Carnations from the kids Grandmother "Marnie" by the cubbyhouse. On our to-do list - oil that cubbyhouse!
Spring in the garden
Summer produce
The recent rains have produced some interesting colours in my summer tomato crop. Well, I'm assuming it was the recent rain...
Spring in the garden
Hurrah for spring, life is good right now. I am enjoying my work immensely, my kids are a beautiful age (one and almost 4) so very cute and playing well together (most of the time). The washing can go outside every day and dries in the sun. It makes such a difference doesn't it?
An experiment, growing carrots in old clay pipes.
My first strawberry for the season. I got to eat it this time, last year the possums and birds ate them all. To my utter dismay "the Cat" takes after his Dad and refuses to eat fruit.
Philotheca flowers in a vinegar bottle.
The little antique pecks fish paste bottle we found in the backyard now holds lavender on the kitchen windowsill.
An experiment, growing carrots in old clay pipes.
My first strawberry for the season. I got to eat it this time, last year the possums and birds ate them all. To my utter dismay "the Cat" takes after his Dad and refuses to eat fruit.Philotheca flowers in a vinegar bottle.The little antique pecks fish paste bottle we found in the backyard now holds lavender on the kitchen windowsill.
My little edible patch
Since these photos were taken the lettuce and parsley have been eaten by the local possums. They are just resprouting now.
Currently in my winter garden I have:
strawberry plants
oregano (recovering well)
sage (going crazy)
lemongrass (re-potted today)
mint (sad, re-potted today)
parsley (nibbled by possums)
perpetual lettuce (nibbled by possums)
mizuna greens (looking and tasting good)
garlic chives (yummy in corn fritters tonight)
onion (experiment)
A sprouting store bought onion which I planted in a pot to see what it would do.
I have never used sage in cooking before so I'm looking forward to trying this. Feel free to send me any of your favourite recipes with sage.
Currently in my winter garden I have:
strawberry plants
oregano (recovering well)
sage (going crazy)
lemongrass (re-potted today)
mint (sad, re-potted today)
parsley (nibbled by possums)
perpetual lettuce (nibbled by possums)
mizuna greens (looking and tasting good)
garlic chives (yummy in corn fritters tonight)
onion (experiment)
A sprouting store bought onion which I planted in a pot to see what it would do.I have never used sage in cooking before so I'm looking forward to trying this. Feel free to send me any of your favourite recipes with sage.
Growing our own food
Recently I have been immersing myself in reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and watching "Gardening Australia" and "the Edible Garden" while feeding Zoe. I have been inspired to grow our own fruit, herbs and vegetables and have so far started planting a small amount of herbs and salad greens. We have been delighted with the results, enjoying salad from our own garden most days. It tastes so much better when it hasn't been sitting in storage for awhile, and it saves us buying a massive lettuce or bunch of herbs and wasting what we don't need.
Above is the Mizuna which is a Japanese lettuce with yellow flowers which you can also eat. We also have mustard greens, perpetual lettuce and sweet rocket (which is a delicious spicy flavour). In the herbs we have rosemary (established), lemongrass, oregano, continental parsley, mint, lemon thyme and garlic chives.
I have two types of strawberries, one type has white flowers and they were a gift from a friend, the other has pink flowers and has green fruit now. My white flowering strawberry plants have produced two ripe strawberries so far, but they where nabbed by birds before I could get to them. I might have to put netting over them so I get to try one this season!
Spring in the garden
Catching up on some posts... I have been otherwise occupied having my spring baby! I'll update on that soon. Meanwhile all the flowers and bees are out in our garden. When it rains you can hear frogs chirping happily from their leafy homes, and the bell birds tinking away at the tops of the trees. I love this time of year.
Autumn Garden
In summer it is a bit hot to hang out in our backyard too much but lately it has been cooler and lovely out there. We have got Ethan some more outdoor toys so he is loving it out the back too. Now we are looking for a little cubby house to put out there.Our chillies have been turning red too, these ones are really spicy hot.
In the garden
These native violets I planted in the front yard when we moved in, they are flowering like crazy now. I'm hoping that soon we will have carpets of these between the other plants. I think I will move the ones in the pot to the back garden and plant my strawberries in the pot. These plants love a bit of precipitation, they go a bit nuts after the rain, but they also do ok when it is dry. I love them.
Visiting friends
On the way to and from Queensland we stopped in on our friends in Coffs Harbour. Going by what fun two days we had, I think we should have stayed there the whole time we were on holidays!!
My friend Fi created all these fun things for us to do. Steve and her husband went fishing whilst we took the two boys to look for soldier crabs. We didn't find any crabs, but the kids and us mum's loved splashing in the water! Then we had a little picnic and played on the play equipment. When we got home we filled up their canoe for the boys to splosh around in. We threw in some beach toys and empty squirty bottles for them to play with. Then I decided we should do some painting so the boys did some painting and then hopped back in the canoe pool to clean off. Now that's what I call toddler fun! Fi's husband makes homebrew beer, very good ( a bit like bees knees) so Steve had a couple. Fi made 100% fruit sorbet with mango, banana and peach, it was so yummy and healthy. The boys loved it too.
Fi sent me home with some vegies and some orchids she grows in her garden. While we were there she was sundrying tomatoes on the washing line. I admire Fi's energy and resourcefulness in everything she does.
My friend Fi created all these fun things for us to do. Steve and her husband went fishing whilst we took the two boys to look for soldier crabs. We didn't find any crabs, but the kids and us mum's loved splashing in the water! Then we had a little picnic and played on the play equipment. When we got home we filled up their canoe for the boys to splosh around in. We threw in some beach toys and empty squirty bottles for them to play with. Then I decided we should do some painting so the boys did some painting and then hopped back in the canoe pool to clean off. Now that's what I call toddler fun! Fi's husband makes homebrew beer, very good ( a bit like bees knees) so Steve had a couple. Fi made 100% fruit sorbet with mango, banana and peach, it was so yummy and healthy. The boys loved it too. Fi sent me home with some vegies and some orchids she grows in her garden. While we were there she was sundrying tomatoes on the washing line. I admire Fi's energy and resourcefulness in everything she does.
Hunter Valley Gardens
These gardens are just filled with goodness! They are themed in different sections such as Formal garden, Asian garden, Indian Garden, Italian garden, Storybook land (for children!) etc. These photos are just a small section of these amazing gardens. I was really inspired by the Asian and Indian sections.
This table design reminded me of the tables we saw in the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy.
The Indian Garden and mosaic garden were gorgeous. I had never seen an Indian style formal garden before this.
This table design reminded me of the tables we saw in the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy.The Indian Garden and mosaic garden were gorgeous. I had never seen an Indian style formal garden before this.Indian Mosaic Garden, it smelt like Curry plant, the blue bush in the foreground. I bought some of the curry plants to take home and try in our garden.