February plot

There's a lot of green in these photos, as the garden is growing so well and aside from the rainbow chard everything is exactly that - lovely lush green. Both types of beans have appeared just 3-4 days after their flowers opened up. Looking forward to fresh beans - the shop ones we've been buying only seem to last a crappy 3 days in our fridge these days.

The bok choy is floursishing, crispy and very tasty.

The lone tomato I posted last week has now got sisters and brothers. Surely we must be a few days away from being ripe?!

Ooooh YES, it's been a good few months since I have handmade anything so on a crafty note yesterday I finally bought a free-motion quilting foot!!!!!! I hope to start quilting my picnic (come queen size bed quilt top) blanket soon, which I haven't even glanced at since October... see here, here and here.

The last thing I had done was tie the quilt layers at intervals with embroidery floss, but I became worried that the ties are too far apart which will mean the batting will separate and eventually come adrift in the sandwich. An attempted to quilt the layers together on the machine rendered me feeling hopeless. I read that free-motion quilting is difficult so I'll be sure to do some test runs on pretend mini quilt sandwiches before getting stuck into the real thing.

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green

Our 50 year old pear tree is now brimming with gorgeous fat pears, and similar to last year the rainbow lorikeets and possums are getting to them before we can. We were hoping that placing them on the kitchen windowsill will ripen them up nicely, but we tried one yellowing one which smelt divinely pear-esque the other day and it was terribly bitter and had gross brown spots inside. Shame. Hopefully the rest are better.

Tasty spring onions, bok choy and rainbow chard have been harvested for our last two dinners.

We took a trip to Bunnings today and I spent a few happy hours gardening in the afternoon. I planted one too many leeks, in hope for some yummy potato and leek soup in the Winter (it appears that the tray for $2.99 contained 32 to be precise hehe). Friends and family, I hope you like leeks! Also put in some green dragon broccoli and one brussel sprout plant just for the fun of watching it grow - the little sprouts grow dotted all around the outside of one tall stem. Very random.

Hope your enjoying some lovely mid 20's weather as we are in Adelaide ♥♥♥♥

January plot

I have been trying to keep note of what vegetables and herbs we have planted or sown in each bed, so we don't forget and repeat plant the same crop in the same bed next season.  I thought I would try to create a plot organiser using Publisher every month or so. Yes I am still on school holidays, and yes I am a night owl and frequently stay up drinking tea and playing around with Publisher till 2am. 

We have not really stuck to any planting rules of thumb (aside from considering the amount and angle of sunlight in each bed throughout the day) as I was much too rapped about having a veggie garden and impatience got the better of me. Quite literally as seeds germinated in raising trays the next day they were whisked out and planted into freshly composted soil. 

So we'll see how that goes, without a doubt mistakes have been made. Next season we will be definitely consider companion planting and waiting until seedlings are strong enough to tackle the baking Summer sunshine. Lesson learnt!

* NOTE Those little wormy critters are most likely intestinal worms from the composted cow manure we turned into the soil before planting... and Hurrah - have NOT been munching anything. Thanks xx

little veggie plot

Christmas is over for another year and I am amazed at how quickly the new year has arrived. The Boy and I hosted a delicious family Chrissy lunch for 8 with success (although I doubt I will ever get the timing right so vegies are served steaming HOT) and without frantic last minute cleaning or shopping. We cooked a plethora of delightful dishes ... roast pork with cinnamon apple sauce ... green beans with butter and wasabi ... honeyed carrots... garlic butter mushrooms ... asparagus ...split chicken.... and finished with two desserts, Summer berry trifle and passion fruit vanilla slice, one can never eat enough dessert I say! Yum.

The day after Boxing Day, after weeks of discussions and planning we got to work on our little veggie bed project. And now just days later - it's complete. My frontal lobe hurts from reading books, blogs and watching youtube clips about growing veggies, types of soil, which grow best in our temperate-Mediterranean Adelaide climate, to sow seeds or buy seedlings etc. I feel entirely motivated by the idea of growing and eating my own vegetables, that it's almost exhausting. I recall feeling the same way when I was learning how to crochet and knit.

 One empty boring side yard.

First layer of redgum sleepers bolted together.

Second layer and beds lined up.

The sandwich began with a layer of cardboard, which smothers and kills weeds and grass.

 Followed by a 10 cm layer of pea straw.

Lastly, filled with loam and organic compost.

I can't wait to share the progress of our our little plot and harvests (fingers crossed that my thumbs are green enough) over the coming months. If you have any suggestions for Summer sowing I would love to hear them.

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