out in the garden

Hello friends,

The veggie patch is doing really well with the plants loving the new structure, soil and rain water on tap.

Hubby has been doing pipework.

There are heaps of flowers on the tomatoes. Not sure if they will set because of the heat we are having at the moment. There is fruit already on the plants so that is good.  Apparently the heat will slow the ripening though as the plant conserves energy.

I have picked one zucchini and there are others growing nicely.

I have a couple of capsicums already although the plants are quite small. One of the plants suffered with the heat and I am not sure if it will be okay. It is still alive at this stage.

Beetroot.

The rhubarb is growing slowly.

These are rogue plants.  I thought they were cucumbers, but now thinking they may be pumpkins. I will need to wait and see J

Also some rogue eggplants have popped up.

The silver beet is mostly for the chooks, as there is no green around for them to eat.

The other young capsicum seedlings have finally started to grow.

Baby spinach is not doing so well.  I think it may not be a summer plant.

The potato is struggling with the heat but is still alive, I think I will move it under better shade.

  

Delicious sweet tommy toes.

Do you pick the tiny zucchinis that don't pollinate? I do. I put them into my cooking rather than go to waste. We have been enjoying yummy zucchini bread lately.

We have grapes! Hopefully I can beat the birds to them. We might have to put net over them this year.

Figs.

The mandarin tree has had the big chop! It was getting so huge and laden with so much fruit that the branches were snapping.  I froze a heap of mandarin juice this year and we are still enjoying it with our breakfast in the mornings. You can see my compost bins in this picture.I have put a bowl in the top of the blue one with water for the birds and wildlife.

Our nectarine tree has fruit again.  We chopped it back a couple of seasons ago and it was set back a little but now it is producing again. I don't know if we will get any of the fruit as the hungry birds are helping themselves. First time in all the years we have lived here. There is not much native fruit and feed around because of the drought so they are coming in to see what I have on offer.

The limbs from the mandarin tree, these are going to be mulched and put around the trees.

Recently I re-potted these dragon fruit.  I am so pleased they have finally sent out new shoots but it seemed to take for ever. I thought I may have put them in the soil upside down (oops), but it appears not. I got these cuttings from a grow free cart in town.  I have two more in smaller pots and I am waiting for them to shoot.

  
I have brought the pot plants in from the veggie patch as it is just too hot to leave them there. The soil in the pots dries out so fast. I don't know what I am going to do with all the tomato plants that have come up by themselves. I have so many already!

My son has a large fig tree in his yard and he is going to pull it down to build a shed. So last year I took a piece and plonked it in a pot and thankfully it has taken off. I also gave mum a couple of pieces and they are growing well too.

I couldn't resist taking this photo of a succulent that grew from one little leaf.  They are truly amazing plants and grow oh so well.

Not a good picture, or garden related, but I went for a walk last night just before dark and this is what I saw when I walked out our driveway. There was a mother kangaroo and her joey munching on the couch grass out the front. Hope they don't get hit by traffic as they are quite friendly and come in for water that I put down for them. The male that used to accompany them sadly died from being hit, we found him dead one morning on the road L

And this was the sky when I turned for home. It was a beautiful sight!

So today is 45C (113F) and this is how the veggie garden looks.  Back to tent city! We have had extreme hot weather this summer with temperatures mostly in the 40's. Last week we were the hottest in the South Australia at 47C (116F)! And to top it off we had two days in a row with these horrible temperatures. The second of those days was extremely windy and the hot wind is what will burn the plants quickly and contribute to bushfires getting going. Luckily there were no significant fires that day. It was already 35C at 9am this morning. It is going to be a long day....

Today will mostly be spent inside except when I go outside to check on things in the heat.  Usually it will be at lunch time and mid afternoon as that is the hottest part of the day. I have laid water all around our block for the wildlife and watered and shaded everything I can. 

On the upside, I will get to do this blog post and I might just get started with sorting out some of my clutter! The pantry needs tidying after all the Christmas activity. I may even get to do some craft work!

Have a great day everyone, and keep cool or warm where ever you live on this beautiful earth.

See you soon,
xTania