Finally planted out my bare rooted cherry trees this weekend.
The varieties are Stella, Starkrimson & Trixee Black Cherry.

Here's hoping they don't die on me!

Couldn't resist 2 of these for out the front

Hardenbergia Regent.

Relative of the Happy Wanderer but this one is not a climber.

Planted 4 London Heart liliums today plus 50 dwarf blue & white Agapanthus rhizomes.

Hope they flower this year.

RIP Maggie

Strawberries Please

I confess (hanging my head in shame) to letting my strawberry patch run wild, it has steadily decreased fruit production over the years while expending all its energy into runners.

I haven't weeded, thinned, fertilized or looked after them in general so I'm now reaping what I sowed.

So to make amends I have purchased from Diggers

10 x Hokowase - exceptionally sweet & early fruiting Japanese strawberry

20 x Cambridge Rival - sweet, rich and fragrant English heirloom strawberry

and I promise to look after them.

Once I plant them that is, as they are currently languishing on my kitchen bench...

For My Birthday I received...

I've always said that if we can't eat it I'm not going to waste water on it.

These are my only exception.

I chose two Twin Colour Patio  Roses from Garden Express.  

The 2 varieties (Burgundy & Iceberg) are specially grafted onto a 55-60cm rootstock.  

Thank you Jon & Kiara xxx

In My Mini Orchard #2

Mmmmm yum Narrabeen Plum

Was first introduced to these when picking fruit for extra $ while the kids were at school

Red skin with sweet but tangy yellow flesh, freestone, great for eating fresh, stewing & jam.

NB Needs a blood plum for pollination, I originally had a Mariposa but it didn't survive the first summer so replanted with a Santa Rosa.

Last year it set fruit for the first time only to have all the olive sized fruit destroyed by a late frost and huge windstorm.

In My Mini Orchard #1

This particular variety took a bit of tracking down as I wanted an all-rounder peach that my mum swears by - well not actually swear (oops sorry mum)

Also this variety is self fertile.

Big thanks to Yalca Fruit Trees for a fantastic online catalogue, it's well worth a browse.

http://www.yalcafruittrees.com.au/

Quoting directly from the Flemings website it is 
"A large, yellow fleshed freestone peach with excellent eating qualities.  Used for fresh fruit, juice, drying and stewing."

I'm Baaaack!

Time to dust myself & the shovel off & get back into this so stay tuned

Asparagus is just poking the first 2 spears for the season through the mulch. 
Photos to come I promise.

What's in the Box?

Yay my plants arrived

60 Microphyllia Microphyllia or Korean Buxus

30 Red Robin Photinia

Now just have to put up the colourbond fence they are going in front of as a 3 step hedge.

Dark Grey Colourbond Fence, then a row of Photinia,

a row of Blue & White dwarf Agapanthus then the Korean Buxus.

Now I know what's eating the beans!

Darn it, this morning I spotted (no pun intended) 2 x 28 spotted ladybirds chewing merrily away on my beans.



Quickly picked them off & sent to school with DD for show & tell.

But where there are 2, there are going to be a lot more :(


Any solutions for control apart from handpicking?

Caterpillar Update - It has been Named & Shamed!

Thanks to Pumpkin Patch from http://www.simplesavings.com.au/, I now have a name for this critcher!

Drumroll please.....it is the larvae of a Large Citrus Butterfly also known as an Orchard Swallowtail.

The adult butterfly looks like this

http://www.ces.csiro.au/aicn/name_c/a_2304.htm

Quite pretty considering what it starts out like.

Rob Bob also from Simple Savings calls the caterpillars "bird poo"

Thanks for your help PP & RB - Cheers

White Caterpillars - What Next???

If anyone knows the name of this creature found chomping away on my new Eureka Lemon, please let me know.

Mr Google wasn't much use...

There were 5 caterpillars on the tree but they were very smartly turned into chook food!

Happy New Year - bit late but who cares!

Hope Everyone has a fantastic New Year

Slightly Soggy

What happens when you buy a house on a flood plain - not us though!

The Boorowa river overflow

The local Caravan Park had to be evacuated

This house flooded on Friday the 3rd December & also on Thursday the 9th

Nice day for a picnic?



Same location but after the flood

Water in the Waterworks

Aged Units under attack

Brrrr....bit chilly here

Apologies for no pictures however it was minus 4.2 degrees overnight & I wasn't going to turn myself into an icicle for anyone!

Hope its warmer where you live.

Brrrr

It may be Winter but we are still growing strong.

In the greenhouse...

A thriving hydroponic unit, now that we have replaced the vermiculite with clay balls.

The seedlings are quite happy with their second set of leaves just starting to come through.

In the garden, the broccoli just keeps on growing, even after cutting the main floret & secondary shoots.

I'd better pick these for tea!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

Last weekend I got stuck into the pumpkin patch & harvested the following...

And then these...

Would you believe that there are still more growing on the vines?

This is my first attempt at pumpkins & I hope to do it all again next year.

I've made a few batches of soup, given away a few & for the rest, I'll store them on their sides so no moisture can collect around the stalks, once they have sat in the sun for a week.

Dad said to coat the stems with parrafin wax but have had no luck in finding any.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how long they keep.

RIP Robert Edgar Catte Esquire

Terrible photo but pure Bob.

"Leave me alone until I finish my nap, then I might allow you to pat me!"

He couldn't catch a mouse if it laid down in front of him.

He was only interested in food, sleep, tomcatting, food, sleep & the occasional cuddle.

He had a thing for plastic bags.

He thought he was a lover & a fighter but was neither.

He was supposed to be Jon's cat but claimed me as his human.

Will be deeply missed.

Corn Galore

I've started to harvest some of my corn.

Below is patch number 1 of 3 situated in various parts of my garden.

Last night I picked 11 cobs with a total weight of 3.458kg.

I kept 2 still in their husks to either BBQ or Steam whole.

The remainder were cut into pieces, blanched & sealed in lots of 3 or 4 with the Vaccum sealer ready to be frozen.