Rhubarb and Tomatoes

I don't know about any of you, but I love rhubarb.  It's that tangy sweetness that gets me every time.  Problem is, I now don't get to eat it very often.  I have bought some from my local supermarket on the odd occasion, but the rest of the house doesn't like it (more for me then). 

When I was still unmarried and living at home Dad had quite an extensive vege and fruit patch in the back yard.  We had apple, apricot, nectarine, peach, quince, loquat, pear trees as well as a multi grafted plum tree.  That tree used to get so much fruit on it Dad would have to prop up the branches so they didn't break off under the weight of the fruit.  So stewed fruit and home made jam was always available.  There was even a couple of rhubarb crowns.  Dad also grew tomatoes, lettuce, silver beet.  One year he grew pumpkin - we had so many in storage they covered the bench in the garage!

In my attempt to grow some of my own produce today I purchased 2 rhubarb crowns from my local hardware/garden store.  Yesterday the rhubarb seeds I bought turned up too.  So in a couple of days the crowns will go in and I will pot up the seeds into some seedling mix to get them started.

This may seems like a lot of rhubarb to planting - and you may be right - but did I mention I love the stuff??  And who knows what is going to survive and how much of it is going to die - specially over summer when we go on holidays.  Note to self - must remember to set up automatic watering system whist we are away.  One that the child staying home doesn't have to worry about.

I also got myself a plastic bucket that I am going to have a go at growing a tomato bush in upside down.  This sounds crazy, but I have seen it done with success. 


Like this.

The variety I will use is Tommy Toe - a 3cm variety of fruit.  Grew this last year with some success.








Will keep you updated on that one.



I have also thought of how to grow veges down the side of the house.  This area gets lots of sun all year and has a raised garden bed - actually the top of the bed is level with next door's ground level (we had to dig our house into our block of land a bit).  The bed is narrow - around 40cm wide - and the soil is terrible.  Compacted and little or no organic matter.  Last year I added some straw as a mulch and tried to grow melons in it.  Birds dug up all the straw and ate the seeds.  There is no way I can raise the height of the bed wall myself - I'm not that capable and the back side is wood fence (my neighbour would not be impressed to learn I have compost and dirt up against it).

So I think the best way to utilise this area is with a plastic rectangular tubs that have had the bottoms of them removed and fill them in a no-dig manner.  Kind of like gardening in pots, but a slightly larger scale.  Now to find some cheap tubs.  (I think I know where I can get 1 or 2 - local dance club has some with no lids that I may be able to steal, um have).

If I can also get 2 more of the bed frames I started with last year I will be happy.  That will give me 6 mini plots in our front yard and will not interfere with car parking.  Need to start them back up again.  One is full of grass, the others have very little grass/weeds in them.  The poppies have survived over winter and look nice and healthy.  I pulled out the broccoli the other day.  That will get chopped up, pushed down and covered over with straw and manure to rot down over summer.  All food for the next crops.  I also need to think of something to put around the beds to get rid of the grass.  Loath to spray with glyphosate - it might leach into the vege beds and then we could be eating it!

On another garden type note - I would love to able to organise a neighbourhood vege co-op.  One where neighbours grow veges and fruit in their own yards and then swap/trade with others in the
co-op as the produce matures.  Can see the benefits - getting to know the neighbours, not having to grow as much variety but still getting it, etc.  Can also see the down side - people not co-operating properly, someone not getting any produce but yet giving out their growings, etc.  Much to ponder......

Look at the dirt

on the trailer....

This is after 2 days of driving in dusty conditions on dirt roads.  It was fine dust and got into everything; thru the zips on the tent cover, inside the trailer....

Inside the silver box in front of the tyre.....



Everything was covered in it....

Once we reached civilisation again we hosed the trailer down and found that the paint had actaully been dust blates off the metal!!  The silver box was even dented across the front from all the stones we flicked up.

Hubby has had to repaint the whole trailer - inside and out and underneath. 

But getting to see places like this makes it all worthwhile.

Back from our trip up North

and I would rather be still on the road staying in places likes this.....

We certainly had more than our fair share of car problems - blown head gasket, auxillery battery had to be replaced, smashed a rear window, replaced a fan pump, got dust in the brake drums/cylinders, and have a cracked front windscreen. 

Saw some lovely spots for fishing.....

Met some brilliant birds.....

Saw some gorgeous coast......

We did not quite make it to the very top but are happy with how far we did get, all things considered.

Met this guy at a roadhouse camping spot....

He had 2 brothers.  Never having been this close to a peacock before I was surprised by how large a bird they are.  Very inquisitive too.  There was also an Emu at the same place.  It would not move whilst we set up camp and came to inspect everything too.

Happy Holidays....

Well not so happy actually.  We have been stuck in Bundaberg Qld for the past 2 weeks with car troubles.  Hopefully we will be outta here on Tuesday.....

We have had more than our fair share of rain; we broke 2 hand pumps for water on our camper and the tent leaked. 

This was our Saturnday night's entertainment on Fraser Island.....



Yep - watching a bucket fill up with rain water!!  Rivetting stuff....

2 Days to go ....

Until hubby and I head off for a 3 month adventure.

All my bags are packed (well nearly), I'm ready to go (not so sure on that one).

Queensland here we come!!

Long Time No See, err Read

Wow, did not realise it had been this long between posts!

My apologies to all who read this.

There's no excuses on offer - just been a bad blogger......

In 11 days Hubby and I head off on our Cape York Adventure.  We are towing the camper trailer behind us and driving all the way up to the very most northern point of Australia - not is a direct and straight line mind you.  We will be taking plenty of stops along the way doing what all tourists do - having a good look around the place.

Spending a day on the Gold Coast, a week on Fraser Island, a day at Bundaberg and then who knows what.

Tha plan, if there is one, is to find a spot that looks nice and set up camp for a day or two and then move on to the next spot.  I will have to take lots of piccys each day - I intend on taking a photo of camp each time we stop in an attempt to keep track of where we have been.  May even get to upload some whilst away - depending on wifi connectivity.

So if you don't hear from me between now and Septmeber - this is why.

Tax Time

I really hate the time of year when hubby decides it's time we do our tax return.  I don't put in a tax return as I don't earn any money.  So why do I have do all the work for his return??  He's had 8 months to get his act into gear to do it.  Now when it's crunch time, he gets all upppity when I can't find the info he needs....

URGHHH

Driving and Donating

My baby girl is now licensed to kill - with a motor vehicle that is.  This morning she passed her driving test.  It didn't take her long to get out on her own either - like only 2 hours after the test.  She was so pleased she passsed.  Congrats to her.  No more playing taxi with her for me.

I donated 2 large bags of usable stuff to a local Kinder today.  A lot of knitting yarn (half a bag full!!), fabrics, pipe cleaners, ribbons and braids, all sorts of things.  There was even a bag of teddy bear dress ups.  Hopefully they will put it all to good use.

Now to finish cleaning up the craft room.  I have lots on the shelves - they're full - and still lots of bags beside the shelves.  Not sure if I want to only keep things like fabrics that are earmarked for a project or whether to just go thru all the fabrics and make 2 piles - 1 of those I like and 1 of those I don't like.  I have a friend who, as part of a quilting group, make quilts for a local hospital.  That's where the discards will be going.  I'm quite sure that even if I only kept the projects that were already together - those that are ready to be started - I would not get thru them all before I drop off the planet.  Mind you I have no intentions of doing that any time soon - I just have collected (and boy is that agood word for it) lots of kits.

Decisions, decisions.........

Challenge

Today I re-read parts of my $21 Challenge book.  I will again do this challenge.  Last time I did it, I only spent $6.80 on feeding the family for the week.  Yes you read right - $6.80.  I went through my pantry, fridge and freezer and found that I had enough food stashed away to feed us (5 adults) for the week and only had to purchase some fresh veges. 

I feel it's time to do it again. 

Not because I have a pantry full of food that I want to get rid of, but that it is a worthwhile exercise.  One that I hope to do on a regular basis.  The best part is having meals planned 1 week in advance - no getting to 5pm and wondering what on earth I will cook for dinner.  I put the menu planner on the fridge so the others in the house know what's for dinner (if they care to look that is).

There's not a lot in the fridge and I have yet to check out the pantry or freezer, but there will be enough I am sure of it.  It was quite weird not going to the supermarket 2 or 3 times during the week last time I did this.  I felt quite proud of myself in keeping away.  I should take note of how much I save when doing this and write it down somewhere so that at the end of the year I can see how much I actually saved ov a long period of time.  It's all well and good to say 'I saved $100 on groceries this week', but to put into perspective on an annual basis would be enlightening.

A Day In Your Life

I have just come across the most amazing quote. 

"What you do with each day is important because you are exchanging a day in your life to that activity."
Author Unknown

I came across this in a comment on Becky Higgin's blog.

It is quite profound, that quote, when you sit and think about it.  Most people would not even think of their life in that way.  Days spent in meaningless activity (searching the web for scrapbooking page maps - how I came across that quote) really are a waste of a day.  Now you may consider page maps to be something you need and are important - that's ok.  Some may think I spent the morning doing nothing - that's fine too.

I urge you all to think hard on this quote and what it means to you.  I intend printing it out and sticking it on the back of the toilet door - a place to be often reminded of it.

Veges

Wow,  this looks like being a vege blog - not my intention I assure you.

Whilst we were on hols, my son picked 2 zucchini and there were 3 more waiting for us when we got home.  I have given 2 away to a lady who walks her dog past our place every day - saw her today and she said they were nice.  Last night I used one of them to make a zucchini slice.  We had a salad with it using some of our mini tomatoes.  One pot with carrots had to be pulled out - they did not get enough water and so died.  The peas also have been neglected re the watering - oh well.

Our hols - away for 19 days at our caravan in the little town of Bright.  I managed to get a fair bit of cross stitch done and I finished 2 ankle socks.  Did not take many photos.  Only went  swimming twice - days just not hot enough.  Actually for nearly 1 week we wore autumn clothing - long sleeves/pants!!  In january!!
Who'd a thunk.

Bless you

My Blessings for this festive season.

May all your wishes come true.

Check 'em out

Check out these zucchini!!

The pale ones weigh a fair bit.  The small bulby bits on the far end are where the seeds are.  They measure around 40cm long!! Apparently they are good to eat up to 1m long.

Zucchini, etc

Just picked 2 more home grown zucchini - the one I picked last week was quite nice without the seeds.  Lightly steamed, yummmmm

1 of those just picked is nearly a complete circle!  Looks like there will be 3 more in a few days, they just need to colour up.

On and I counted the pumpkins too - 12 in all that I can see.  So far they are 4-6" long and getting their ribbed skin. 

Of my wartermelon and rockmelons I have 3 of 1 variety and 1 of the other - not sure which is which so it will be surprising when they get big enough to flower and then fruit.  Lost 2 along the sideway fence - darn birds digging for worms dug these ones out. Hopefully our Son will keep them watered well whilst we are away.

Zucchini

I picked 1 zucchini on Friday - slugs/snails were eating the bulbish area where the seeds would be - the zucchinis are TROMBONCINI variety.  We ate it with dinner on Saturday night - quite nice lightly steamed, no seeds to worry about.

We've had a bit of rain over the past couple of days, so I have not had to water.  The poppies are doing well and flowering lots.

Veges

Hubby whipper snipped around the garden beds Sunday - I lost part of a zucchini plant.  He asked our son who was helping him "can I glue this back on?" . 

In having a good look at the veges I have around 5 pumpkins, but they are long not round; lots of zucchini - most are curling around themselves; my capsicums look like tomatoes; the broccoli is a failure (or maybe that's just me not having a green thumb).  I have planted yet more peas - this is what I picked from what I had in to start with.

That's 3 plants worth of peas - they tasted nice and sweet, pod and all.  Maybe they don't like being in pots.

We have decided to get rid of our front lawn totally and turn it into a car park.  Our youngest daughter has her own car now and the driveway is not big enough for 3 cars - we need to put 1 on the lawn.  Putting down a stone/concrete mix will mean a lot of work, but be worth it in the end when the other 2 kids get cars (assuming they do that before leaving home).  We will have to redo some of the front garden bed to get the car onto the lawn easier.

Vege Garden

I have 2  more broccoli seedlings that I have put into the big beds.  I had to rip one of the original ones out - looked really sick.  The other orginal one is slowly getting eaten by something - I put down snail pellets.

I also planted watermelons and rockmelon seeds - some down the sideway and some out the front.  The bed down the sideway got weeded and sugar cane mulched.  Also put in another pea seed and more snail pellets around these.  Maybe I should invest in a snail trap - but then I would have to buy beer and no one here drinks the stuff.

Also put in MORE tomato seeds - if these don't germinate I am going to give up and buy 2 plants.  This goes against the grain as I don't really want to put profit into the hands of the large seed companies, but what do I do if I want to grow my own tomatoes?  Also put in some more capsicum and cucumber seeds.

All of the self germinated peas have been pulled out - they looked sick anyway.  A lot of the grass that was coming up in the big beds has also stopped doing that.  I think I have managed to pull the rest all out.

Found an old hose on a reel too.  Now I need some tap connectors for it - much better than a watering can.  I can give the whole bed a good soaking.  Which I think I need to do daily.  The potting mixes where there were seeds are bone dry - even though we had a lot of rain yesterday.

Now I just need to get hubby to whipper snip the grass around the beds down low so I can put a thick layer of mulch.  Oh and I need a vege garden / grass barrier too.  Bunnings here I come.

Vege update - yep another one

So it looks like I've lost all my cucumbers to something - probably slugs/snails though how they can crawl across pea straw is beyond me.

The extra pea seeds I put in are starting to grow.  As are some of the extra carrots.  The first lot of carrots are really slow in doing anything - maybe they need more vigilant watering and fertiliser.

The 2 zucchini are looking good - see---

As are the pumpkins...

The Everlasting Daisies are doing well too.  So are the self sown pea seeds.

This strawberry plant is now 3 years old - it has the tiniest of fruit on it already and could do with a good feed.

Now for some other flowers in my front yard.

And the Expert says......

That it is a common problem with pea straw and that they should be fine to let grow if I wish.  She said they are usually not as nice to eat as any others I would plant, but that she usually leaves them.

So I have decided to let those not coming up next to the seed I have planted be - for the time being.  Some I have pulled out if there were lots together.  Maybe they will have some nice flowers......

The peas I have planted are doing quite well - most anyway.  One got attacked by slugs - so it's out with the snail/slug trap for me.  I have planted 2 more seeds in the same pots to cover those that didn't germinate and the 1 lost to the slug.

The seeds I put into the peat pellets have all germinated except for the tomato ones.  In a few weeks when they get their true leaves they will go in the vege beds.  If the tomatoes don't come up, I may try direct sowing them in their pot.

Another Vege Garden Update

Just come inside from checking the vege garden beds.  Boy are those peas that I didn't plant doing well!  There must be 20 of them.  I will have to think hard on if I wish to keep them all and if I am going to put in some sort of climbing frame for them.  There are a couple that are quite near my cucumber and pumpkins.  I wonder if they will help each other grow or just create a mess.  Must ask the experts.