arid (ar′id, er′-)
adjective
lacking enough water for things to grow; dry and barren
not interesting; lifeless; dull
This dictionary meaning is spot on in it's desciption of where we live.
The yearly average rainfall for this district is only 220mm.
Today I was busy getting the vegie garden up and growing. We bought some seedlings and moo poo and have put them in the vegie garden. I purchased some strawberries which will be grown in pots, butternut pumpkin (although I am not sure if it is the right season for them), some apple cucumbers, green capsicum, silverbeet and tomorrow I hope to get some zucchini.
Last year we didn't have great success so hopefully this year is better. We have rainwater in storage so this is what I will use on the garden.
This is the tomato plot, I have planted seven self-seeded tomatoes and if they all take off I will be busy making sauce and relish. Since planting these this morning I have added some basil seedlings between the tomato plants. I have been told this helps to keep bugs at bay, so we will have to wait and see. I have put lucerne hay leftovers from my daughter's horses on top for mulch.
One of the tomato plants.
At last the wild peaches (quandongs) are ready. I have been picking them over the past few days and am hoping to get enough for at least one pie. I shall get busy cutting these up tomorrow.
This is our first crop we have picked off our home grown trees, these take about 5 years before they fruit from seed.
The seed looks like this. We throw these back into the yard near a host plant and wait for them to rot and grow. There are plenty of young seedlings scattered all over our property. They tend to shoot after a good rain.
This is how I cut them up and remove the seed. They can be dried or stewed, and can also be made into jam and chutney.
The weather was 24 degrees Celcuis today with glorious sunshine. Tomorrow is expected to be 27. Wonder if there will be more wind?
Sending you all my best wishes,
Tania
Hi Tania,
ReplyDeleteIt was funny yesterday. I went to my hometown and was sitting on a second storey looking at how many people still had a dirty car. It seems they got the dirt too. Mine was in the carport and I didn't realise it was dirty until I went to drive it. I think the house walls are dirty too.
Pumpkins can be planted the same time as tomatoes etc.
It was so interesting about the quandongs. The pie sounds very special. Did you grow your tree from seedlings? It is great that you have fruit now. They seemed to ripen very quickly.
I was also thinking of our vegie patch this week. The tomato seeds are waiting.....
ReplyDeleteYes Linda, the quandong trees we have all came up from seeds we threw in the bush surround. And yes, once the weather hots up they do ripen quickly. I have made pies from the lot shown and there is probably that amount again, maybe more, still on the tree ripening.
ReplyDelete