Friday 31 May 2013

Day 21... Three Weeks in!

I woke to the boys headed outside into the FREEZING cold at 6am to check to see if their beans has frozen then whoops of joy when they found them still okay!  Goodness knows what my Neighbours think!

Well blogger won't allow me to upload any photo's so a quick blurb...

I didn't get in the garden much... Toothache then Dentist... but I did supervise the boys a little... Brandon was busy planting seeds.... we are in trouble if all of them come to fruition!  Yellow Leafed Lettuce and Rocket got planted...

Tom drilled some more cups and did some plumbing on the retic... very busy busy!

That's it from me...

*hugs*
Sarah

Thursday 30 May 2013

Day TWENTY!

Today it was cold and rainy.... perfect day for my seedlings but not for me with a broken tooth!  Ohhh Cold air is horrible.

I didn't even have to water today and all of the "saucers" I put out yesterday are full!

Hoping the lovely rain will work its magic and make everything grow a whole lot quicker.
 
 The boys did the check everything grew tour... yes Brandon still has running totals going!  Not sure his beans will still be growing new leaves tomorrow since it is going to be 2C!  BRRRRR!!!


The boys went to the strawberries and thinking I couldn't hear decided which belonged to whom... I have a feeling Chris and I aren't getting any!



One of the mint plants I was worried about I am no longer worried since it has decided it wants to escape out of the bottom of the pot instead of top!

Once again I rescued some pots from being crushed by the roadside collection... hopefully this weekend we will get them filled ;-)

 
Have a lovely day /night *hugs* Sarah


Wednesday 29 May 2013

Day 19.

Day 19 involved a trip to Kongs to replenish some of our spices... by the time I got to the garden after some housework our glorious sunshine had disappeared!  Not for long though :-)
Grandpop's Tomatoes are starting to get their next set of leaves... YES I am aware that it is the wrong season but the boys were determined and they are in our homemade greenhouse... let us hope they survive Friday's 2C Morning!  Not sure I will lol


Documenting "Grandpop's" Lazy housewife beans... just getting their real leaves... I fear for them come Friday's 2C too!  But the boys *had* to plant them too... I forsee lessons being learned about cool and warm weather crops ;-)

 The Ceylon/Malabar Spinach is surviving the crickets!  Incidentally the Yellow sticky traps still didn't catch any crickets... but great for flies!
 
The seedlings are all going great guns... but still no curry leaf trees... the only thing growing there is white mold! (below!)

 I went down the side to check the worms, curry leaf tree and bay leaf tree... all still going :-)  The worms are still wriggling well... seem to like being in newspaper and coir more than eating my garden and kitchen scraps!


 Doing the watering takes soooo much longer when you have help!  Every single time I run the tap she helps herself rather than letting me fill the watering can lol.


Now today on the way to school I was told we needed to stop and pick up a broken scooter from the road side collection as Tom wanted to fix it up (and he has)... so while Tom was getting scooter parts Brandon stashed someones old pots in my boot.... he really has caught the garden bug!

 Some of my garden is in flower at the moment!  They always bring a smile,  if you can identify these I would love to know the specific name :-)

Tom took Chris on a tour to show him "his" plants including at least 10 carrots up in his new bed... 

 I am aware again that it isn't really the right time but I have ginger in some pots... I might pop them in the greenhouse tomorrow.



  While clearing out Tom's room I found the insert for his LEGO advent calendar... so me being me... I drilled a hole in each one... I just need to fill with potting mix and add some seeds... perfect!

My very expensive pot saucers got deployed today... plastic bowls... disposable ones from Coles... much cheaper than the garden saucers!

Ok that is it from me today... hopefully after my tooth is fixed on Friday I might have a little more energy :-)

Have a good one *hugs*
Sarah

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Day 18!

G'day,
Well this morning was busy out of the garden... but this afternoon hurray!  Garden time :-)
Lots of Grandparent material in here today!

I have to say Mr Brandon has definitely caught the Gardening BUG! (Wooo Hooo!)

The chives have started to come up... hard to see but Brandon insists it is UP!  So now we are counting how many chives, lettuces, Mizuna, radishes (including colour), carrots, basil, beans and peas.  Scarily Brandon tells me how many were up yesterday with the peas and beans... I hope none die!

 Well I went to get into the greenhouse and discovered Mr Brandon had "FIXED" the flapping door... he had sealed it shut! *giggle*  No more flapping door ;-)
 Strawberries are still going strong!  No roots on the sweet potatoes yet or the rosemary but they it is still early days... Thanks Aleisha for the Rosemary cuttings :-)
In Tom's bed his first shoots have appeared...
 Pretty sure they are the Carrots :-)

 What do disposable cups with holes in the bottom have to do with gardening... hydroponics :-)  We are waiting on our lettuces to get big enough but thought we would get moving on the prep work.
Now I will point out Brandon was fully supervised...including by Miss BallaBalla but boys will be boys lol...

 

So we have a foam (polystyrene) box lined with black plastic (council sized garbage bag) a board drilled with holes the size of the plastic cups and one larger hole for an upside down bottle to sit in (yes there are two that is what happens when you have young men that know everything but they did do a great job!).  Holes in the cup are drilled up the sides to allow air into the cup since the bases will be sitting in water all the time.  We have grown lettuces like this before and the boys can't wait for it to operational JUST LIKE GRANDPOP'S.


 Brandon unsealed my greenhouse so he could check out Grandpop's tomatoes...
 Brandon got busy filling cups with soggy potting mix (we had rain last night woo hoo) ready for planting.
 Mr Brandon then got busy planting pea's where his beans had not come up... he is definitely getting into this gardening! :-)

 Brandon spots Tom's carrots... go gets Tom... I am not sure Tom is too impressed with the "slow progress" he wants things for the kitchen NOW!


 Brandon planting Coriander and Red Onions.

Since Brandon and I were busy in the garden Chris and Tom got on with dinner.... or should I say Tom did... He cooked Nannies Dhal, rice and Mount Barker Teriyaki Chicken Skewers... and Chris is cooking Chicken Chaat as I write... boy am I feeling spoiled :-)  I will be so glad when we have a functioning kitchen garden again... it is so important for the boys to have that ground to plate connection :-)
BRANDON READING SEED PACKETS.... yes all in CAPS... No one asked him to, he chose to read and organise the seed packets according to season... reading with a smile on his dial...
That's it from me today *hugs* Sarah