SPRING GARDEN

I really wish it would rain.  It has been weeks of dry weather and the rain tanks are getting low and the soil is very dry.  Watering by hand only does so much - a good soaking from a sustained rainfall really does the trick to provide the deep moisture necessary to growth.

I have planted Scarlet runner beans, two types of cucumbers - a small lebanese cucumber and a cucumber called Mexican Sour Gherkin.  The later is supposed to be a climber so I have planted it where the snow peas were.  I am preparing another bed for a small pickling cucumber called Parisian.

Scarlet runner seedlings

I have also started raising my own lettuce - a baby cos and another called Crisp Mint.  I bought a commercial seed raising mixture and let me tell you it is a total dud.  No wonder I had so much trouble with my Alpine Strawberry seeds.  I succeeded with these against the odds.

With the lettuce I planted out a tray with the commercial mixture and another tray with my home made seed raising mixture.  The home made seed raising mixture is made of:

• A small block of coir peat especially designed for seeds (available from Bunnings)
• Half a bag of perlite
• Commercial compost

The coir peat for seeds expands into this lovely soft stuff which easily mixes with the other ingredients.  I keep this in one of those long white buckets with a lid.

The above is the commercial seed raising mixture.  The lettuce have remained this size for weeks.  I will try planting them out but dont hold much hope for them.

The above seedlings were planted on the 4th of September.  They are practically ready for the garden.  If you click on the image you will see the difference in the texture etc of the home made seed raising mixture.  The middle two rows contains seedlings of Blue Pimpernell as we all need some colour in the garden.

I have planted chives in a pot and they are just starting to show through the soil.

In the rock garden I have also planted a little daisy type flower.  It spreads so I hope it will look good amongst the other plants.

I will let you know the progress of the garden as it evolves - please rain.

MY COLLECTIONS

Collecting things is a terrible disease.  You start off with a few things and then you buy more and more until it starts to get out of hand.  You know you are not the only person with this disease when you try and buy something you like on ebay and are met with a competitive fury which outdoes the polititicans of the land.  The "others", as I will refer to them use all sorts of devices to outdo you when it comes to bidding.  The experts use sniping devices - hanging around to the last second to bid - or buying software to snipe for them when they aren't around.

I can't be bothered anymore with this.  I just put my maximum bid in near the end and leave it at that.  If it works it works if not then I have saved myself some money.

I do love my little objects but that is all they are.  They sit there and and I look at them and remark how lovely they are to myself and then walk away.  I am getting to the point that I will only buy something if I really, really want it, which is now rarely.  Anyway, here they are. 

Click once to enlarge photo

Here is one of my cabinets.  It has 4 shelves jam packed with stuff.  I will highlight my collection of kookaburra and other jugs.  These are made by my favourite post war Japanese manufacturer, Marutomoware.  Not all of them are made by Marutomoware but the majority are.

My absolute favourite Marutomoware are the ones with little kookaburras and gum nuts on them.  These are just gorgeous but totally impractical.  I once put water in one jug to put flowers in and it leaked.  As they used to say in the 60's - if it is made in Japan then it was cheap and nasty.  Of course Japanese manufacture has come a long way since then to be taken over by the Chinese.  I haven't come across any Chinese kitsch that I like yet but I am sure the next generation of collectors will find it.

This is another lovely little cabinet.  It is all lead light and totally impractical - just the way I like them.  This cabinet has my little vintage childrens tea sets and Marutomoware juicers and juicers by others that I love.

Top shelf children sea sets middle shelf Nell McCredie tea set

The blue tea set is by Nell McCredie - Australian potter (1901-1968).

The next picture showcases my favourite Marutomoware pieces with the little kookaburras and gum leaves.

I haven't taken a picture of the whole cabinet just that one shelf.  On top of this particular cabinet are examples of my frog jug collection.

Next is my latest (and hopefully) last glass cabinet which actually contains predominantly glass objects.  A lot of this stuff belonged to my Mother and I am very fond of them.

It also has (on the left) more Marutomoware this time honey jars with gorgeous little bees on them, plus a frog and other cruet sets.  The bottom shelf are my Mother's pieces I inherited.

I just had to show you the mirror with the sailing ship on the wall with the sailing ship I got from a $2 shop - I think this was probably made in China, so there goes I do have some modern Chinese kitsch.

MYTHS of GARDENING

There are two myths of gardening.  First myth that gardening is easy.  The second myth that you save money growing your own.

Gardening is not easy.  It is not too difficult either but like all skills it takes time to develop enough knowledge to become a truly good gardener.  If it was so easy why would there be thousands of books written on the subject.  There are many specialties relating to gardening.  Different people and groups specialise in different types of plantings.  For example,  some people are vegetable enthusiasts and others camellias or gardenia's.

The most important thing in gardening is getting to know how to have good soil.  With the right soil you can grow anything.  So people starting out should concentrate on the plot or raised bed that they intend to grow plants in and prepare the soil.  It should be fed with manures and dolomite (if an alkaline soil is necessary), blood and bone, dynamic lifter and one or two manures.  Water this bed well and then mulch the soil using either lucerne  or sugar cane mulch.  I use both but not at the same time.  The mulch then should be well watered otherwise it will soak up all the water in the soil.  Leave this a couple of weeks and then grow plants or vegetables which are easy.

Easy plants are lettuce, silverbeet, beetroot and herbs.  Germinating your own seeds requires a fair bit of attention so I would advise buying seedlings, at first, of lettuce.  Buy the pick and come varieties eg. Baby Cos.   Beetroot have very large seeds so you can sow these where you want them to grow.  Beetroot are great and very generous.  Every seed producers two or three plants so when they are at a size where they are easy to handle you can separate them.  Silverbeet seedlings are good too.  You can keep picking the outside leaves and they seem to deliver forever.

You separate the mulch and pop the seedling in and and draw the mulch back close to the seedling.  Then water well.  The same with herbs.  Some herbs are easy to grow from seed others not.  Rocket grows from seed very easily and once established in the garden will be there forever.  The bees also love the Rocket flowers.  It is good to encourage bees into the garden and to this end poisons should be forbidden.  Continental parsley is also good to grow.  Buy a punnet of seedlings and you will have heaps of little plants.  Once this plant is in the garden it also will self seed if allowed to flower and you will have parsley continually.  I wait for the flower heads to dry and I pull away the seeds and scatter them every where.  Basil, coriander and spring onions grow easily from seed.

Enlarge this photo to see the seed pods developing in the mature spring onions

Once you have some success you will become more willing to experiment further.  Don't forget to fertilise your plants with a seaweed extract to keep them in top condition.  This is just touching on a few things you need to know but probably enough to get you going.

Rocket flowers and seed pods forming along the stem

Spring onions grown from seed

Enlarge photo to see the lemon thyme plant which self seeded next to the tank bed

Myth number two that growing your own is cheaper than buying vegetables.  As you can see from above that it is not cheap to make the soil good.  Fertilisers and mulches all cost money as does the buying of receptacles to make raised beds.   A cheap raised bed is an old plastic bath tub.  I found one of these in a street cleanup and it is a terrific bed.  I dont know how much they are in second hand material places.  I have heavy clay soil so I had to buy soil to fill the raised beds - this isn't cheap either but once you have it you can just keep topping it up with manures.

Punnets of seedlings are an added cost.  Lettuces cost about 45cents a seedling.  This is cheaper than buying one in the supermarket and you dont have to pull the whole thing up to have a salad.  Just pick the outside leaves.  Packets of lettuce seed are cheaper and with a packet of 150 - 250 seeds you can plan succession plantings.   That is growing new seedlings before the lettuces in your garden mature and go to seed.

You also need gardening tools and watering cans and hoses.  These only need to be bought once but the initial layout can be costly.

GROWING YOUR OWN though is not about saving money but about having the freshest vegetables when you need them.  Nothing nicer than going out to the garden and picking lemons, herbs, lettuce, and parsley for dinner or lunch.

PICTURE RAILS

When we moved down to the house in Wollongong we found that we didn't have anywhere to hang our pictures unless we banged holes in a lot of walls.  The previous house we lived in we put up picture rails to solve this problem.  So once more we had to find a reliable person to do the job.  We found him and four years later we decided we needed more and he has come to the rescue once again.

I don't understand why picture rails became unfashionable.  I think they are the perfect hanging solution.  You can double up pictures one under the other just by using longer wires. 

Prints on picture rail.  Pottery by Helen Dunkerley, Avital Sheffer, Peter Cooley and Gunda.

A long time ago I made a lot of pictures.  I made lino and woodblock prints as well as a lot of paintings.  I have now hung a lot of these up as well as my collection of pokerwork doiley holders which also make for a beautiful decoration.  I have included photos to show this.

Pokerwork doiley holders on wall.  Australiana collection in cabinet. Pokerwork vases on top of cabinet

In the glass cabinet above you will see my collection of Australian pottery souvenirs from the 1950's - 1960's.  Mine are mainly aboriginal motifs and Sydney Harbour Bridge motifs.

Cane chair and Pot stand

Cane whatnot.

Cane chair and pokerwork Pot stand.

Later on I will display my other collections.  So stay tuned.

THE WINTER GARDEN

Since the equinox the sun has been slowly climbing into the sky and the garden beds which have been laying dormant and in shadow are slowly being bathed in the new sunlight.

The winter garden has been productive.  I have had a good crop of snow peas, lettuce, spring onions, silverbeet, spinach,  coriander, carrots, beetroot, rocket and parsley.
The snow peas were very successful.  From a limited planting we have a quite a good crop - how delicious are these peas when freshly picked and eaten.

Spinach and Coriander

Last week the seeds arrived in the post from Diggers and along with these and the seeds from last season I look forward to the sowing and planting.

I have three varieties of cucumber.  A pickling variety called Parisian Pickling which are small and knobbly like the ones found in jars in delicatessens.  A Lebanese variety for general eating and an heirloom type called Mexican Sour Gherkin which is a micro sized climbing variety which is supposed to taste both sweet and sour.  The test on this one will be in the tasting.

Two types of lettuce.  A Baby Cos and another called Crispmint.  I hope I can succeed in a succession planting scheme.  I usually buy my lettuce seedling from the man at Wollongong Markets (Patio Plants).  His seedlings are very reliable and you can mix and match what you want.  I will buy my eggplant from him as I usually only need about three or four seedlings for our needs.

I will also be planting a different variety of beetroot called Cylindra which as the name implies is elongated  and good for closer spacing.

If I have room I also want to plant Scarlet Runner beans.  I haven't had great success with beans in the past so I will just try, try again.



In the winter garden the Persimmon is still asleep but will slowly awaken and put forth little buds.

Persimmon and Lavender

The Fuchsias are in bed with the Primulas and the Lobelia.

Primulas in bed with the Fuchsia

Lobelia in bed with the Fuchsia

The work of fertilizing and replenishing
beds will begin in earnest soon and I look forward to all the work.

Guava in wine barrel

Garden looking through Lemon tree

NICKI'S MEATBALLS

Here is another recipe which is easy to make and very versatile.  It can be eaten hot with mash potato or cold as a snack.

500gms of Pork and Veal mince
3/4 cup of breadcrumbs
1 egg
1 large onion grated
2 dessertspoons of oregano (dried)
Lots of parsley
1/2 cup of white vinegar
Pepper and salt to taste

Mix ingredients together and stand in the refrigerator for at least one hour.  This stops the mixture falling apart when being cooked as well as developing the flavours.

Ball up meatballs (I use a tablespoon to make even sized balls) and lightly dust with flour.

Shallow pan fry in a light oil until crisp on the outside.  Not too long.

Drain on paper.  I use a brown paper bag torn open and flattened out.

Eat and enjoy.

Auntie Flora's Chicken Soup

I like things to be simple.  I like even more that my chicken soup is simple.  This is a recipe for chicken soup given to me by my Auntie Flora who is 86 and going strong.  I use this recipe all the time for its simplicity and ease of cooking.  You see I am not a very good cook. 

Auntie Flora said that her mother gave her this recipe and her mother always told her not to add onions to the soup.  I don't add onions and I think that advice is just perfect.

Well here goes:  You require -

1kg of Chicken wings
2 Chicken frames
4 medium carrots (I grew mine)
4 sticks of celery
1 swede
1 parsnip
1 chicken stock cube
10 or 12 peppercorns
Salt to taste
Juice of one lemon
Chopped up parsley
Egg Noodles

Chop up all the vegetables to about the same size - about the vegetables you can use all of the above or use what you like.  Just make sure you include celery and carrot I sometimes include a turnip.

Put chopped vegetables in the bottom of a large pot (see photo).

Put in all the chicken on top of the vegetables.

Fill the pot with water until it covers all the ingredients.  Put the stock cube in and the peppercorns.

Bring the pot to the boil.  Skim off all the scum that rises during this process.  By skimming the pot you clarify the soup.  Putting the chicken on top of the vegetables makes this easier as you aren't rescuing too many veges from the skimmer.  Not only am I an ordinary cook I am also a lazy one.

Put about two dessertspoons of salt into pot.  This may sound a lot but you should have heaps of water in there to dilute it.  If you think this is too much just keep adding salt during the cooking process until it is at your desired level.

Simmer uncovered for at least an hour.

Now the fiddly part.   Let the soup cool for quite a while.  Fish out all the chicken and put the pieces in a bowl to cool further. 

When the chicken pieces are cool take all the meat from the bones and put back in the pot with the chicken broth.  I leave all the gristly bits off but I dont discard the skin.  I enjoy a bit of fat in my soup as I think it increases the flavour.

When you are ready to eat the soup bring the pot back to the boil and add the noodles.  Cook whatever type of noodle you are using for the time required on the packet.  I sometimes use tiny noodles which only take about 4 minutes to thicker noodle taking longer. 

I now add the lemon juice. 

Chicken cooking in large pot

Finished soup - delicious

Serve with chopped parsley sprinkled on top with a lovely bread and cheese.
 

Socrates Cafe - NOWRA

Went to Nowra yesterday for lunch.  Met a friend from Bateman's Bay (as you do).  We were supposed to dine at an Indian Restaurant Kohlis but unfortunately it was closed for lunch.  Lesson learned always check beforehand. 

Nevermind, we ended up at Socrates Cafe - 26 Berry Street - instead.  They have an extensive menu of wraps, salads, soup etc.  At one of the tables we saw this couple having a beautiful mezze plate.  We asked if they made it for 3 people and the man and woman eating theirs said that it is plenty of food for 3 and the waitress agreed.

I am only sorry I didn't take my camera with me to photograph the mezze plate it is quite beautiful.   Little bowls of taramasalata, hummus and garlicky yoghurt dip surrounded by black olives, vine leaves, grilled and pickled beans and zucchini, artichoke hearts, semi-dried tomatoes, pickled small stuffed eggplant halves, mushrooms, grilled haloumi, slices of ham and salami with lovely small triangles of Lebanese bread and bread slices which had been baked with olive oil (I think).  It really was enough for three and delicious.  It was quite salty but I didn't have a raging thirst afterwards.

I didn't drink the coffee so I cant tell you what it was like but the milkshake I shared with my husband was lovely (not too sweet) and served in a chilled milk shake container with two glasses.  My friend had water. 

The service was very friendly and laid back. 

I would recommend this cafe.  Friday nights also look good with different treats liked grilled octopus.  I only wish they were nearer to Wollongong.

THE CAFES AND RESTAURANTS - WOLLONGONG

This is a story of two woes.

Firstly, it must be awfully difficult to run a restaurant or a cafe.  All that organizing, preparation, hiring of loyal honest staff and then cooking the food and hoping that your patrons are satisfied.  So difficult, in fact, that you wonder why so many people go in for it to only provide ordinary food and service.  I think the thing that most people don't understand is that the devil is in the detail.

When we first came down here to live we found a lovely little cafe in the local shopping centre.  This cafe was run by a husband and wife team and sometimes helped by a waitress.  The husband was out front making all the drinks and the wife did all the cooking.  It was delightful.  Simple but really good food and lovely drinks.  I especially loved the mushrooms and fetta cheese served on sourdough bread.  My husband and I always shared a milkshake.  This was served in proper milkshake glasses with a dribble of whatever flavour on the inside of each glass.  The lady of the establishment also put up specials on the blackboard attached to the side wall in the front.  She made beautiful soups in winter and other lovelies during the warmer months.  The place was very well patronized so it wasn't only us who enjoyed what was on offer.

We went to this cafe at least once a week.  Then horror of horrors they sold the business.  It all must have been just too much for them.  The husband went and worked for someone else and the wife became a sales lady.  What a waste.  But who am I to make any judgements on what people want to do.  My husband and I were just sad.

The new owners were a disaster.  We only had to have one lunch with them to know it wasn't going to work.  They bought an established little cafe and all they had to do was provide the same food and service every one was used to.  The milkshake they served was so sweet it was practically undrinkable and the food was stodgy and not made with love.  Patronage dropped off faster than fleas off a dead dog.  They must have known that something was wrong and obviously did nothing to redeem it.  They are still there so I guess they think what they are doing is okay for them.

Woe number two.

Around the same time a new little restaurant opened nearby.  It was run by two people I will call Mary and Al.  Mary was the hostess and Al did the cooking.

It was an Italian themed restaurant and the walls were plastered with huge pictures of Al Pacino.

The food, once again, was simple but well made.  I really enjoyed patronizing the place.  Al made lovely simple food with either vegetables or chips and salad.  My husband especially liked the grilled Barramundi.

My husband was one day riding past the place on his bike and noticed a sign on the door "Closed till further notice".  Once again we were concerned.  He rode past again a few days later and saw Mary inside.  He enquired after her and she just said, "Something bad has happened to Al".  Not being a nosy person (unlike me) he just rode on with no further enquiries and informed me about Al's calamity.  Well, it turned out that Al was a gun runner and he had been arrrested.  All I can say is I hope he does some cooking inside and makes the other inmates happy.

Since then the restaurant has changed hands twice.  As I will repeat ad infinitum the devils is in the detail.  Neither restauranteur has got things right.  If you advertise veal on the menu it had better be veal not yearling.  People can tell the difference.  Also, you should give customers the choice of steamed vegetables or chips and salad at no extra charge.  Not very hard one would think.

I am not a food critic but I know what I like.  I also know everyone is different and what pleases one person does not necessarily please another.  All the above is just my opinion on what I expect and no one elses.  As they say in hospitality industry "Enjoy".

Nan Tien Buddist Temple Wollongong

Winter trees in the gardens

Statues outside Cafe

Carp pond Nan Tien Temple

Carp just visible in pond

Went to the Nan Tien Temple for lunch today.  They have a cafe which serves a really beautiful vegetable curry noodle soup.  It is such a beautiful peaceful place only a short drive from Wollongong city.   They have extensive gardens.  I will post some pictures of a small part of the offerings on hand.  Double click images for a more detailed picture.

"We Come from the Earth, We return to the Earth, In Between We Garden." - Anonymous

What a wonderful sentiment.  If only more of us practiced gardening the world would be a much saner place.  Or would it?  We in the spoiled Western World would probably benefit with more gardeners and less consumers of finite resources.  Plenty of people are forced to garden, in developing nations, just to survive.  I wonder what they would make of the above saying.  It is like the old saying "What's good for the Goose is not necessarily good for the Gander" at least, that is my take on it. 
Just the same I still think gardening is good for you.  You plant things and you know you only have so much control over what they develop into.  Success is sweeter when you  manage to harvest something - especially when you know that all you did was plant it, water it, fertilise it and then wait and see what nature brings to the table. 

A Look Around The Garden

Chilies

Beetroot in raised bed - Johnny Jump Ups just visible on the left

Snow Peas in dappled morning light

General view of small part of the garden

Went out this morning and took some photos of some of the things growing in the garden.  I have chilies in a half wine barrel.  Snow peas climbing up a small shed.  Beetroot in a raised garden bed and a general shot of a messy patch with rocket and weeds.

You don't realise what you have until you start taking stock.  Lettuce here spring onions there.  Lemons in the backyard and limes in the front yard.  I love it all.  Click on Photos for a magnified picture.

Johnny Jump Ups

The viola tri-colour or "Heartease " also known as Johnny Jump Ups because of their wonderful habit of self seeding and growing in unexpected places are a wonderful addition to any garden.  You can crystallise the flowers and use them as cake decorations so they also have a function inside the kitchen as well as decorating the garden.

Beside the raised garden bed

I love to see them popping up beside the raised garden beds and also amongst the vegetables.  They even appear after you have added extra nutrients to the soil and turned the bed over.  There is no deterring them. 

Dance of the Bees

Bee at work amongst basil flowers click on photo

What wonderful creatures the bees are.  What other creature gives more than it takes.  Tirelessly they work all day to fertilize and take home the fruits of their labours to the hive.  Whole populations of humans would collapse without their endeavors.  Crop failures and starvation would ensue their demise.  Yet these little creatures are in danger.  Hive failures are endemic in the USA.  Overpopulation and environmental pressures will not help their cause.
Growing bee loving plants is the best we can do on an individual level and hope that humans wake up before it is too late.

Frog Spawn

Tadpoles growing bigger click on photo

Spawn in centre front - little tadpoles lying still

As you can see I have taken out frog spawn from the pond and have spawn and small tadpoles which have hatched out of the black eggs.  The challenge now is to see how big I can grow them before putting them back in the main pond.  I have done this several times before and the small tadpoles have disappeared.  So if I can get them larger this time they may stand a chance at survival.  If only I knew what is wrong. 

There are so many of them and more to come.  I might try and use different vessels so they don't become too overcrowded.

Trials and Tribulations

What a joy the garden is.  Even with all the trials and tribulations of failed crops, seeds and pilfering by the wildlife.

I love to walk around and see plants sprouting from last years crop without any help from me.  All the eggplants this year grew this way.   I remember digging in damaged eggplants and up sprouted the seedlings a year later.  Johnny Jump Ups are the same.  They just love to spread their seed around.   You find them sprouting in all sorts of little corners in the garden.  I  have planted Forget Me Nots.  They haven't flowered yet but when they do they will also present me with little surprises later.

I also love to watch the spring onions pop their little heads through the soil.  They seem to take a while to take off but when they do they are a delicious addition to our salads and stir-frys.  Spring onions grow the most wonderful flower head which is full of seed.  I pick these and let them dry and I then have enough seed for next spring.

Silverbeet, coriander and thyme also love to spread themselves around.  I hate to disturb them to plant new seedlings, but the practicalities of garden life take over and I do plant around them.  Rocket also lives up to its name and I wouldn't have planted a seed of the three varieties in the garden which grow everywhere.

Why doesn't everybody have a garden?   What's not to love about them?  They are good for the soul and the environment.   What is better than a bowl of salad leaves picked fresh from the garden, put in bowl and eaten within an hour of harvesting?

It is now Autumn and the garden still loves the lettuces, chilies, beetroots and parsley.  My Alpine Strawberries are flowering and I am waiting for the little fruit to colour to taste my first one.

Frog Pond

Original fibre glass pond

Now with plants fully grown

A couple of years ago we visited an open house permaculture garden in Port Kemba.  This was where we got the inspiration to replace the lawn with woodchips.  The people who lived here were modern day hippies.  It was a lovely garden.  Chickens in a huge run.  Garden beds everywhere and a frog pond which was a huge garden urn filled with the run off from a water tank.  The urn had fish to eat mosquitoes, tadpoles and water lilys.  The house up from theirs was the same with no fence between them.  This no boundary between the two houses made for more possibilities to garden and share resources.  An idea which would be totally foreign where we lived.

We went home and decided that the fibre glass in ground fish pond which was left by the previous owners would be perfect to put in the ground to make a frog pond.  This in ground pond was previously in a shed up the back which we fixed up for the chickens.  What its purpose was in the shed was a mystery to us.  We had seen a couple of frogs around the garden but they were a rare sighting.  As rare as our sightings of the blue tongue lizard are.  We see this lovely creature every now and then and wouldn't have a clue where it resides.  Every time we think it has disappeared for good it makes a brief appearance.

Back to the frog pond.  We dug a hole deep enough for it to be level when filled with water.  We surrounded the fibre glass edges with sandstone rocks.  Planted native grasses around it.  Filled it with rainwater and put in white cloud minnows which we purchased from the local indoor fish man.  [When I can work out how to put up photos on this blog I will put before and after pictures.] 

Then we waited, and waited and waited.  No frog noises.  We kept on waiting as we could do nothing else.  It is not advisable to bring in frog spawn from anywhere else as only the local frogs native to the area are recommended.

One night, many months later, we heard the frog.

One morning there was frog spawn in the pond.

Then tadpoles.

The tadpoles grew and grew and we sighted a couple of small frogs around the pond.

The white cloud minnows were multiplying and the frogs kept mating.  All was rosy in the frog pond until this year.

There has been plenty of spawn but not a tadpole in sight.  I have even taken the spawn out of the pond and waited for the tadpoles to hatch and grow some before I put them back in the pond only to disappear also.  I don't know what is wrong.  I have taken half the minnows out and given them to my son in case they were eating them.  I asked the aquarium man if he had heard of the minnows eating spawn and tadpoles and he said in the 20 years he has been selling fish it is new to him.

I have searched the net to no avail.  Once more I have a problem on my hand.  The good news is that the minnows are very happy and the pond is looking really beautiful now the grasses have matured and hang over the pond giving the necessary shade in summer.

Misanthrope Encounters Facebook

Well I have done it.  I have joined the facebook brigade.  I resisted as long as I could but was overwhelmed by my frustration to contact a wonderful alpine strawberry site and its owner Michael Wellik.

For those who want to read heaps about these wonderful fruit go to www.fraisesdesbois.com/. 

I have been having problems with germination of the seeds.  They germinate and grow one true leaf and then stop.  You need at least 3 true leaves to up-pot.  Just another catch 22 in the life of a strawberry grower.  I don't know if it's the weather or just "white soul" the strawberry in question, or the seed raising mixture or what? 

Awaiting Michael's comments on the matter.  Will let you know of any further developments.

Concrete and Grass

There they go.  The high whine of the mower, the scream of the whipper snipper and the howl of the leaf blower.

I live in a community of lawn and concrete obsessed neighbours.  No gardens just huge lawns or lawn with pool with another noisy pool pump to contend with.  I don't want to complain as I came from the inner city which is supposed to be the epitome of the concrete jungle to a coastal town with houses on large blocks.  All I wanted was a garden to grow vegetables and flowers and try to do my bit for the planet.  No such luck.
This isn't to say that all the people who live here are like the obsessed above but a huge majority are.

My husband and I have practically removed all the lawn from our place.  We replaced it with newspapers covered with woodchips.  It is so much easier.  I leave the front verge - quite frankly I don't care if it gets mowed or not.  It amazes me how the people all get out there and not only mow but they also marshall the edges into straight lines.  Like buses they all seem to do the lawn at the same time.  If one mower starts it seems to signal a reaction in all the other lawn obsessed people.  One then another.  You may as well retire to your bedroom for some peace for the rest of the day.  When my front verge has reached about 7 centimeters in height my dear neighbour comes out and mows his and mine at the same time.  He then thoughtfully dumps the cut grass under my lime tree.  We feel bad about his generosity and give him a couple of beers for his trouble but if he didn't do it I would ignore the verge altogether.

The house on the other side of our house is a rental property.  It used to have a beautiful Tibouchina tree on the side of the house hiding a pretty ugly fibro wall.  The house had just become vacant again and the Tibouchina along with a few other shrubs were hacked down.  I cannot even fathom the reasoning behind this.  The tree was only of medium height and had the most beautiful purple flowers.  There is now only a bare wall of no particular distinction.  It was a barbaric act from people who don't understand their place in the universe (at least, as far as I'm concerned).

Oh well I have now got all that off my chest and honestly it doesn't make me feel better.  No one will ever care until the sky falls in.

Persimmon and Parrots

When we bought this house there were two redeeming features in the backyard.  These were two trees.  One large tree which shades the chook house and the shed.  To date I do not know what species this is.  It drops its leaves in autumn and it growns this strange fruit which forms a hard nut like feature.  These drop all over the backyard and into the frog pond we set up.  The other tree was an astringent persimmon.

So far the persimmon has flowered and produced fruit every year but one.  Every year, except this year, the fruit is sweet and juicy.  The rains this year waterlogged the fruit and took away a lot of the sweetness.

Previously I have devised a fool proof method of harvesting the persimmon before the parrots and fruit fly can attack them.  I pick them just as they begin to colour.  These fruit ripen indoors quite nicely.  For anyone who doesn't know, the astringent variety has to be eaten when it is fully ripe and soft.  The hard variety of persimmon are eaten hard like an apple.  This year as the fruit ripened indoors it became slushy and I put this down to the rains.  Be this as it may it does not stop the parrots loving them.  The bite out huge chunks and leave the rest on the tree.  Eventually these drop to the ground and other birds come and eat the leftovers.

We have many parrots around here.  The Rosellas and another plain species of parrot seem to like the persimmon best.  The Rainbow Lorikeets love the plums in spring and ignore the persimmon and the beautiful Sulpur Crested Cockatoos just sit majestically in the gum tree surveying all below them until they decide to fly in a great formation making a tremendous squawking noise which drowns out all other sounds.

The Chickens

When we first moved down to Wollongong I was mad keen to have chickens, water tanks and solar power.  I did heaps of research on the chickens and decided in my snobbishness not to have Asa Browns but to get a much more exotic breed.  I decided on bantam Langshams.  These are a beautiful black bird with feathery feet.  I bought four of them from someone up the coast through the internet.  We had to drive miles down the coast to Gerringong pick them up from the breeders friends.  Well this was the easy part.

I had a lovely large pen for them which could be locked and then another outside area fenced around the pen.  Being the champion of free range I decided that the chickens could roam around the yard all day.  They loved it of course.  Especially, digging up all my garden beds.  To protect these I went to all the trouble and expense of buying netting and netting each bed.  After a time it became a nightmare.  They would get under the netting and dig huge holes to have sand baths in.  Nothing abnormal about that all good natural chicken behavior.  I used to get lovely eggs from them as a reward for all this damage.  Beautiful small delicious eggs.

One day one of the chickens was found dead in the pen.  It was one of the best producers so no known reason why - just life.  Another got very sick and I couldn't bear to kill her and eventually she died too.  Both are buried in the garden next to the paw paw tree where I hope they may be of some use.

I also took them to the vets twice for mites in the feet.  All in all I had the most expensive free range eggs in the world.  I wouldn't swap them though for the barn laid variety.

I now have two bantams locked in their enclosed area.  They don't seem unhappy they just won't talk to me.  Won't come near me with a barge pole.  They are fed and watered like royalty all to no avail.  At the moment we haven't had an egg in yonks.  One of the gels got broody, therefore no eggs for weeks and weeks and the other stopped laying also to moult.  It is supposedly biologically impossible to lay whilst moulting.  Everyday I talk to them, feed them and water them, and everyday they treat me like a chicken's worst nightmare.

I also cannot get any new chickens.  My son bought down some Asa Browns for my other son living down here near me.  I put these in the pen with the Langshams  and all hell broke loose.  The Asa Browns are twice the size of my chickens but the dominant Langsham had them all corralled in the cardboard box they came down in.

I thought I would try to keep one of the Asa's but the poor creature was hen pecked and humiliated all day long.  I caught her and took her to the other three hens at my son's place.  Well if people think chickens don't talk to each other then they have another think coming.  The other three chickens surrounded her and they cooed and cawed at each other.  I swear the Asa from my place was telling the other three what a dreadful time she had just experienced and the others were commiserating with her.

Well I have to get my eggs from the Asa Browns whilst my chickens are on strike.

Getting started

2nd Stage Seedlings

In larger pot and now flowering

A few years ago I moved from Newtown to Wollongong.  One of the main motivations was to be near my grandchildren the other was to start an organic garden.  Of course, as you gardeners out there know, nothing is as simple as it sounds.  For one, the soil was a heavy clay.  To solve this I put in raised beds made of an old round water tank cut into three.  I swapped this with a man who took away fencing on my property.  I think he got the better deal.  The tanks had very sharp edges so I had to pay someone to round off all the edges to make them safe.  Suffice to say I now have a number of raised beds.  The only bed I didn't have in a raised device was a straw bale bed right up the back.  I filled this with dirt and after one season of growing weird stuff and good stuff like cucumbers I decided it would be my strawberry patch.

This patch has been going for a few years now.  I got the original plants from Diggers.

The sweetest strawberry I have tasted so far in my life is the Hokowase.  This is an everbearer which puts out runners.  It is wonderful because you can pick it when it just starts to turn red before the skinks, birds and other creatures sample it's delicousness before you can get to it.  I don't mind sharing and will often pick a fruit with a chunk out of it and cut this section off and eat it anyway.  The reason I talk about the Hokowase is because I am now going on a different strawberry adventure.  I haven't abandoned it I am just deviating onto a different path.

The path I am taking is the Fraise des Bois or Alpine Strawberry.  I have heard it is sweeter than the Hokowase but this wont be known until I get my first fruit.

I love this adventure because I am growing all these plants from seed.  It is quite a challenge as germination is often difficult.  So far I have been successful with Yates' alpine strawberry which doesn't seem to have an intriguing name as others I have germinated.   My first Yates strawberries have been germinated, repotted to a larger pot and repotted on to an even larger receptacle.  My first flowers have appeared but as yet no fruit.  I have planted these in an acid environment as this is recommended by those much wiser than me.  I use a gardenia and azalea potting mix.  So far this is working a treat.

The other Alpines I am experimenting with are Ali Baba (second stage potting), White Soul still in germination tray and Baron Solemacher which has proven a dismal failure so far.  I have been buying this seed on Ebay.  Will let you know of my progress with these.