An outing and a visitor brought carnage!

Dear Hubby took me shopping today to Bunnings *swoon*... so I could get two brackets to sure up the  new arches and a roll of corrugated drainage pipe to go into my wicking pots for the trees.  We also stopped at the bottle shop to get a beautiful bottle of ... Swan Draught *chuckle* fear not!  It is not for us but for our slugs and snails that have been extremely busy pruning my plants.  It seems we should have got several other bottles as I ran out after filling the first 6 traps!

On our return I walked out the back to set a cup of beer in the worm farm for the slugs that have decided to squat in there I came upon carnage... pipe fittings; hydroton (round expanded clay balls); pipes and mess all up the back corner... and two very, very excited dogs.  Well I followed Rex who made it quite plain he had found something... I am actually quite relieved this little bobtail was whole and unharmed but probably had several nose prints on his back as the dogs investigated his obviously interesting odour!  

Ice-cream container to the rescue and a quick walk out the front and this lil garden buddy got to go explore under the cape gooseberry bush... so I guess its now the season I better start wearing shoes in the garden as the snakes will start coming out of the conservation land!  

Now I know that technically I should not harvest my rhubarb this year however it was so crowded at the top of the fence I decided I better thin it out and taste test... yet to taste but so exciting.  So Strawberries from my garden (big ones) and hydroponics (little ones), cape gooseberries, broad beans and snow peas. Not a big harvest but every little bit helps :-D

I enjoyed my afternoon watering with seasol and aquasol... hoping this is the pick me up some of my plants need to survive the onslaught of the never ending caterpillars, slugs and snails.  Anyway that's it from me tonight..

Happy Gardening!

*hugs*
Sarah

So much to do, so little time!

Excuse the mess but everything arrived all at once so I am having to build things and clean things and dig things all at the same time... really not sure how this happened hehe... So yesterday I built the two arches which will go either side of a 2/3 barrel with a Grapevine in in front of the wall you can see... after I pull all the old veges out of the garden bed.

 The full barrels are being scrubbed out and then used to collect rain water for the Aquaponics which we are currently building (along with everything else!).

Chris upgraded his phone so I claimed his old one... which happens to have a panorama function on the camera... so I played with it while working on my hydroponics.  Far left is my ole curry leaf tree which will be going in the ground soon.  On the shelves are two grow beds... the top are tomatoes - Grand-pops Super Toms;  below prolific watercress... which drives my dogs wild lol.  Then 2.5meter lengths of NFT hydroponics... looking quite healthy - I have just cut back the rocket and some other plants and will be pulling them out and replacing as soon as I get two minutes.  Beyond... you can see the shelf supports which got affixed to the limestone wall after this picture (Thanks Chris!) and a multitude of pipes that need holes drilling into them!

 As you can see the rhubarb is growing really well... along with some winter grass?!?  I am rather unsure how I have come to have winter grass in the top level of my system lol.  These are less than six months old and already the stems are thicker than my thumbs!

Strawberries up the top are now quite productive!  Their flavour has also improved with the warmer weather... that green mat below is oregano!  It is so prolific that I pick some daily and it looks like it hasn't been touched!

My superstar performers are still going strong even after all the green caterpillars!  Rainbow Chard... such an all rounder... soups, salads, stir fries and steamed greens!  Once the Aquaponics is up and running I will definitely be planting a whole lot more.

 The chives don't look spectacular however they have been harvested a lot for salads... The Kale is looking quite tragic!  It has been munched on by a million caterpillars and I have a feeling it is because it is at the bottom so has less sunlight and any thing that falls from above lands here.  I am picking off caterpillars daily so fingers crossed we will see improvement soon.







 Well T cut down some barrels to give me some big pots for my trees... so I put the tops to good use today.... a worm farm!  The hardest part was getting one barrel top to go into the other!

Not a bad effort even if I do say so myself!  The top has been perfectly drilled by B to allow air into the worms... we will put it in the shady side of the house.

Ok that is about it from me tonight *hugs* Happy Gardening!
Sarah x

Update... its all happening!

Well I have been soooo busy I haven't had time to post!  Between changing the back garden... more edibles here we come!  Cooking fresh food (nothing unusual here but more and more we are having straight from the garden fresh, FRESH food.  Building a new aquaponics system *and* expanding the front garden beds I just don't have enough hours in my day lol.  Oh and dealing with a teen and tween who either love each other or despise each other... lol

So we were having "Mum's Roast Chicken" so sage and onions for stuffing were required... The onions aren't huge but until I get the soil healthy and happy that is going to happen... a work in progress for a few years I suspect.  The chooks were delicious and the only issue is not enough stuffing as everyone wanted it lol.

On that note... it was bonus time sooo house / garden projects get done... my bit went on the garden, 4 bags or mortar for putting in garden edging with some very expensive stuff called bondcrete which will apparently make it all last longer.  Organic slow release fertiliser with trace elements to help fix my soils along with Rooster Booster for the garden and remaining grass and some organic citrus / fruit tree food for all our fruiting babies. Some hydroponics liquid for my veges... and not pictured: two garden arches (built them yesterday); 11 Six meter lengths of 90mm PVC pipes; Six 1.8 meter shelf supports; Marine Ply to cover my IBC; 90 degree 90mm corners. 15 degree 90mm pipe thingies; 90mm saddles, saddles for attaching the MDF to the IBC, screws and bolts lol so yes I think I should have shares in Bunnings... oh and some Red Kale, Siberian Tomatoes, Diggers Mini Capsicums, Chilli's and Marigolds.

Also with my lil bit of the bonus I got Olive Barrels from WA Barrels which we are using as giant pots for some of our trees to let them grow but keep them contained!  I don't think a bay tree or Fig tree are a great idea in the ground between two houses do you?  So my feuding boys took a break from fighting and got busy with power tools... family projects are awesome!  T got on the Angle Grinder and cut down the barrels; B hosed out the olives then started drilling drainage holes for me :-)

 I don't think a machine could do a more precise job!

 Oh and the other thing about teen and tween boys... they EAT a LOT!!!  Thankfully we are getting bigger harvests and veges are filling!

 So what did we get... dozens of green caterpillars... didn't eat them but fed a few to the bird... even he is sick of them!  Rainbow Chard and Silverbeet; Kale; Parsley; Coriander; Watercress; Oregano; Thyme; Rosemary; Sage; Mint; Basil Mint; Nasturtiums; Chives; Baby Lettuce; Tatsoi; Pak Choy; Mizuna; Two Onions Flowers: Nasturtium; Chives; Native Violet; Sage; Two Snow Peas; The first Broad Bean and some Dragons Tongue Beans.  For dessert:  Strawberries and a heap of Cape Gooseberries.

 So in most meals there is something from the garden... this was B's 'small' meal lol

B and I have been busy digging... the Wedding Bushes went to a lovely lady who will give them a home... the lilies went to the tip as they are a dime a dozen and no one will buy them lol... B had now dug the hole for the Curry Leaf Tree... not quite where I had in mind but I can work with that lol... and I can move the berries down this way too.  So that is so far... still loving the edging :-D

So still on my to do list:

• Drilling hundreds of holes in pipes.
• Securing the shelf supports and attaching the pipes.
• Securing the Marine Ply on the IBC frame.
• High pressure cleaning the IBC a second time as the boys missed a few spots.
• Soaping up and washing out olive barrels.
• Planting my big ole curry leaf tree - she is suffering in her pot.
• Building the mint beds with the paving bricks and mortar.
• Hydroponic Nutrient levels.
• Replanting hydroponics... some of my plants have gone past it.
• Moving and re-securing the berries.
• Pulling out the old vege patch and installing the arches.
• Planting the Bay, Fig and Grape into the barrels.

OK better stop now as my list is getting longer the longer I sit here hehe... off to the garden x

Happy Gardening!  *hugs* Sarah

The Paving is done!

So two days ago my back yard looked like this:

Messy and muddy!  The grass didn't grow when it was cold. The grass didn't grow when it was hot.  The grass didn't like Rex running around on it... so the majority of the grass had to go!

Today it looks like this:

 This corner is going to have segregated beds lined with weed mat then have soil back in and have Brandon's mint, basil mint and chocolate mint in.  The grass has been repatched and will get some pampering to get it back to looking good (the grass here was growing well until someone got carried away removing it lol)... I LOVE the garden edging!!!  Once the cement is all the way dry I can mulch right up to the edge and it will stay put woo hoo!

So all in all I am a happy camper!

 I am working on the front again... taking out a little more grass; I am going to add some clay, manure, blood and bone then some mulch and populate the bed with some of our seedlings and maybe the pepino.

 The Tangelo at the back of the bed has a multitude of new leaves and flowers so I am excited as we thought it was a gone-a after losing all but one leaf!

That's it from me tonight, I am aching after moving hundreds of pavers (for the new garden beds! ohhhh)

Happy Gardening *hugs*

Sarah

The back garden... before and during...

Well it finally happened... its time to lose a lot of the grass and put in the pavers so Rex can run around like a pork chop without making mud!  No matter how much I walk him he still has energy to burn!  So the boys and Chris helped me move the *very* heavy garden beds into the Alfresco Area... fast food? lol... they were looking a little the worse for wear this morning as it looks like the dogs went exploring but oh well!

While moving pots out of the way in readiness for the paving I took the opportunity to get pictures so humour me!  The Dwarf Pomegranate is flowering and happy. The seed area is showing lots of signs of life.  The Pepino is showing appreciation of its new pot although I am thinking of putting it out the front in the garden bed I started expanding today.... ohhh the possibilities!

In the pot is Horseradish which has come back with a vengeance.. again I am considering popping this into the garden bed out the front.  The radish you can see is going to flower (I like to leave several to do  this to get seeds) the bulb is now inedible as its wider than a cup and would need a saw or axe to get through lol.  The potatoes I planted in the Azalea mix have come up and are looking well so heres onward and upward in this little experiment.  

The Strawberries are covered in green fruit even though they have fruited all winter (at a diminished rate).  Where we moved the vege beds from is looking a little rough but the radish is in flower along with a carrot.  I cannot wait until tomorrow to see how this bed cleans up with an edge.

See the state of the lawn?  The mud is UNDER the alfresco ... yes great job of the builders / landscapers... it was never going to grow, especially with dogs and kids!  Look at the border that I dig out every 3 months.... NOT ANY MORE *insert happy dance here*.  So these were taking last night... and below is this afternoon:

 We are going to have to clean the old pavers lol... see that wonderful edging?  THAT right there is most exciting for me... I can mulch and it will stay in the bed! I can build up the soil and it will stay in the bed!  Best of all... Rexy can run around like a pork chop and be happy rather than sinking deeper and deeper into the dirt!

Now I have to *wait* until tomorrow for it to be finished... woo hoo!

Happy Gardening *hugs*

Sarah