TWIG 12

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(a couple of sunflowers - how appropriate given the sunny weather!)

goodness – 4 seasons in one week – on Thursday we edged over 40C then the next day the temperature was only half that! So the garden is showing signs of water stress and singed greenery.

(the gladioli were just emerging when the hot dry winds hit them
- poor things - the flowers are singed around the edges)

The promised 'rain' only arrived in dribbles (10mm – big whop-dee-doo....) but the predictions are for a wet christmas (oooo please santa! Bring us bucket loads!)




TO DO

oh I don't know why I'm bothering to think about all the new things that MUST be done when so much of my previous 'to do' list remains incomplete.... and we are just a few days of Christmas....


Completed

* vege garden thoroughly weeded

* FP has the first of the magnificent animal exclusion 'cages' built – aren't they wonderful! No wonder they took a while to complete

(the new 'cages' are covering the emerging carrot and replanted beets - in front is a couple of kipfler potatoes - its tricky to get seed stock of these - so we are nurturing the precious 2 plants in our raised beds)

* capsicum and more lettuce seedlings transplanted (iceberg and mixed oak leaf),

* beetroot seeds re-sown - AGAIN (that's 3 times) – the last time all the little seeds came up – were going strong....then I came out to find half of them missing one morning – and the other half missing the next morning... so depressing...ahhhh well – replant

* other seeds sown - hollow crown parsnip, yellow scallop squash, tongue-of-fire beans, wild rocket (arugula)

* multiguard snail and slug pellets applied (multiguard is safe for pets and native wildlife and is approved for certified organic gardens) – and I say 'take that you pesky slimeys'


picking/ eating

green cos lettuce (the last of these), red cos (the first of the outer leaves), baby beetroot, italian cabbage, spring onion (oversized), and a smattering of raspberries (YUM!)

TWIG 11 - invasion of the beetles!

This week we have been inundated by a plague of christmas beetles of biblical proportions! We've never seen anything like it – every eucalypt in the garden (in the whole area...) is covered in the beasties (if you stand under any of the trees you can actually hear them munching the leaves – scary!) At night, they attack the glass windows and doors of the house madly trying to reach the lights inside. The poor gum trees – they are being stripped of their foliage.


I suspect that the beetles emergence 'en masse' has something to do with the vile dry dry dry weather... I just hope that they move on before all the trees are killed.

And I can't blame the beetles for the ongoing troubles in the garden - yet another collection of beet seedlings has been stolen by a garden thief (I'm thinking my seedling thief is either birds or snails/slugs - I haven't caught either in the act though....)

grrrrr - I thought I had enough to whine about with the lack of rain....


To do

sow early parsnips, capsicum/chillies, more leafy greens,

weed the herb garden (again)

and of course try to get on top of all the things not done on the 'to do' list!


Completed

not much!

Sweet potato seedling planted (in raised tyre mound – for extra warmth)

berry garden weeded

FP is building some amazing bird/creature exclusion 'cages' for our seedlings – but as he is a perfectionist, they are taking a while to complete (wait until you see them - fabulous!)


Picking/Eating

baby beetroot, italian cabbage, spring onions, cos lettuce, and a smattering of blueberries and raspberries.

TWIG 10

white hydrangea from beside the front verandah

The dry continues.... We had a small stormy shower last sunday (right after I posted my weekly garden gripe about the lack of moisture..... so I'm hoping my whining might work again...)

and it's not only the continued dry conditions that my poor garden has to contend with – there's something munching off our little seedlings as they emerge (snails?) and another something stopping our seeds from sprouting (ants?) so this week I've had to re-sow the carrots and beetroot, lettuce and beans.... grrrrrrrrr

I have lots of pumpkin and squash seedlings emerging all over the garden - I've utilised the spare space in the hot border to squeeze in lots and lots of pumpkin/squash plants.

FP is hard at work constructing seedling protection and I'll hopefully have something to show and tell by next week


to do: I'm reluctant to add to the list – as I've barely scratched anything off the old list! Hopefully I'll get more done in the coming week....


Completed: Seeds sown: detroit beetroot, danvers carrot, golden hubbard squash, baby blue pumpkin, triamble pumpkin, tongue of fire bean, green cos lettuce, rondo de nice zucchini, rosita eggplant, muncher burpless cucumber, blue banana pumpkin, replacement climbing princess bean, 'tasty' lettuce seedlings transplanted.

picking/ eating: white icicle radish, mixed lettuce, italian cabbage, spring onions, our first tentative (and tiny) berry crops - blueberries and early season raspberries.