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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Friday, July 17, 2015

Out the Back


It's bonfire time!

Cleaning Power lines time.


Weed pulling time.
They are out of control. With all the rain we have had, the weeds are flourishing.
I am picking greens for the chooks trying to keep them down.

 I had some help the other day.

All that green makes nice yellow yoked eggs.


 I have picked 71kg of mandarins so far this season.  
This is what is still on the tree, probably the same amount again!

Our grapefruit tree always produces well.
Although not a favourite fruit of ours it is great blended in with our mandarin juice in the mornings.

Things are quiet this time of year in the veggie garden.
This is the kale leftover from last season. It is looking a bit shabby, and there are weeds all around...

However, the kale in the barrel is looking healthy.

As is the garlic.

The nettles are growing really well and taking over the veggie garden.  Time to find a use for this plant I think. Maybe some herbal tea?

Some potato plants.  
So far I have managed to protect them from the frosts.

 Same with the capsicum.  Although small, they are still producing and they are so juicy. They never make it inside, I devour them out in the garden J

I am still getting the odd tomato.


Spring onions and weeds!!

This little wild daisy plant has been flowering for months. The tough and hardy little thing grows in the gravel in our back yard.

Bird of paradise.

Succulents are flowering this time of year.



 Could Spring be not far away?  The Geraldton Wax is preparing to put on a show.

 Not sure of the name of this native bush.

 Its flowers are gorgeous.

I am surprised by this little wild peach tree (quandong).  It has fruit ripening already. Usually this happens in September, so this must be an early variety.

Our shed is almost done. Yes it has been over twelve months now lol!
The structure is up.  Next the guttering goes on then the cement floor will be put in.  Once the guttering is completed we are getting two more rain water tanks for storage. These will go down the side of the shed.

And to finish off with one of our pretty sunsets from a few days ago.

It has been so cold here this Winter, its been quite a shock to have to rug up so much. The fire has been on for weeks.
Even parts of Australia are getting snow in areas that don't usually get it. What is going on with the weather?

Have you had snow where you live? 



22 comments:

  1. Yup your bonfire looks very warm lol your garden is going gang busters. Good on you. It's really really cold here in South East Victoria. The winds are coming straight off the Antarctic. Hopefully spring will be here soon. All signs point to it so I'm just waiting. Stay warm

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    1. Freezing winds here too Angela. We haven't been above 14C for days! Brrr!

      xTania

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  2. Hi Tania, no snow here! Although is is freezing. Lucky you getting some lovely rain, we are hoping for some over the weekend. That is an amazing amount of fruit from your mandarin tree, should keep you healthy with all that vitamin c! The sunsets have been beautiful, enjoy your weekend :)

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    1. Hi Sharon,

      Yes we are definitely getting our dose of Vitamin C, haven't been sick yet, so fingers crossed we get through Winter unscathed.

      Thanks for visiting and letting me know you were here.

      xTania

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  3. Now that is one big arse shed! What man wouldnt be happy to have one of those. Worth the wait, i reckon (she says with a piece of wheat hanging out the side of the mouth like a ciggie).

    I love the photo of your free ranging chookies. Fence them in i say and let them do the work.

    On River Cottage Australia, Paul made a pesto out of the nettles, first cooking them to remove the sting. You can go on their web site for recipes.

    Cheers from a freezing Melbourne.

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    1. I know Lynda! How big of a shed does one man need? It is bigger than my house!

      Yes the chooks do a great job on the weeds. We lost a few last year to a fox so we are not game to let them out unsupervised.

      Thank you for the nettle information, I will go check out the River Cottage website. I don't get to watch it as we haven't got pay TV.

      The weather is not getting any warmer here, so you are in for some more freezing days.

      xTania

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  4. No snow, but freezing! Hasn't got above 6 degrees or so for the past week. I haven't been doing much outside this week! So envious of all your citrus - that is fantastic. Pretty sure that plant is a spider grevillea - they look great in native flower arrangements. We really have to burn our bonfire piles. They are absolutely enormous and I can't do any fencing or garden bed building until they are gone. Bit scared about lighting them though, as they are just so huge.

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    1. Gee whiz Jayne, that is cold. I have been whinging about 13C, that's a heatwave compared with your temperature....Brrr!

      Thank you for naming the grevillea, I should know the name, but it escaped me. Might bring some inside to display.

      I have to agree about the size of bonfires. I stay inside, away from it all.

      xTania

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  5. Stop right there at the grapefruit and mandarins! I am so jealous. I would so love to juice fresh picked fruit like that. I've been seeing the Oz snow from fb friends. On the other hand we aren't having a warm summer in UK either. We had a week of 33c then down to 19 now creeping up to mid twenties again

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    1. Hi Anna, thanks for dropping by.

      The weather has been so weird this year. We hardly had a Summer either and now we are freezing through Winter, when usually it is mild.

      xTania

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  6. Tania, our last two winters here in the Blue Ridge mountains of Georgia have been very severe. Temperatures way lower than normal. I don't know why.

    As always you have quite a cornucopia of good food from your own garden and trees. Some of it, I have not heard of before but it all looks good.

    More lizard pictures!

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  7. Hi there Harry, its nice to hear from you.

    The lizards like us are in hibernation at the moment. Come the warm weather there will be more pics for you :)

    Sounds like it it hot where you are, so stay cool my friend.

    xTania

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  8. Tania, it snowed yesterday at Stanthorpe about a two hour drive from here. Talk about freezing! I asked Racheal today at our simple living group how she made her nettle soap and she said she dried it, then crushed it before adding at trace. I will give this a try too. I might also see if I can infuse it into olive oil to use in soap.

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    1. I saw on the news that Qld had snow, how unusual is that? I bet it was freezing for you folk up there.

      Stinging nettle soap sounds good Nanna Chel. If you make it I would like to know how it went.

      xTania

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  9. Dear Tania, that is an amazing Mandarin tree!
    I have heard of making a tea of the nettles ie a liquid fertiliser for the garden like you would with comfrey. It has tons of nutrients. Also Jess on Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth dries it for herbal tea mixes.
    I love the photos of your chooks having such a great time!
    I agree we did not have proper summer, no heatwave even, and winter is really the coldest I remember in a long time! Really feeling it!
    Your pictures are great. I love a good bonfire! With love, Annabel.xxx

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    1. Dear Annabel,

      Thank you for telling me about Jess's blog and the herbal teas. I will take a look Apparently nettle tea is good for you if consumed. Good for joints etc I think, will have to research that further.

      Last year I used the nettles to make a "tea" for the garden. It worked really well, so will do it again this year. I have also dug them straight into the soil for added nutrients.

      xTania


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  10. You have so much going on in your garden, even during thus dormant time. I love that native plant too, so pretty and unique. Its been cold down south too, having been 10-12C max for the past week but I don't mind. It is still better than frizzling in summer! :)

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    1. I have been watching your weather down there Joolz! We haven't been above 14C for the last week or so. I don't mind the cold, but I do not like the sickies that go around this time of year. Wish it could be Autumn all year round, I would be very happy then :)

      xTania

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  11. Hens among the weeds - they look so happy.

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  12. Can't believe how many mandarin's you got off the tree. Your gardens are very productive. Stinking hot over here!

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  13. Love your array of photos describing the happenings in your lovely neck of the woods...we have it cold too in Sydney...sunshiny days but a cold wind.
    Love those mandarins AND they look so cheerful on the tree
    Thanks for sharing
    Alexa-asimplelife visiting from Sydney, Australia

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Your comments really make my day. Thank you for taking the time and for being so kind.