With Christmas coming in the longest Summer days, Australia and New Zealand have a range of trees that flower spectacularly now, and so are called ‘Christmas trees’, even though most houses have a plastic or even real pine tree over the presents.
Read MoreYear: 2014
Sunflowers for Christmas
They’ve had a season of mixed fortunes, but by a combination of hardiness and good fortune, the sunflower beds have made it through to flowering, and will be putting on a show for Christmas.
Read MoreGrowing basil: there’s plenty of choice!
The light this morning made me stop and admire the colours of the basil. It was a bright morning after rain, and the basil is just coming into its own after surviving the dry weather. In particular the Dark Opal showed up nicely against the Holy basil. Basil has to be one of the favourite herbs to grow for the home gardener, with good reason. First of all, fresh picked basil from the garden is so much better than bought basil. Either you buy a bunch that has been battered…
Read MoreMung beans – good and quick.
What do you plant when you’ve got to the end of your sowing list? Mung beans are a good way to fill a spare bed. I prepared a bed down at the main vegetable garden but didn’t have anything that urgently needed sowing. So on a whim I thought that mung beans out of the pantry might be a good summer crop.
Read MorePecking order / chook fights
The chicken world can be very unglamorous, even red in beak and claw.
Read MoreA fly
Sometimes you see extraordinary fleeting things, and thanks to technology we can now share what was previously impossible to describe. This fly was sitting beautifully on a zucchini leaf in the mid-levels. I don’t remember seeing one like it before, and may not see one again, just one of those moments.
Read MoreThe solar pump – technology to the rescue.
The solar pump at the dam has a story. When we first moved in and had a chat with the previous owner, they said to be careful with machinery down by the dam, as there are solar panels and a pump down there. So we pushed through the shoulder-high grass and eventually found a change of level underfoot. Beneath a thick layer of grass that had fallen over everything we eventually located panels, then the electrical control box, and to our surprise, when the grass was off the panels the…
Read MoreGrowing okra: another drought star.
I’m an okra growing novice. I have always liked it, and bought it when it looked good in the greengrocer, but I have never seen it growing and could possibly be the first in my family to try it. But so far I’m impressed with growing okra, as it’s stayed unwiltingly defiant through our dry spring.
Read MoreSeed saving – the spring crop.
Seed saving. It seems like everyone’s doing it, and it’s a good job for a warm and breezy Sunday afternoon. Today I got my saved seeds into ziplock bags, and it gave me new enthusiasm to get out sowing. While I think of seed saving as putting away seeds for next year, some crops like lettuce can be sowed back straight away.
Read MoreMarans chicks at 6 weeks.
Our Marans chicks are six weeks old, and have turned from fluff balls to proper little chickens.
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