I’ve mentioned our new honeyeater garden in a few recent posts, so I thought I would tell you a little more about it. The idea began approximately a year ago, when I noticed that all of the flowering plants in our garden were not visible from inside the house. We had plenty of honeyeaters on our … Continue reading The Honeyeater Garden
Category: Garden
Ornamental Plum Blossom
We have so many eucalypts and native plants with unobtrusive flowers, it feels fantastic when the ornamental plum tree is in full blossom. A real burst of colour which attracts both birds and insects. This week, two Red Wattle Birds have been feeding from the blossoms every day. I’ll post the bird photos tomorrow. Today I … Continue reading Ornamental Plum Blossom
Bougainvillea
Just for the joy of the colour, here is a photograph of the Bougainvillea in our back yard. Most of the bracts have one or two white flowers, but this one has three.
Fuchsia in the Fernery
Most of the plants in our fernery are non-flowering, so these bright Fuchsia flowers caught my attention this week. I couldn’t resist photographing them.
Digging up Spuds!
Months and months ago, I found an old bag of seed potatoes that looked past their best. They were all withered and sending out shoots into the air. Although I didn’t hope for much, I decided to put them in the ground to see what happened. Miracle of miracles, they grew! Yesterday, Richard dug … Continue reading Digging up Spuds!
Fruit!
In Australia it’s mid Summer and the fruit is beginning to ripen. We are not the only ones to notice. Swamp Wallabies and parrots also have their eye on the crop, and are much faster than we are at taking advantage of ready to eat fruit! Last year we had bountiful crops that seemed to … Continue reading Fruit!
Vegetable Tales
For those of you who have been following the vegetable garden and our attempts to grow our own food, I’m sorry for the long wait. The truth is, we’ve had more failure than success over the past year. Initially the vegetables planted in the greenhouse seemed to be doing very well. When Winter came, we … Continue reading Vegetable Tales
Our Spring Garden
Spring is almost here, and the garden is blooming! In this post, I just wanted to capture the form and colour of some of the flowers in our garden.
Acacia Tree in Bloom
Our Acacia tree is in full bloom at the moment. This tree has obviously been planted by one of the previous owners, and the cheerful yellow blossom stands out against the grey-green eucalypts. I’m enjoying it immensely.
Greenhouse Cucumbers
Pollinating the cucumber flowers while the plants are locked in the greenhouse, away from insects, turned out to be a non-issue. The plants we chose are self pollinating. That’s pure luck – no forethought involved at all. It’s now possible to see the baby cucumbers growing on the vine. The yellow flowers are a beautiful … Continue reading Greenhouse Cucumbers
Our Greenhouse Vegetables
Our greenhouse vegetables are growing beautifully. We’ve already harvested and eaten the radishes, which were delicious. The lettuce, carrots and beetroot are developing well, and it won’t be long before we begin to harvest these too. Lettuce and root vegetables are pretty straight forward – plant the seeds, water, and wait. However, the cucumber plant … Continue reading Our Greenhouse Vegetables
Today’s Harvest
I haven’t written about the vegetable garden for a while, but we are enjoying the home-grown produce so much. After a long time of producing a handful of cherry tomatoes, the tomato vine is beginning to flourish. These small tomatoes are packed with full flavour – so much tastier than the ones available in the … Continue reading Today’s Harvest
A Small Plot
It has surprised me that the path to growing all of our own food has been more difficult than we’d imagined when we arrived. The existing vegetable garden is only small, and when we arrived it was newly planted by the previous owners. An entire half of the vegetable garden is still taken up with … Continue reading A Small Plot
Fallen Fruit: A not-so-happy story
Here the pictures tell the story. Look at the photo’s I posted last week, and compare them with these. I don’t think we are going to get much fruit this year. The fruit trees are only small. From the sharp edged marks in the top of the pears, I think the culprits were parrots. I … Continue reading Fallen Fruit: A not-so-happy story
Fruit and Vegetables
It has been a long time since I wrote about our vegetable garden and orchard. Partly this is because I became entranced by our birds and began compiling a species list, and partly it is because there wasn’t a lot to write about. Everything had already been planted – mostly by the previous owners – … Continue reading Fruit and Vegetables
Learning to love succulents
I could not understand why the garden beds were planted with so many succulent plants when we first moved in. To me, they were unattractive and at odds with the lush growth of a cottage garden, which I preferred, and also with the natural bushland, which abounds here. My initial intention was to pull them … Continue reading Learning to love succulents
Inside the fernery
Many of the plants in our fernery were there when we bought the house, but we have been playing around with a few things. The cats also have free access to this area, which is shady and cooler on a hot day. This series of photos is not captioned. If you receive this in an … Continue reading Inside the fernery
Native Shrubs in Flower
Dotted around the property are a number of flowering native shrubs which have been planted by previous owners. Many of these are just coming into flower, while others have interesting seed cases on display. I have not yet researched the specific plant names, so I have just posted the images without descriptions. Enjoy the photo … Continue reading Native Shrubs in Flower
Kangaroos and Orchards
When watering the fruit trees in the orchard tonight, I noticed that almost all of the fruit from one tree was gone, and there were telltale droppings beneath the tree. Richard identified these as kangaroo droppings. I knew we had to watch out for the birds when the fruit grew large and ripe, but these … Continue reading Kangaroos and Orchards
First Harvest
We have used some herbs from the garden before, but this is our first vegetable harvest. Sufficient broad beans to make Broad Bean, Leek, Goats Cheese and Mint Pasta. As I didn’t have a leek to hand, I used three of our shallots, and to deglaze the pan when it got too hot, I used … Continue reading First Harvest
Our Garden Blooms
As I walk around the garden, I appreciate the care taken by previous owners in the garden design. The cultivated garden is relatively small, with a few shrubs interspersed with annuals and perennials. Each month we have been here, a different plant flowers. The effect has been to frame the view differently, refocusing our attention … Continue reading Our Garden Blooms
First Fruit
Some positive signs in the orchard on Wednesday….
Ancestry, Gardening and Food Plant Recognition
Inspired by perfect Spring weather, last Wednesday morning I headed out into the vegetable garden. Now that the potato plants had sprouted leaves, I could see where they were and clear the ground around them. Surrounded by tall eucalypts and calling birds, it was easy to relax into the task. I realised this is what … Continue reading Ancestry, Gardening and Food Plant Recognition
Growing Food
Our plans for growing food are beginning to take shape. Eventually, we will have four separate growing areas: 1. Open air vegetable garden 2. Greenhouse for all year round tomatoes, capsicums etc 3. An open air herb garden 4. The fruit orchard. This post documents our starting points for all four areas. See the photo … Continue reading Growing Food
Fifteen Acres 