Saturday, December 27, 2008

Growing Challenge Update 4


Well it has certainly been a while since I blogged. Things have been quite hectic with harvest and Christmas and children. Emme is 7 1/2 months and has decided to crawl, sit on her bottom, on her knees and pull herself to standing all in the last couple of weeks. Thankfully she is a lot happier now she can move!

Anyway, back to the update. Nothing at all has been planted as it is quite hot now and I don't have enough time to care for little seeds or seedlings.

Maintenance
  • really just watering and weeding
  • have cut up old stockings and have been using them to help keep the tomatoes staked
Harvesting
  • lots of zucchini
  • brown onions
  • spring onions
  • silverbeet
  • lettuce- only 1 left
  • enough basil to make pesto once a week
  • carrots
  • rhubarb
  • potatoes
  • the first bean from the scarlet runner beans
  • plums
Observations
  • pumpkins are running well and the first of the fruit is starting to set
  • eggplant, capsicums, mini rockmelons and beans are flowering well
  • cucumbers don't look fantastic- probably won't get many this year
  • tomatoes actually look really healthy and pretty much disease free at the moment (last year the wilt was revolting), lots of staking, pruning and love seems to be working, green tomatoes are forming now, bit later than usual with the cool November and December
  • leeks are really fattening up
Little gem squash that I think I got from The Digger's Club, they are on quite a long vine, I haven't grown them before so must go and look up exactly when to harvest

One side on the vegetable patch
The tomatoes just outside the vegetable patch with a some self-sown zucchini in the foreground and the Japanese pumpkins behind, just infront of the asparagus patch. All a bit droopy with the midday heat.
My aim for this week is to really try and menu plan and see if I can cut out some of the 90km round trips to the closest large town I seem to do quite often (usually once a week or 10 days, there is a shop 10km down the road but it is quite limiting and their fresh is a little to my fresh so I tend to only buy dairy and the real necessities there). Shouldn't be too hard now the summer vegies have really taken off.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Our Weekend

With Ian finally out harvesting the girls and I had a quietish weekend.

Emme is up on her knees- not quite crawling or sitting but very close, still manages to get everywhere by rolling and wiggling, found her stuck under the TV shelf earlier.


Lyssie had her first real header ride on the weekend- she loved it! Lucky our header is equipped with an extra seat and seatbelt to keep her out of trouble.


Lyssie helped with some shortbread stars, she did a good job but I really had to try hard not to redo the ones that weren't perfect. She is really enjoying 'helping' now.