Christmas!

This Christmas my kids got some fun presents, but one thing that I thought was really fantastic was a packet of seeds each. What a great thing to give. They change and grow everyday (well, once they shoot) and provide entertainment. The seeds are for sunflowers so they will bring birds into the yard and inspire bird watching. I love it.

And this week...

I thought I'd save time and apply the Seasol with one of the 'click onto the hose' type sprayers. Seemed like a great idea... I hadn't used it for a year, preferring to use a watering can, and the connector wasn't working so well which meant that I got the Seasol sprayed on the garden super quick, but also all over my shoes!

I think the watering can is the better bet.

I have more tiny carrot seedlings coming up, but I sowed a back up row in another bed just in case. I cut back the chives (snail's love hiding in my chives) and have covered them with a frame to stop the chickens. Fingers crossed.

Tiny pea shoots are coming up, but I haven't put the beans in yet. The purple king beans that I have in at the moment are producing great beans, so I really must get some more in so I don't get a non productive time between plantings like I'm getting with the peas.

I picked a nice little bowl of blueberries today which was great. The garden highlight of the week was definitely opening the lid to the laying box and finding our first egg from the hens. I believe that we have happy chickens and now they are getting mature enough, they are rewarding us. Thank you, little hens.

And what for the coming week?

With rain forecast for the next few days, I'm not sure I'll be doing much. Tidying up, harvesting as we need (zucchini, beans, onions, squash and cucumber being the main crops) and putting in the odd plant or sprinkle of seeds. And the kids sunflower seeds, how could I forget! Better get them in before it gets too late in the season.

Relaxing week ahead. Fantastic!

A Christmas present from our hens!

Our girls gave us our first egg on Christmas day! I suspected it yesterday when I caughonion in the laying box, so with excitement and bated breath, I opened the lid and there it was!

Thank you girls!

Gems you can eat!

I bought a couple of pomegranates today. I just love the little gem-like seeds, so sweet and juicy. Yum.

I wonder if pomegranates grow in Canberra...

"Made it?"

With a new year starting soon and with it assessing the past year and new year resolutions, with career changes and moves for some family and friends, I have been questioning what it means to have "made it" in life.

I have a job, and I think the money is reasonable for the part time hours that I work. I have some aspirations, but more about being better at what I'm currently doing rather than promotion. My employer must think I'm worth it too as they've given me a scholarship to complete my Masters.

Between my husband and I, we earn enough to fund our lifestyle and manage some savings.

We have plenty of things... Probably not all of the things that I want, but definitely more than we need...

I have family and friends that I love and they love me. I am lucky enough to spend the majority of my time doing things that I enjoy - activities with family and friends, my garden, cooking, arts and crafts, music...

I may not be rich or famous, but I am thankful every day for the wonderful life that I have.

I think "making it" is like a garden, really. Growing, blooming, fruiting and providing enjoyment and nourishment. Even when one crop is over, the empty space that is left is simply a reminder of what good thing was once there and an opportunity - an opening - for another. A state of mind.

In my mind, I've made it.

Latte art... My husband's latest designs.

My lovely husband has found a new hobby. I'm pretty impressed!

The start of Summer in the garden.

This past week in my garden I have picked my first blueberries and boysenberries for the season (shh, don't tell the kids). I have pulled out the broad beans and decided not to bother planting them again next year, they are time consuming to prepare and we really don't eat them.
I have harvested half my garlic and picked my first ever squash. I have seen my first zucchini and cucumbers appearing, ready to pick in just a few days. I have seen my artichoke produce flower buds. What a week!

And what does this coming week hold?

Liquid seaweed diluted to the colour of weak tea on all the beds to build resilience and produce good crops. Repeat sowing of beans and sugar snap peas is needed, especially as my peas were so beaten around by the rain.
All my carrot crops have sprouted and then been eaten right off so I'll try once again with some better snail protection. I have pulled out most of my lettuce recently too, so I'd like to get more seedlings in, or perhaps I'll sow some seed that I collected last year.

And in your garden?

The essentials for a Summer garden that I'd suggest are a couple of tomato plants (provide a good stake); some basil plants; spring onions (just sprinkle the seeds over a defined patch, cover lightly with soil and keep moist); corn (but remember it is wind pollinated, so needs to be planted in a block and doesn't grow well in pots); peas and/or beans (need a frame to climb up - try growing it up your corn!); and just to fill in the gaps - pumpkins, whether Atlantic Giants or Golden Nuggets, pumpkins would have to be a favourite thing of mine to grow.

Happy gardening!

First squash

Walking through the garden is back to bountiful harvest. Recently I have had the disappointment of strawberries being damaged by that amazing rain - from 1kg a day harvests to just rotten strawberries, and now only 5 or 6 a day.

But now I have my beans, peas, rocket, garlic, onions as well as first tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber and my first ever home grown squash. Yum!

Chickens

The girls have made themselves right at home! I love the sound of happily 'bocking' chickens in the back yard...