My Garden Shoes...

Ok, confession time. See these grotty old stinkers?...They are my garden shoes! I know they are shocking and that I needed to replace them many miles ago but I love them! Rain, hail, wet or shine...if Im not in bare feet, Im wearing these air conditioned beauties, they are so comfortable!

Gifts From Mother Nature...

Harvest from a few nights back, tomatoes, courgette and cape gooseberries for dessert.

Here we have a bag drying of completely organic, 100% NZ grown catnip "the good stuff" as I affectionately refer to it. I am getting back into making nip pillows again and this is the third good trim so I am hoping I will have enough to make plenty.

Just picked cape gooseberries, banana peppers and green and black bell peppers.

The Pennyroyal seedlings given to me a few weeks ago and settling in well in the hanging basket near the back door.

Low acid Amish paste tomatoes, peppers, baby onions, baby new Urenika potatoes, banana peppers and courgette chunks ready to go into the oven...yum!

The strawberries seem to like their new wooden planter and seem to have had a little growth spurt in the last week, the white pineapple strawberry seed is still not growing yet though.

Tonight's tomatoes needed a bigger bowl, these warmer days are getting them cranking and on my plate. Fresh eggs and tomatoes make such a tasty quick tea...

Went an spent the afternoon with my nana yesterday and she sent me home with some lovely looking lemons and some sweet tasting plums. Finally I got to use my treasured old flagons and made a nice sugar free, lemon cordial to put in the fridge for a refreshing thirst quencher.

I have the last of eight trays of dried plums in the dehydrator as I type, they make the most deliciously tangy-sweet snack with no other ingredients than fruit. Once the plums are finished i will put the tomatoes and chillies in  and then anything I can get my hands on!

Sugar's New House...

First this humble little abode belonged to my brothers dog "Blue", then I revamped into a snugly house for the chooks...then the other day I finally got around to doing a few renovations on it (demolition mostly) and it is now the perfect nook for the stroppy vegetarian who resides in the back yard. She is tethered but has a good length of chain to free range from her house anytime she wants and her waistline is growing along with her freedom...

Other Random Stuff...

I finally found some larger bits of broken concrete for my garden pavers...means my big hooves won't flatten the soil down now. Their rambling appearance gives a inviting welcome and strangely the garden doesn't seem smaller even though quite a bit of it is lost to the pavers.It breaks the garden up and I know I wont be squishing plants underfoot when doing my rounds.

One of the capsicum plants that over-wintered from last year, both survived and are producing well even though they probably could have done with re-potting. Sweet and flavoursome.

A few cape gooseberry berries. They do turn a much brighter orange colour if left on the bush and their lantern like cases become papery and skeletal but they are just so tangy and delicious I can't seem to leave them long enough! 

Now the girls are all laying again and the garden goodies are growing, its nice to be able to take little gifts to friends and family of eggs, veges or preserves. I also made half a dozen jars of blackberry jam the other day so the pantry is looking happier and I have the dehydrator ready for fruit chips, leather and other snacks of the moisture-less kind.

At first I thought these looked like a Hungarian wax pepper but seeing as I have never had those seeds, I can only conclude that it is a stray banana pepper that somehow ended up in the middle of my capsicum garden...they were very tasty anyway.

Our newest family member, Friday. Don't be fooled by the sugary photo, she is a little demon...

The first of the oil seed pumpkins, smaller than I expected but there are many varieties, some only as big as a softball. Its taking a fair bit of control not to cut one open and see whats inside.They have gone from shades of greens to having an orangy tinge to them.

Bloomin Beautiful...

A luffa bloom, still wet from some welcome summer rain...

These striking little dainties are from the golden egg eggplants...

One of the sunflowers destined for my Grandads garden...

Slow Roasted Vegetables And Pasta...

Amish paste tomatoes, cherry chillies, courgettes, green and purple capsicums, radish's, shallot onions (not in pic) and banana chillies from the garden...

Sliced, seasoned with some sea salt and black pepper and slow roasted in the oven until slightly charred and caramelised...

And then mixed into a bowl of good pasta...divine!

A Meander Around The Garden...

We are well into February and that means long hot days, summer goodies, outdoor jobs and seed saving. At this moment I have around twenty brown paper bags with different seeds in hanging around random places in my house as well as having to use one of my washing bags (the small netting bags for delicates) to dry all off the sunflower seeds properly.

I have brown bags, envelopes and enough small zip bags to sink a ship (Ok, so maybe its not THAT bad?) but its bad enough that Ive up-sized my seed storage to at least twice what it was and is now on its way to being full as well...From my garden I have already bagged some beautiful looking garlic corms, broad beans, onwards peas-delicious!, Indian corn, bell capsicum, banana pepper, black capsicum, sunflowers, chives, cat mint, coriander, calendula, marigolds, borage, banana passionfruit, mountain pawpaw...

The Fruits Of Thy Labour...

 At the moment I am planting, building, weeding, harvesting, and spreading myself around to ensure everyone gets the attention they need right now. Due to our scorching summer heat the garden is needing extra care to ensure it doesn't frazzle to a crisp like the lawns are doing. After the success of my reclaimed pallet wood planter, I have now got twice as much wood to de-nail after spotting four bins on the side of the road on my way into town last week. There was a nice selection of different bits so I am hoping for another planter and a "food is free" box for up on the street from this lot because the will be lots to share soon.

The sunflowers are growing great guns, they are all a very good height though some flower heads are smaller than others. It will be interesting to see how they end up in the end....ooh, and I have a brilliant idea to stop those pesky birds from eating them before I get a chance to pull them down.

I decided the other night to bandicoot my potatoes just to see what I could nab to put with my tea, not much but the first are always the tastiest! Also cut some fresh fordhook, beans and the first yellow beauty courgette that was big enough to do something with...although many more aren't far behind.

Today I picked the first ripe tomato and the first cob of painted mountain corn, it looked gorgeous...all these pretty blood red ruby coloured kernels. Very glad I planted another lot of seedlings a few days back, they have doubled their growth in just those days of being in.

I also have my garlic stored in a cool, dry spot in the pantry, the peas are thoroughly dried for next season, I harvested some coriander, borage seed and some other bits. I have lots of shallots and more garlic I pulled out today but the are much smaller.

Three Little Birds...

About a week ago Alfie booted the chicks out of the nest and into independence. She spends her days hanging out with the girls again and doesn't want them under her wing anymore, there is work to be done and eggs to be laid. Kentucky is very skittery and runs around like road runner but Bella and Bok Bok (formally known as Marilyn) are getting quite friendly and I can give them a pat occasionally.

They have all found their spots in the new house and the chicks particularly like the left side nest (which is good because the older girls like the right) and the perch above it. They all sit together and there is much ado until they finally settle down for the night. Alfie is rather bossy to them now and has made her own nest in the hay above the house so I leave it just as she does and grab fresh hay from the other end...the things we do huh!

I have enough starter mix for the rest of the week and then I will buy some grower mix but they don't seem to be eating much of it lately, preferring instead to eat fruit, vegetables and foraged food. They have snacked on a few of the hens layer pellets but that can't be helped unless I separate them first thing in the morning...the girls however, will eat ANYTHING and they have no qualms about bullying the babies at all.

I often see Kentucky and Bella eye balling each other in a stand off and it looks hilarious...its like an episode of feathers at dawn. Bok Bok just plods around but he did give me a heck of a fright the other day. I was out the back watching Diesel in his pool when I heard a blood curdling sound coming from where the chooks hang out. Panicking, I ran through the house followed by a dripping wet dog only to find him trying to crow, it really was so cute.

Oil Seed Blooms...

The oil seed pumpkin plants have been flowering like crazy and I just had to share some pics of these massive sized beauties. Sadly they only seem to be good for a day and then they shrivel up but while they are stretched out in the sun in all their glory they look magnificent.

Getting Down With The Garlic...

It was Christmas evening and while wandering around my garden I found the sudden urge to pull up a garlic plant to see just how much they had grown. The longest day had past and there was some browning of the leaves starting so it wouldn't be such a bad thing would it? Curiosity got the better of me and I got down on my knees and started digging gently around in the soil. Just one would tell me all I needed to know...

They might look like they would be easy to just pull out but they aren't! You cannot pull the garlic out by its leaves (well, you shouldn't) you need to dig down and get right underneath it. Once out of the ground you can leave it lying for a few days or hang it some where dry, cool and airy. After chatting with some fellow gardeners I have concluded that there are many "right" ways of growing and curing your garlic, some say cut the roots off, some say leave them on to help the drying process. This is the first time I have grown garlic and I have to say I am really pleased with the results. The one above is the first Takanue I pulled, the little bulby things growing out the bottom are called corms, apparently if you plant them, in the second year you will get another garlic bulb...yay!

It didn't stop there though...by the next day I was itching to pull up the rest. And I did. I slowly pulled them up one by one and took them to the tap for a quick wash (you are supposed to leave them for a few days but I wanted some of the gunk off and there was a few spiders that had made their homes where the leaves and stem joined) gave them a dry off and pegged them to my washing line under the veranda. It wasn't until I stood back to admire my garlic curtain that I realised I only had ten bulbs...ten good sized, gorgeously fragrant bulbs but I had planted eleven and that one bulb counts! Thinking back it must have disappeared around the time that Sugar busted through the fence, ate the tips off and demolished my rhubarb *sigh*.

Though I was absolutely chuffed with my harvest of Takanue garlic, the threat of rain coming made me wonder if I should be pulling up the Kakanui bulbs. I had planted them in the totally wrong place from the start and hadn't been able to water the neighbouring corn as much as I would have liked for fear of water logging the garlic. It was as much excuse as I needed and just before midnight I scurried down to the garden and dug up my treasure. I'm not sure what anyone would have thought if they had seen me digging around in the garden at that time of night but anytime is a good time to garden in my book. The photo above is the whole harvest, I do have some more Kakanui in the garden but they are much smaller and I'm not sure if they will come to much. Even if they don't, I have enough from this year to save for next year and to share with a few others...a very good result!

A Gander At The Garden...

There has been so much growth in the last few weeks but the weather so far this summer has had many gardeners scratching their heads or grumbling in frustration. I am just happy to finally see some rewards for my efforts!

Na-nah...here is the first and long awaited oil seed pumpkin. I am so tickled with this wee fella I can't help but smile every time I look at it. All eleven plants are still chugging along happily so hopefully I will see a good crop of these.

And this is a very small cob of the painted mountain corn. There is a few of them but I am a little disappointed in their size considering how long they have been in...I am wondering if I planted a wee bit early? Still, as long as I get enough for seed I will be happy.

 Almost garlic time...

This I am really excited about...I am going to leave mine in for a bit longer because it was planted a little later than it should have been but I must admit to having a little peek at one.

Parsley and naughty amaretta  growing below the broad beans.

Evergreen tomatoes in a hanging basket by the back door...I haven't tried this type before so looking forward to seeing what they are like.

The Urenika potatoes are growing well but will still be a month or so way from harvest. I did have a forage under a couple of plants but didn't find anything substantial.

A view of the garden taken today, hopefully I will soon be able to replace the wood with some concrete stepping stones so my big hooves don't flatten the soil. I planted radish and carrot seed the other day and already the radish has poked up through the soil. The sunflowers are as tall as me now and still growing.

My poor rhubarb has started to grow back after Sugar busted her way through the fence and ate the lot. The worst part was that my niece had pleaded the day before for us to go cut the rhubarb and cook something yummy and I has said we should just wait another few days so we got a good harvest...that goat is damn lucky she is so cute!

I haven't got to the third sister yet but the two sisters are growing great guns at the moment. I have been layering cardboard and hay to keep the weeds down and keep the pumpkins off the wet grass and so far its working well. My efforts to fix the drainage in the tub worked fantastically and they seem to love the sunny position.

The golden egg eggplant is starting to get some growth on it now. I haven't tried this one before so looking forward to seeing what it looks like. It is hanging in a large basket under the veranda and seems to like its spot there. Behind it are cherry chilli's which have been lagging for awhile but are starting to grow now with all the warmth.