So I've got this grand dream of growing all my fruits & veggies at home, because I'm cheap. It's working okay for oranges & apricots, because those were here when we moved in. And it worked all right for peaches too, because we had those when we moved in, but that tree died last year. And last year I tried a veggie garden, but the only thing that came up was ONE rockmelon (canteloupe) seedling, which a bird ate. So as you can imagine, I wasn't too happy, and gave up fairly quickly. Hopefully not so this year. Here's some pictures of what I've done so far.
This is my new veggie patch. I dug it, edged it, AND planted it all in one day, on Wednesday. If you look close you might just see the clothes pegs marking the rows. Left to right: carrots, cos (Romaine) lettuce, spring onions, zucchini.
And this is a modified greenhouse in a shoebox. A friend on a forum told me how to do this. She said a clear plastic bag, but I didn't have any, and all they had across the road was some Glad wrap. So I took the shoe box and a couple egg cartons and away I went. Top carton: capsicum (peppers) and cucumber. Bottom carton: rockmelon & watermelon.
This, and the previous picture, I did this morning. Here we have some actual growth. I bought these seedlings at Big W the other day, total spur of the moment decision. Left to right: cauliflower, broccoli, strawberries.
And this is our nectarine tree. When we moved in it was much larger, but last spring, the wind knocked it over. There were a few little sprigs growing off the bottom that Darrin left when he chopped the rest of it down, and now they're flowering. Since the only essential difference between peaches and nectarines is one has fuzz and one doesn't, I can live with that.
So this week I looked through what veggie seeds I had left, and decided to plant carrots. It's only been a day or two since I did so there's nothing coming up yet, but it's been raining a bit, so I'm hoping something does. After I get some carrots, I'll try planting something else, like...umm...pumpkin, capsicum, zucchini, whatever grows easily and we actually eat. And I think I'll have to grab a few strawberry plants at some point too, because we (read: Caleb) go through them pretty quickly these days.
And some of our oranges are turning colour already, but I haven't had a close enough look to know if it's all the way around or just in spots.
So I think my veggie garden is pretty much kaput. Or at least till we get some decent rain. Don't know if any of the things I've planted will just sit dormant till then or if they're just dead. I guess we'll find out eventually.
And unfortunately, all the fruit on our peach tree is shriveling up, and the leaves are all wilted. I'm hoping it's just lack of water and it comes good again, but it's been that way for a week even after we've watered it, so this year may be a lost cause. I just hope the tree itself survives to next year. I really liked those peaches.
But on a happier note, I picked about 3.5 kilograms (7.5 pounds) of apricots this morning, and there's still more intact ones within reach, which I'll go out and grab later. So if you're one of our friends in Adelaide, and you'd like some free apricots, yell out. Or, you know, just post a comment or something.
Yup, that's what I've done. I finally had enough procrastinating and making excuses and actually planted stuff in my dirt patch.
We have carrots, cauliflower, butternut pumpkin (squash), rockmelon (canteloupe), and spring onions (umm...shallots? The thin ones that aren't as oniony as most onions). Now I just have to remember to water them. Which is a pain at the moment since we're on water restrictions, and only allowed to use the garden hose for 3 hours one day a week. So it's a water from a jug for the rest of the week.
So we're not due for a cool change till next Wednesday. Bleh.
Last night when Craig was over, he & Darrin did some work with the bricks. There's now a partial border around my dirt patch. And there's nothing actually IN the dirt patch. The so-called seedlings I planted in the egg cartons still haven't sprouted yet, after several weeks. So once we get some cooler weather, I'm planning to actually plant the seeds IN THE GROUND. Then hopefully they'll actually grow.
On the up side though, our peach & apricot trees are fruiting. The fruit isn't ripe yet, but it's there, and it's healthy. We had a wetter winter this year so they may ripen up earlier than last year. If not, it'll be around mid-December for the apricots & mid-late January for the peaches.
Yep, so I suppose technically we have a crawling baby, but at this point he only goes a few inches before he goes *splat*. Ah well. He's dragging himself though.
Today I found a king size mattress at the local Salvation Army shop. $150, looks (and smells) like it's in really good condition, and we pick it up tomorrow afternoon.
And it's supposed to be raining the rest of the week. Great for the plants, not so good for my nappies.
I have a 6 square metre area in our back yard dug up for a vegetable garden. Yep, so hopefully in a month or two we'll have some fresh rockmelon (canteloupe), capsicum (peppers), butternut pumpkin (squash), and carrots (umm...carrots). Then I might try some more complicated plants, like strawberries, cauliflower, broccoli.
Speaking of plants, last weekend we lost our nectarine tree to a strong wind. It was mostly dead anyway, and what little fruit sprouted from it last year, the birds got to before we could. Now we've got space for an apple tree (when I get around to finding one).
Oh yes, and I got some bricks off Freecycle that we're picking up this weekend too. Yay.
And this is what our bottlebrush looks like in full bloom. Here's another.
I just picked 14 kilograms (nearly 31 pounds) of oranges off our tree in the back yard. And that's not even counting the probably equal amount we've already picked and given away.
Today as we were out driving, through a heavily Vietnamese area, I spied a shop called "Dang Pharmacy." Yeah, those dang pharmacies are everywhere.
Our peaches started ripening this weekend. So tonight I picked as many of them as I could, sliced them, and cooked them. My 12-cup (3 litre) Tupperware mixing bowl was nearly overflowing with them by the time I finished. And there's probably still the same amount left on the tree that aren't ripe yet. So I'll be doing it all over again in a few days.
Hmm...peach cobbler? Peach pie? Peach topping for ice cream? All of the above? Probably.
