All across the state - and into other states, too, as @bengy will attest - high winds had us housebound or at least wary out and about over the last week. The first weekend in the house had winds of up to 140 kmph - clearly the gust that blew this branch a little too hard. It's not one of our trees, but on the border of the property. However, given it landed on and over our fence, it's absolutely ours - probably at least a month of wood right there. We also scored a wattle that come down too - both make excellent firewood. Thank god Jamie is super handy with a chainsaw.
The tenants had left the garden in reasonable condition. Why they let next doors chickens dig through our beds whilst leaving our own chooks locked in their enclosure as instructed, I'll never know. I don't know if the random chook that appeared in our garden this week was theirs or not but given my flock has been decimated by foxes, it's finders keepers. This week's Hive Garden writing theme - if you've already done a garden journal and want to write another post - is 'animals' - mine are solely chooks, if you don't count the blackbirds I spend a good amount of time shouting at, and the crows which are pinching the eggs. I've hung a few things in the entrance and shifted some things around but it won't take long before they get courage to steal eggs again. I do have a hawk kite I'm going to erect on the weekend and see if that does the trick. I really would like to stop feeding chickens without getting eggs!
In other news, I have a heap of seedlings on the go ready to go in the ground when they're ready - kale, spring onions, white poppies and so on. It's too early for tomatoes and capsicum though Bunnings is selling them already! I was quite delighted to see little mushrooms appear. Small things. I'm learning to focus on those a lot as I cope with the soon-demise of a parent. I mean, if there are little mushrooms in the world, I can get through anything. You know what I mean.
Other than that, there's not a helluva lot growing in the garden - kale gone to seed (I'm still stripping leaves for soups and stews though) and a few lonely fennel that have self seeded. It's actually really odd for me not to have a heap of silverbeet or other greens to make at least a savoury rice with, and beetroot coming along. That's what you get when you leave your garden I guess.
I was a little disappinted to find the lovely natives I had in pots had died. There's no way they would have unless they just didn't water them as instructed. I can't really be mad as I said it didn't matter, but I don't think it's that hard to water a few pot plants, especiallly as I know the guy was home studying most of the time. But, they were young, and not really gardeners. I've planted some seasonal things in there like violas and daisies just for the cheer. AT least the garden is looking neat. I do need to fill up those raised beds as they've sunk over the last six months. They're actually hugelkultur inspired with logs at the bottom. I just have to convince Jamie to move some compost as I really can't with my gluteal tendonitis.
It's very dry at the moment - we haven't had a lot of rain. I think I'm already making the decision not to plant some beds otherwise watering will be a nightmare. I need to keep the soil covered and grow shade crops to shelter other vegetables. A lot of the blossoms are out early. There's fear of bees not getting enough food from trees not flowering and it's meant to be a hot summer, so there's certainly worry around that.
More cheerfully, there's still calendula brightening up corners. I bought some sunflower seeds I'll plant today. I planted some snowpeas, lettuce and spring onion, though I had to find tunnels of chicken mesh to protect them from the blackbirds. I'm going to look for nests today. They might be loved in England but they are my arch enemy here.
The rhubarb is starting to grow. I have millions of little yellow limes (it's the variety) - cue lime pickle. Lemons too. Victorian backyards always have a lemon tree. The oregano and mugwort needed dead heading. The paths need weeding. What am I doing inside writing this post?
The pond leaked and is full of leaves, and the umbrella plant is dying for lack of water. That's definitely a high priority job as the birds will need the water for sure. I think this time we will concrete line it. So yeah, I guess it's all about the infrastructure at the moment! WE're also looking to build a pergola out the back, which will also improve the back of the house...
Oh, I was also SUPER excited to find mandarins on the Afourer mandarin I planted. They are so tiny. Delicious, but small. Does anyone know how to make them bigger? ?
With Love,
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