It's a Miss P. Day! No More Beans.

 It has been ages since my grandaughter has been over to help, which is why I am late with the blog, but today was a nice day with no rain on the horizon, and we have had to change to a Sunday visit because of art on Saturdays. So guess what!!!!, we got rid of the Beans Yeah!!!

Mind you, I picked another 2 kgs of them early this morning, and sent them to the Community Market only for them to come back, so Miss P took them home to blanch and freeze this time, as they haven't used up the other 2 kgs from Anzac Day yet.

Before

So the first to go was the triffid,  and  they take a bit of time to uncurl these vines. Of course even after picking every one I thought for the market, there was still a small basket left between all three vines.

After, ready to weed and dig over.

Trellis no 2 was against the glass house and I also pulled out a prolific egg plant, which was also brought back home, from what I picked.

 

Before and these ones had flowers on as started again.

After and also ready for digging

 The next trellis I forgot to take a photo of before, but cleaned this up as well. These ones were old or going to seed, and a variety I have decided not to grow again.

 The last little bed of non climbing beans, had a few left on, but I decided to get rid of them as well.

Before

After

This bed also had carrots on half the bed and as yet just taking off, but I will plant more seeds on the other "bean" half.

Miss P also moved 4 buckets of soil from one of the pulled down beds, out the back.  What did I do, plant  2 small rows of snow peas of course.

Then after lunch we did some blanching and freezing of the small new basket, which was lucky as the 2kgs, then turned up, so she has had a refresher course. While I finished off that Miss P then sorted out my double high cupboard of bulk laundry, kitchen, bathroom, cleaning, Insect sprays, packets, tube stuff, which I refer to as the "shop".

Twas a good day. 

  The official last of the beans taken back home by Miss P

Till Next Time. 

 

Shade Garden Cleanup & Supersize Strawberries.

Does anyone else find that time seems  to be shorter than  usual, disappears faster. I will be reading something interesting and an hour goes by, which felt like 10 minutes. That has been my week, consequently I don't feel I have done a lot.

One thing though is I cleaned up this shade area outside our kitchen and laundry which is the most used entrance. I repotted all the Rex Begonias and our new collection of Caladeums, which is the 2nd potting up I have done. They grow really fast.  Also the Kentia Palms I bought back from Lord Howe. 6 of them growing really well in a sandy soil. They like company so I have potted 3 together.

Self sown maiden hair fern, is now in 3 pots, really love their soft look.

 I had to dig up the orange Clivia and will transfer them next to the Hydrangeas and hope they survive, a large clump I sent into the Community Gardens as well. 

I am tempted to pull out all the beans as now with the cooler weather all of the clumps have suddenly taken off and flowering, like I need more beans, but I hate to pull them out when they are doing so well.

Beans

Beans

And More Beans

 This  next photo is nearly a full bed of Cherry tomatoes. They are everywhere popping up, so clearly need to condense them down.

 Lettuce has matured and I am picking the leaves as needed and beetroot buried beneath but still growing.

The trouble is I really can't be bothered with the garden I have lost the enthusiasm I have always had. The constant tired weariness, I can only assume is from pain, is getting me down. One thing though John moved the soil from one of the beds out back, so it no longer exists.Three more to go.

   I really should go and find some sweet pea and snow pea seeds, otherwise it will be the first time ever not growing them.  

 

Had to share a photo our American daughter sent of strawberries she bought. Very sweet and delicious.

They are ENORMOUS.

 

Till Next Time. 

New Vacuum Sealer & Autumn Weeding

Well it rained this past week and what a relief to all the hot weather, it gave us a couple of days respite from the heat. In between times we have managed to clear and fill 3 1/2 beds, so there is no more soil in the trailer. The flower beds on the edge need weeding, but they will get a layer of  hard mulch rather than soil. Still 3 more small vegetable beds to go though.

 Planted seeds of beans, carrots and beetroot, and seedlings of kale, lettuce,rocket and bok choy but the heat after rain, was a bit much although I covered them, some have died. Will try direct seeds instead.

A tangle of green beans and cucumbers.

Miss P came over Saturday, and we partially weeded the back rose garden, while the shade was there, with a reminder on how to prune them, and the hydrangea bed and path at the back steps, filling the wheely bin for Monday.

 

 Before she went home picked beans and more carrots to take back. There is just so much we can handle. Also 2 large cucumbers John bought home from the gardens. As the family have chickens and I get quite a few of the eggs, if nothing else it can all go to them.

 

Yellow Butter  and Green beans from two different Trellis's

I think there is probably one more go of the carrot bed. They are small and lots of fine roots growing from the carrot itself is  proof  I showed Miss P,  that they had stopped growing, most likely due to the heat as some plants won't grow if the weather is a certain temperature, and been in too long. Still ok to cook for meals. 

Semi cleaned carrots

John cooked up half of the chillis, also from the Community Garden, and made a hot  Sweet Chilli Sauce. It is a bit hot for me though, unless it was a tiny bit, but the purchased sweet chilli is more my style.

 After sadly  reading the last post on Down to Earth with Rhonda Hetzel, as she is retiring from writing, I found on her cooking for one series that she had purchased a hand held food vacuum that uses bags. 

2 weeks ago I vacuumed 2 jars of grapes, to keep fresh from the kilo bag of them in our grocery order. They go off so quickly and this was opened yesterday as fresh as we bought them. The trouble is I have to drag out my big machine to do this, so once opened I don't bother to vacuum it again. 

I also have vacuum bags that can be put in the freezer such as the carrots and beans I did recently, or meat in a sauce like John's kangaroo meat he loves, and vacuuming bulk flour, sugar, tea etc to keep it long term.  

I decided to buy a not very expensive one on Amazon, and below is the  tiny hand held vacuum, about as big as my hand, with 2 cucumbers sealed in the bag system. It goes over the blue dot after closing the bag with a double  zip lock. 

The good part about this system is that I can keep it on the bench or shelf, ready to re seal the bag quickly, as when I take out one of the cucumbers for example.

 

 I have had pumpkin, cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce go off before we can finish them. Testing these cucumbers out, but I keep them in the fridge still. This system won't take any liquids and  bags aren't to go in the freezer. The unit is easily charged same as a phone.

As long as the product doesn't go past the blue dot, I see no problem with this so far and look forward to testing my home made bread next time, rather than freezing it. As from using my big vacuum machine I know it will keep biscuits, cake, muffins, fresh long term also. Nowadays I always freeze half the cake or slice, so when I cook next will test that out also. 

The Frangipani is so full of flowers this year.

Thank you to the two subscribers who joined recently, it was a such a lovely surprise.

Till next time.

 

Progress On The Garden Beds for Autumn

 I am finally starting to feel a bit better this week, and slowly we are getting into the garden beds. Autumn officially starts on the 21st. March.  John thankfully moved the mulch in the trailer, and got some premium compost and mushroom compost mix. Cow manure which I prefer wasn't available, so premium it is.

It takes a while to clean the beds, as nut grass is the main problem, so I started digging deep, turning over the soil, and pulling up the nuts, continually till moving on to the next bit. Next day John helped me. We can never get rid of them all but it certainly slows them down.

First bed to be filled and ready.

It also rained this last week, but eventually the first two beds were filled ready. Of course the Bush Turkeys had to check it out, digging it up again.

2nd. Bed Ready.

The little one in the front usually has flowers, but I am going to fill it with strawberries, as the ones in the path are reproducing. As I fix the beds I am pulling out all the strawberry plants, in the big beds, I am not dedicated enough to feed them and the lizards love them.

New Strawberry Bed, dug over once.

 This following bed was a little harder as still dealing with cherry tomatoes, and basil, which I cut back hard, and two eggplants on the end still producing.

The next bed is my main one still to do of course. I will also be moving around my planting just for a change. This last bed usually has climbing beans or snow peas but thinking of  transferring the frames.

 Currently I am working on the Blueberry Bed, pulling out the strawberries as they grow so high and covered everything.

Blueberry Bed

The Pink Ice Protea is starting to flower also, so sending off  five of them for today's market at the Community Garden. They are so lovely.

 The pruning it got last year has done it a world of good. Each long leaf though around the flower is new growth to make the tree bigger, this time it will be pruned to keep it in shape and manageable. Leaving the flowers on the tree will have to be controlled, by cutting back the growth.

 

The past two Saturdays  John has had two workshops, both were very successful, first on How to Sharpen your Tools, so got my spade, secateurs, maddock and pick all sharpened, and handles oiled in demonstration. What a difference that makes. 

The second yesterday was Hay Bail Gardening. The Next one in March I think is on Worm Farming. Before the Community Garden, none of this crossed his mind, so a credit to him for teaching it, as well as Native Bees, a very popular one.

Five subscribers/followers have left in the past month so THANK YOU for those still following, without someone to write too there is no point on doing it.

Till Next Time.

At Last Arborists Lops Trees

 We had a call this week that the arborist had a "gap" and could come and do the trees. 8am they rolled up several cars a huge truck and a chipper. I don't know what the neighbors thought and John did a quick check next door, to make sure she wasn't going anywhere as her driveway was blocked.

The first one to do was the olive, it has grown huge, and hanging over the driveway.

There were two teams one for the back and the other the front. The olive  was all lopped by an extended chainsaw, which was interesting, being so high. In the beginning of that the 2nd. team organized themselves and went around to the back Tibouchina.

 

The back tree  was a little more awkward due to the space limit. The dead wood on the tree we kept, so that was put on the next level. 

 The greenery carted up to the front via the right hand side which is where we keep all the firewood and old pots. Unfortunately some ceramic pots got broken, through lack of attention by the youngest fellow.

This is quite high up, and he is strapped in. 

I had covered my best plants with the milk crates, mostly on the left of the photo,  but all the "boys" worked from the right, where the roses are, at least they avoided them, but the seedlings might not all survive, between the branches and some big feet.The roof of the gazebo is next, if we can find someone, to replace it with metal to match the house.

We didn't keep any mulch because of the Olive, and everything was cleaned up with the blower, and it all took 90 mins.

Poor old Olive tree, I think it should have been a bit lower, but John thinks he can still cover it. I am not too worried I don't like Olives, but the pigeons do. 🫒 

 

 

Till Next Time 

 

 

 

 

Rainy with a Chance of Overcast

 Well if you didn't get the title it is raining again and I mean all day, I think it started Thursday night, but then I have lost the plot really. It just always seems to be raining, I nearly said " due to wet weather this blog is closed", because my life, at the moment, is not that interesting to anyone else.

 Earlier in the week I did spend nearly all day planting seeds and separating seedlings that I gave in an bought, marigolds, leeks, parsley and petunias for the hanging baskets. Some seeds are up already, but getting them out to plant is another thing.

I did weed the carrot bed and the snow peas and a sprinkle of lettuce in there are also doing well. 

Weeded Tuesday and more weeds already up by Sunday.

The lettuce and beetroot planted last week, are covered with the dog bed shades, against the rain this time.

Most of the time though I have been knitting or doing some embroidery as everything aches as usual. The good news is my chemist managed to get the proper injections, so hopefully this is a sign they are back in stock in Australia. At  least for the next month I will be ok. 

We have also booked  the caravan in  for several days in Nundle, a little town near Tamworth. This was a credit from a weeks booking for Easter 2021, when the old van was destroyed, so we used half of it.

It will be a "shake down" as John calls it to test the new van for the first time. It has been sitting in the street now for 3 months. Trouble is I can't get out to it, to finish off the set up of cupboards, and now food and clothing, because it is so wet.

Japanese Windflower between the lemon and lime.

Till Next Time.