sixty-eight to seventy-three...

68: an easy going landlord
69: freedom to garden at a property we don't own
70: State of Origin; loving the building excitement right now
71: afternoon naps
72: networking, just talking to people
73: different opinion, even when I think they're stupid!

BHG Live - Somewhat of a non-event

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Better Homes and Gardens Live event at Sydney Showground yesterday. Really; it was a glorified Home and Food Expo with occasional appearances from the tv presenters ('though not the host of the tv show!) Think Sydney RAS Easter Show dome exhibits without the arts and craft sections, far less fresh produce and a "steam mop", "magic sweeper" (according to the kids this is very much different to a "swivel sweeper" but I couldn't see it,) and "sham wow" or similar on every corner and my goodness, way less seating in the eating area than anyone could've imagined possible. We ate our lunch (bought from the cafe there) sitting on the floor near the cafe; along with several (maybe 40-50) other people in what seemed to be a kind of systematic dance for available floor space.

D had agreed to come along with me and the children on the basis that the advertising had stated that "children's activities" would be available. There was, of course, no mention of their being an extra cost for the children's activities. I'm sorry, but to have exhibitors charging people for children's activities (once we saw that it cost $5 PER CHILD to enter the petting farm we didn't bother with the cost of the face painting) just doesn't wit right with me. Having children's activities available is surely a big draw card for the organisers or such an event? I wouldn't mind at all paying a small price per cup for food for the petting zoo or a small cost for the face painting (and I'm talking about $1-$2 each) to cover the coast of materials plus a tip for the facilitators but more than that and I think that someone's pulling my leg... off, literally!

There's good and bad in everything though; the outside area featuring horticultural exhibits was like having a nursery full of specialists rather than your usual suburban "garden centre" where the staff know a little (or very little) about some of their stock. I bought some Lilium bulbs (Oriental and Christmas/November Lilies) a blueberry (for Dawson he LOVES them and let's face it, who wants to pay full price for blueberries?!) and a couple of bromeliads. We were lucky enough to be around when the Debco people were pulling apart their display and were gifted some basil, chives and (I think) oregano (D actually got those and they're in a bag that I haven't opened yet!) Some lovely little bonuses for my Kitchen Garden.

Food doesn't count for BNNM; does that include food plants? Can I stretch it to include plants? THey're kind of an investment right? *blush*

This list was inspired by could've been better Better Homes and Gardens.

Kindest Wishes,
AJ

This Week I've learnt... #1

1. Dr Suess' real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. Is there any child who hasn't loved a Dr Suess story at some time in their lives? (If you haven't you've definitely missed out and should head out to your local book store or library immediately to experience the whimsical, non-sensical, rhyming humour of this master story teller.) R has, on our latest library visit, rekindled a love for Dr Suess and was even reading the book she borrowed (which contains three stories) as we walked home from the library! Dr Suess stories are not only fun and easy to read, drawing children into a love of reading but they are also great teachers of reading in context as children discover which character each passage is about by combining the words and illustrations.
2. I have an aspidistra; also known as a cast iron plant. Actually, I already knew that, my Dad told me that's what it was, I just kept forgetting it's name. Although the aspidistra is commonly kept as an indoor plant I have learnt through reading that it will also do quite well outdoors, as long as it is in shade and not watered too frequently. This plant (which is in the process of dying off slowly at the moment due to being in the sun and bursting at the seams of it's pot) may just be the ideal plant to put under my pine trees and spring is the ideal time for separating it. My aspidistra is definitely ready to be moved and I can use it as the centre of that space with the clivia around it to quickly fill the space. The lady next door has also said that I can take some of the spring star flowers from her garden so they will brighten up that patch a little more. I also learnt that the aspidistra flower grows from the base of the plant.
3. Whilst googling for the pictures of violets I used yesterday I learnt that violets are edible. That's right, violets, both the flowers and the leaves, are edible. We used to sell honey at fruit and vegetable markets, direct from the producer and I often thought about making infused honeys with chilli, rosemary, ginger and various other plants. Catherine Alice reminded me of this when I stumbled upon her blog and she had put some violets into honey to infuse. Isn't it funny how once you know something (violets are edible) that same knowledge repeats itself to you again and again?
4. I learnt what a Chameleon skeleton looks like; see the picture below. Karen, The Graphics Fairy, has been sharing a series of skeletons in honour of Halloween. You can visit Karen to see skeletons of men, an elk, a chimpanzee, a hand and I'm sure there will be more to come in the next couple of weeks.
5. Cottees Cordials are now being produced in new 1L double concentrate bottles, replacing both the 750mL and 2L bottles. Thanks to Kidspot Social I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of Coola flavoured cordial to trial.  I'm very pleased to report that it still has the same great taste we love!

Cat in the Hat, The Grinch and others...
Do you know who they are?

Aspidistra flower; beautifully unusual.

Mango, Dandelion and Violet Salad.

Chameleon Skeleton.

New 1L Double Concentrate Cottees Cordial.

This list was inspired by incidental learning.

Kindest Wishes,
AJ

You have to start somehwere...

And I have; this afternoon I started working on what will become the Kitchen Garden.

The first little section has been dug through and as much as physically possible the grass/weeds removed. I started on the edging with the sandstone too, after deciding it would look more "done" and therefore be more likely to motivate me to continue to finish the project!

Northern side.

Western side.

Please note: whilst I am aware that this is not a perfect example of garden edging it is my very first attempt at building any sort of edging, very much a process of trial and error and error and error but I'm pleased with the results so far and of course, it will look better once it's been planted around!

Around the edge of the garden there are small spaces between the existing concrete path and the sandstone in which I'm going to plant some small violets; either Johnny Jump Ups or Native Violets. Everywhere I've seen Johnny Jump Ups growing they seem to have more flowers than the Native Violets, however the Native Violets are smaller and therefore may be better suited to this position. I have seeds or plants to propagate available of both of these violets, it's just a matter of making the decision.

Johnny Jump Ups (Viola Tricolor)

Native Violets (Viola Hederacea)

This list was inspired by a work in progress.

Kindest Wishes,
AJ

So much grass so little time...

Here's another small section of the back yard.

At the bottom of the first photo is actually an L-shaped section of path (yes, a path that leads to nowhere.)

At the front left of that photo you can see a small patch of dirt where I have started pulling the grass to try to create a garden space. There's a small part already done at the back of the compost bin too.

Speaking of the compost bin; it was one of my greatest finds to date, someone around the road from here had decided that they no loner had a need for it so I bought it home in pieces, rebuilt and for the grand total of $zero had a compost bin. I've wanted one for a long time but always thought the cost of buying one would be too high.

I've been thinking that I need to put plants around the bin to disguise it; both it's appearance and it's smell(which is actually not too bad.)

Looking at the front garden a couple of days ago I couldn't help but be disappointed at how quickly the chamomile I bought has grown. I know that seems like a strange thing for a gardener to say but it has grown from about 5cm tall to approximately 25cm (high and wide) in only a month so it's definitely outgrown it's place in that garden.

Looking at the chamomile made me think that I should put herbs around the compost bin; I have the chamomile, a feverfew, curly parsley, opal basil and can, of course get more. I also have two lavender plants which are waiting for removal to a garden with more space and some peppermint seeds.

The third photo shows more grass; what it doesn't show is the sandstone, that's why the grass is so high there, it's growing around a pile of sandstone so can't be mowed! You might just be able to see the sandstone in the fourth photo?

The sandstone was also a great find, via Freecycle, the amount that is there (enough to fill a 6x4 trailer) would've cost me a small fortune to buy and I'm very reluctant to invest any real money into a rented property. My initial intention was to build a pond with the sandstone as a border however I am now going to use it to create a border around the planned Kitchen Garden.

First things first; there's a lot of grass to be cleared (as you can see) it's been way too hot today but hopefully I can get some more cleared this evening. I love daylight savings! 

This list was inspired by the backyard jungle.

Kindest Wishes,AJ

The Vines...

After we got home from the park on Sunday evening I was on a bit of an energy buzz and decided to get some more plants into the yard. The plan here is that the vines will take over this section of the yard and kill off all the weeds over spring giving some new grass a chance in autumn before the frosts come in for winter.

Lebanese Cucumber

Jack Black Zucchini

Jap Pumpkin

Sweet Corn

Zucchini (more corn)

Overview of the space.

 Of course there are seeds to be grown in this space also; spaghetti squash, button squash, baby bear pumpkin and two types of watermelon.


This list was inspired by creeping, crawling vines...

Kindest Wishes,
AJ

Under the Pines

Some plants I'm looking into growing under the pine trees...

Hydrangea: I actually have three hydrangeas in the front yard,
along the side fence, two are pink the other I've not seen in flower.
In any case they have not grown well where they are (probably
too much sun in the hottest part of the day) so I should move
them. A move to under the pine trees would mean blue flowers
(acidic soil) which would be nice but perhaps means I would
only move the one which I don't know the colour of the flowers
and move the other two further down the fence into a not so
sunny position.

Cliveas: I have three or four (possibly slightly more now)
Cliveas in my front garden which I could easily move.
Looking at these photos the colours of the cliveas and
hydrangeas together look great, I could be on to
something here!

Hibiscus also like acidic soil and there are a lot of them growing
locally so I'm sure I could grow some with no initial cash outlay,
great for BNNM. There are also a great range of colours to choose
from; pinks, reds, oranges and yellows that I recall from last
summer. Now is the time to take cuttings from them, before they
start to flower again. Once they are stabilised they will grow like
crazy, we had some at a previous home and I used to cut them
back to about 45-50cm high every autumn and they would be
as high as the 2m fence (and often taller) every summer.

This list was inspired by my cats, using the "dust bowl" as a toilet, definitely NOT a great look for the border of a front yard! :o

Furby, Juno and Freya (approx. March 2010)

Kindest Wishes, AJ

Weather means more when you have a garden...

We have a bindi problem here, well that would be an understatement, everything with prickles, barbs or thorns grows in our lawn and wouldn't you know it, very little real grass. I'm sure it would literally take me WEEKS to hand pull all the weeds and I'd only be left with dirt once I got into it, being too fussy to leave ugly grass! So I took the decision to use a weed and feed spray, last year. I never did though because it wouldn't spray properly, the hose nozzle kept bursting off it. Fortunately, Dad to the rescue, I learned that it was just because the "o" ring on the bottle spout was ruined, unfortunately Dad left it until after the effective period to tell me about this so the majority of the bottle has been sitting there waiting for me to use it. Herein lays the importance of the weather; you need to have very little wind or something to guard the rest of the plants in the yard that you do not want to kill. The other requirement of the weather is that it not rain for 7 days. Wouldn't you know it, every day since the beginning of spring has either been too windy or forecast to be shortly followed by rain. It's enough to make a girl cry, not to mention the kids standing on the bindis! I'm running out of time; soon the bindis will be all set in, the other weeds I can probably deal with but please, let me deal with the spikey ones the only sensible way possible!

Other things that needs to be taken care of in the garden:

1. Plant vines; pumpkins and zucchini seedlings straight into the ground and (more) pumpkins, watermelon, spaghetti squash and button squash into pots to germinate.
2. Plant Maiden Hair Ferns, Begonias (border) and Devil's Ivy (probably in a pot with a trellis to prevent it taking over) in fernery.
3. Find something to plant under the pine trees in the front yard to prevent the "dust bowl" effect.
4. Learn more about Cyclamen to try to get them to grow outdoors (I have one plant and 3 seedlings in punnets.)
5. Transplant carrots from ex-vegie garden to box.
6. Finish planting Primulas in round bowl (project started by R.)
7. Plant Native Frangipani seeds in pots to germinate
8. Plant out ex-vegie garden with gazanias, pig faces (maybe these should go under the pine trees?) and shrubs.

There's more to be done, there's definitely more however my mind is coming to a standstill with the end of the night and there will always be another "to do list" with a garden to maintain.

This list was inspired by Marcelene Cox who said:
Weather means more when you have a garden. There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans.

Kindest Wishes, AJ

Silverbells and Cockle Shells...

Today I have spent most of my day in the garden; the poor green family members have been quite neglected of late, with me having been injured for some time and then looking at what needed to be done imagining that it was just too much. This morning I went out to pull a few weeds and instead spent hours weeding, separating, moving, re-potting and replanting in the gardens.

I currently have three gardens; one contains succulents and a cactus (yes, just one cactus) another contains a hodge podge of pretty little things and a planned fernery and the third was my vegetable garden however it failed dismally over winter due to being too shaded for anything to grow successfully. Over the last month or so the vegetables have started growing again but I've moved them to the back yard where they will get more sun year round.

Today's gardening achievements...

1: Cleared out and levelled the fernery.

2: Planted Bromeliad (left and below Monstera.)
(This view from above the fernery on our little balcony/patio.)

3: Placed Buddha Statue, Agapanthus and mini Agapanthus.

4: Cleared out ex-Vegie Garden, showing the poor winter-dead Purple Capsicum
(and equally winter-dead pennywort and basil!)

5: Dramatically trimmed back Birdseye Chilli bush.
It has many new shoots so I have a lot of hope for it.

6: Spinach and Silverbeet moved into box with Tomato.

7: Silverbeet and Butter crunch Lettuce moved into box
with Sweet Grape Tomato.

8: Silverbeet moved into box with Honey Snap Peas.

Green Beans (planted previously.)

The Buddha statue which is creating a border between the front garden and the fernery is actually a lit fountain that D and the kids bought me as a gift about 5 years ago. It's shoulder was lightly damaged in our interstate move about 3 years ago and since then subsequent moves have seen it damaged further. I have ambitions towards converting it to solar power so I can run it in the garden, it would also require a leaf guard of some kind where the water runs through it. Right now, that's not in the budget (especially since it's BNNM) however I have seen some small solar powered fountain pumps on Ebay for around $25.00 so the idea definitely has potential.



This list was inspired by Katie.
Kindest Wishes, AJ

Buy Nothing New Month

Inspired by a friend committing to this challenge I have decided that I shall participate in it also. I have realised I have a couple of new items to pay for on Ebay (silly little fad things that R simply must have) but after those are paid for there will be nothing new this month.

Buying nothing new doesn’t mean going without. Make a Buy Nothing New Month pledge and you can beg, buy, barter and swap for whatever you need, as long as it is pre-loved, but with the exceptions of necessities (including food, drink, medications and hygiene products) you can’t buy anything new.

Further to this I have also decided that I am going to try harder than ever this year to take the commercialism out of our Christmas. Every year I say I'm not doing that again, not spending money in the toy sales, then a month before Christmas and then a week before Christmas, it's quite absurd really! Our children end up with more toys (or "things" as they get older) than they even look at generally and there always seems to be more packaging than gifts at the end of the day. The waste is hideous; not just financially but environmentally, so much unnecessary plastic, paper and cardboard, not to mention the wire and tape and the like.

Prior to the month starting (and totally unplanned) I purchased a large amount of vegetable seeds, unusual varieties and colours of vegetables (and fruits technically.) I'm proud to say they were all from home producers rather than commercial producers and will arrive with hand made labels and packages so I feel less like I've cheated the challenge by buying them just prior to it. Honestly, I didn't plan it that way in any case! Maybe they can be counted as food and none of that matters anyway?

More about Buy Nothing New Month (BNNM) here.

Kindest Wishes,
AJ

Good Morning Sunshine

This little beauty greets me from my front garden each day at the moment; though it's days are soon to end. In this picture the gerbera looks like it has white edges around the petals or that the colour is fading, they are actually yellow edges and the backs of the petals are yellow too.


I LOVE my garden; I love my rescue plants; this one only cost me $4 (normal retail for a gerbera in flower is between $8-$12) at the end of Mother's Day last year. My garden is almost full now, in a rental property I have limited space and I'm very proud of all the little greenies I've saved and that the garden has cost me very little to create.