Grevillia

Day 140   May 31st
The Grevillia grows on the bank just beyond the fence.  It is very popular with the lorrikeets. I initially put it in because I wanted  plants native to the area, but Mike has recently learned that only one type of Grevillia is actually native to this location.  So I may have imported a foreigner.  I am not unduly concerned because where a plant grows naturally is very fluid and easily influenced by a few birds or unusually wind patterns. I think we can get too precious about some things. The world is a dynamic organism and change and movement are bound to happen.

Wild Flowers

Day 139     May 30th
The extended rainy season has lead to an abundance of greenery and in this case yellowery on the bank below the fence. I had assumed these were sunflowers but they now seem more like some sort of daisy.

Flowers

Day138   May 29th
The  seeds I scattered around under the trees have  finally flowered. Unfortunately they are from a mixed packet so I don't know what they are.  However I do know that they are from a mix of plants which apparently encourage 'good' bugs to live in my garden. I have just noticed how frequently I use the word 'finally' in this blog.  I must be a very impatient gardener. Work on that.

Pot Plant

Day 137  May 28th
In England Geraniums are indoor pot plants to be cossetted and nurtured. In Switzerland they are planted into window boxes in the Spring.  Here in Australia they grow in the garden and are not very highly regarded.  This  grew from a cutting from our neighbour's garden taken just before pretty well the whole garden was razed. It hasn't quite made it indoors but it is in the patio.

Cucumber End

Day 136   May 27th
 All the cucumber plants began to shrivel and die back on the same day, even the indoor plant.  It was wierd, almost as if they were pre programmed to self destruct on May 23rd.  So I have coll3ected the remaining cucumbers, including the escapee stuck between the bars.

Strawberry Flowers

Day 135   May 26th
I have never been successful growing strawberries. These grow bags seem to be ok so far although not all the plants look healthy. However peeping over the top of one bag are two small white flowers.  This is a first and very encouraging. To get anything more than a  mouthful  I'll need a lot more.  This is a good sign though.

Bean shoots

Day 133 May 25th
Planted a different variety of bean once the ph was ok. At least I hope it was a different variety.  When I checked my records it appears I may have planted more of the same. I'll soon know.

Little tomatoes

Day 133  May 24th
All the tomato plants are thriving and look very healthy.  However until  a few days ago they were completely barren.  Now a few small tomatoes have appeared but so far show no sign or turning red.  The garden bed perhaps does not get enough sun at this time of year.

Potato box

Day 132  May 23rd
A couple of the seed potatoes have grown well, almost overnight but two didn't develop at all.  I dug down to investigate.  I'm sure this is an absolute no no and the proper response is patience. One had started to sprout so I carefully dug it back in but the other seemed to have disappeared.  It could have rotted away or been a victim of night raiders. I replaced it with a new one.

Digging In.

Day 131  May 22nd The contents of a bokashi bucket of scraps has been dropped into a hole.  It will have manure added and then be left for at least two weeks. Apparently it will break down into compost in the ground.

Bed #4

Day130  May 21st
Time to construct another garden bed. The next step is to import some soil.

Potato Plants

Day 129 May 20th
Almost overnight it seems this plant has appeared.  It's only been a couple of days since I last looked. But where are the other three?

Leftovers

Day 128  May 19th
The bokashi bucket is almost full of kitchen leftovers and scraps and ready to leave for a week or so. All I have to do is remember to drain the fluid twice a week.

Too Much Shade

Day 127  May 18th
The tall bushes along with the temporary tarp roof has meant that this patio gets rain but not sunshine. The result is moss and mould on the bricks.

Flower seedlings

Day 126 May 17th From time to time I scatter flower seeds among the vegetables.  Usually a few seedlings emerge but so far no flowers have and I have no idea why.

Paperbark Tree

Day 125  May 16th
Still in Hervey Bay in the Seymour-Dearness's front yard.

Still Hervey Bay.

Day 124  May15th
Grapefruit tree

Hervey Bay

 Day 123   May14th
George and Melissa profess to do very little gardening but they have a very prolific mandarin tree.  Perhaps benign neglect is the answer.

PH Meter

Day 122  May 13th
Bed#1 was too acidic when I last tested, so I tried again to see if anything had changed since adding manure and compost. 6.0 is pretty neutral, but the beans I intended ti plant require 6.2-7.0 so I need to add lime.

Crazy Worms

Day 121  May 12th For some as yet unfathomable reason, the rain entices worms to venture out onto the driveway. I don't know whether they could cross the rough gravely surface to the safety of the lawn if it kept raining, but certainly once the rain stops they are stranded and soon die. So I capture them before that happens and take them to be my slaves in the vegie beds.

Dormant Potatoes

Day 120  May 11th No Potatoes yet.  I didn't cut the bottom out of this box; I just punched holes in it. I hope it drains well enough because we are still getting lots of rain.

Bountiful?

Day 119   May 9th
This garden bed looks very productive but there is actually not much to eat at present.  The beans are showing no sign of 'fruiting' and the beetroots, with such healthy looking leaves are not thriving underneath, at least not yet. There are definite root forms below the surface, but about the size of a small carrot. Lots of lettuce and basil however.

Cucumber Harvest

Day 118   May 9th
This positioning creates a bit of an illusion but the cucumbers were large.

Peppers

Day117   May 8th
The plant Gynene gave to me has finally grown two healthy peppers.  It lives on a table in the screened patio.  I took it out once intending to plant it out once it had become acclimatized to the harsh world outside but it attracted way too much interest by numerous insectd. Pepper plants I've grown before have always ended up hosting young insects and it looked as if the small peppers would have the same fate.  So I brought them back inside.  The next challenge will be to grow plants outside.

Hanging Cucumbers

Day 116 May 7th
This is what is supposed to happen.

Let Me Out

Day 115  May 6th
This cucumber grew to this size while we were away camping. Obviously when it first settled in this spot it was small enough to fit between the bars of the trellis.

Weed?

Day 114  May 5th
This has appeared in the front yard.  I don't know what it is. 

Bouganvillia

Day 113  May 4th

This tree has spiky branches and looks bedraggled for most of the year. When it rains it perks up and wins a reprieve. 

Leaning Frangipani

Day 112 May 3rd I didn't notice how much the frangipani was leaning until the little hill beside it was removed. It must have slowly fallen over when the rain softened the soil. It's probably too late too prop it up now.

Ready to Go

Day 111  May 2nd
The bulldozer has been in, mown down and flattened.  Now I really have to start thinking in earnest about those fruit trees I planned to plant when the time seemed right.  I guess it's now

Sorghum

Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents in addition

Day 110    May 1st
On the drive to Warwick I kept seeing fields of some type of grain that I didn't recognise.  I suspected that it was something grown to feed animals, but it's not anything I have seen before.  Asking around I found it is Sorghum, a word I have heard and obviously read before because I had a vague idea how to spell it. Actually I only knew that there was an 'h' in there somewhere.
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents in addition to the South West Pacific and Australasia
I wasn't sure whether this was a crop that was harvested or used for grazing.  It appeared to be used both ways. So I was pleased to see that my observations had been accurate when I did look it up at home. Of course Greg would have done it on the spot, or driven to a spot where he could get phone coverage.

View from the back door

Day 109  April 30th
Actually this is the view from the only door in the caravan. The camping area is huge and seems very far from civilization, but apart from a few kangaroos we saw very little wildlife.  Perhaps they had all retreated to remoter locations after the human influx over the Easter long weekend.

Warwick

Day 108  April 29th
We were camping at Gordoncountry near Wawick so I was unable to take a picture of my garden so I took one of the Memorial gardens in Warwick instead. There was a festival of Torres Strait and Aboriginal activities starting up for the weekend in the park so we sat and listened to the music for a  while, until it started to rain.

Caged Ptatoes

Day 107   April 28th
One of the problems in growing potatoes is that because of lingering diseases in the soil, you can't grow them in the same plot within one or two years. This also applies to tomatoes which are of a similar family. I'm reluctant to check whether this also applies to yams as these three are my most successful crops if you don't count herbs which you can't really eat anyway. I have been loosely planting by this rule, but pretty soon all the beds become off limits to toms and pots.  So when I read about caged potatoes using chicken wire I thought I would have a go. While researching for the best way to go about this it became apparent that almost any container would do.  Broccholli boxe, despite the name, feel much more friendly than scratchy chicken wire. So surrounded by sheep manure and soil lie four nicola potatoes waiting to burst forth and multiply.

The Last Lonely Pumpkin

Day 106    April 27th  Not so lonely once it comes inside where ther are five more stored.