.



The sunflowers are fully open, but they're not moving with the sun. One is "stuck" in an easterly direction while the other is "stuck" facing west.



This single carrot has survived the earwigs of spring and the ground being dug over for the beetroot.. it's our largest carrot, and it happens to be a Purple Dragon! They say beetroot and carrot don't get on well, but this one is proving them all wrong.



Speaking of beetroot.. check this out!



The corn is still flowering, and as you can see, the flower spikes are not much taller than I am. I don't think we'll get any corn kernels develop, but they still look great, and they'll add to the compost when their time is up.



The flowers make everything look 100 times nicer. We'll be growing these again next year for sure!



We've since removed the old and very ugly rose "tree" from the last of the garden beds out the front, and we're planning on planting a green manure crop there over winter, in preparation for all the spring veggies we have planned. :)

Until next time!