Rhubarb and Rabbits

I thought I would post an update on a previous post from this year on the Rhubarb. I moved from a pot where it was doing badly and really not growing at all. I transplanted it and it had no leaves at all on it was just starting to sprout really and now only 6 weeks later it is huge!! One exciting thing is that it's literally 2 feet from where the chickens sleep at night and I wonder if perhaps the manure is playing a part of the health of it. I like to think so, fortunately the wire is small and the chooks will never be able to get their beaks through to peck at it!

We also transplanted a huge Elderberry which snapped at the base in the process and I wondered firstly whether it would even transplant at all and secondly how well it would grow once broken. Well both parts planted in different parts of the garden are growing well and now Spring is here the are both shooting lots of leaves, very excited about that!

I other news, we have new kits all pretty much sold the lovely Chocolates and Lilac colours go quickly have included a picture though as they are gorgeous, kits always means loads of readily available manure for the garden so that is super especially when so much is about to flower and the fruit trees are about the get leaves. In very surprising news after a good 6 weeks we found our beloved Pepa the free ranging rabbit! After advertising over the radio and at the Milk bar he was found only 2 doors up the road where the owners had caged him as they are right into self sustainability too however they were going to eat him! We brought him home after quibling with he owner that he was actually mine and now unfortunetly he will have to remain caged, he did live inside again for a bit and slept in my room and totally demolished my fairy light cord he is now outside again! Tomorrow we will buy a couple of really large new cages from Melbourne and he will be housed out the front where I can get to him easily and bring him in at night for cuddles and he can go out once we go to bed.

Our Backyard Blitz!

Over this Fathers day weekend we decided that too much dust was coming onto the veranda and completely coating everything and mostly responsible for this was the dogs running around in area large made up of dirt. They had their kennels in this area which is partially undercover but considering they mostly sleep on their hessian stand beds which are undercover I wasn't too worried about shifting the location of their beds and turning the whole area into a herb and garden patch. We had previously fenced on an area near the chooks so I knew I was able to build a good enough fence to keep the dogs out.

In the area I planted Boronia, Geraldton Wax Flowers, Lemon Balm, Paper daisy's, Bay Tree, Comfrey, Feverfew, Coriander, and Marjoram. Some things I just transplanted from other parts of the garden, also brought a water plant for the pond pot and will get some goldfish too accompany it tomorrow. I am really pleased with the result, it was my sons idea to add a table and chairs from an overgrown and unused part of the garden and with some solar lights and a few ornaments from the garden it looks professionally landscaped, so easy to do and so much fun! Please enjoy the before and after pictures!

Soap and Blossom

Recently I made some soap and some of my blog readers will already know the recipe it's just your basic coconut oil, olive oil, caustic soda, beeswax and essential oils, you need the perfect temperature for the making and it involves loads of stirring.

I didn't actually keep the flyer with the recipe as once the caustic soda was explained to me I decided I would rather pay for someone else to make the soap than risk scaring on my lungs from breathing that stuff - totally no proof that happens just my overactive imagination going on overdrive, and acid burns from any spillage! I also can't see myself having the patience to be doing all that stirring as the soap melts the beeswax took ages! I now know of 2 friends who have made some soap and it looks fantastic! So anyway here is a picture of my soap some 6 weeks later when I remember it was curing in the shed I was supposed to remove it from the milk carton well before this but totally forgot about it. It still can't be used until Spring as I found it all today I thought I would post photo's and I have total admiration for anyone who makes this stuff! I would buy it off anyone rather than use the rubbish they sell at the shops. I have seen it at some craft markets and considering all the effort that goes into it they sell it at a really good price.

Also seen the Spring Cherry blossoms are starting to come on the trees on the street trees so picked some for my meditation room. I love flowers especially blossom, such delicate little flowers and they are truly on the trees for about 1 week before the August winds will blow them all away. I also have a bedroom full of Daphne at the moment and this would have to be my favorite plant, I have recently brought 2 more bushes for the side of the yard, hope they grow well there!

Fruit tree maintenance

I have a few fruit trees in the paddock at the rear of our block, well 2 Plum trees, 2 Apple, a Lemon a Lime, 2 Pear Trees, 2 Apricot and 1 Nectarine - the other died. So 11 in total, and the all need to be weeded every year around Spring time. I decided to get in early this year and weed during the Winter, as the soil would be wetter and in theory the weeds easier to pull.

Its hard work as the paddock pretty much doesn't get mowed near those fruit trees and the grass by Spring is waist high. Some of the weeds needed the Folk but most with pure Sue aggression were tugged from that ground shaken and thrown into the chicken pen. The pile has been high, the chickens have been busy fossicking for worms and eating the greenest leaves. I re-use all my rabbit wood shavings and of course there is the bonus of their poo being mixed in and I spread it all around the trees, I am hoping with all that rabbit urine it isn't going to be too strong for the trees, but so far the ones I did last month have no new weeds coming though and with luck they will be getting nutrients from the manure for a nice Spring fruit crop!

My pictures are in reverse the bottom one is the unweeded, then weeded then mulched, sorry about that order, blogspot must be having a bad hair day!!

Potatoes and the Veggie Plot.

Last weekend I planted some Desiree Potato's and thought I would share the pictures, I brought 10 potatoes and were able to cut the tubers in half some into 1/4's to make around 40 tubers to plant. Its always important to buy the virus free seed, usually easily obtainable from your local nursery. I had a gift voucher from my birthday so even cheaper I didn't have to pay a cent!! The total cost would have been around $8 though and I anticipate getting over 150 potatoes in total, just a guess though, we did do so well with the potato's last year I thought it needed to be done again although this time we have chosen to plant them in a wine barrell and some smaller pots, I really hope that works alright as if will definantly get drier in Summer, I plan to mulch with some pea straw though as a back up.

Although have taken some pictures of the rest of the veggie garden, the rocket is very slow, no idea why it always grows so well in the veggie beds, it's over further to the East in a old trough and it's possibly not getting quiet as much sun as when in the veggie bed. The Spinach is also a bit slow and the Cress and it's the same deal also planted in a similar spot. The Broccoli is getting there, and looking forward to getting a good crop of that, and the onions are looking healthy too.

A new fence and Lemons!

I can't believe it's actually nearly August and Ive blogged so little this year! Its been such a busy year with my youngest going off to school and now having all 3 boys at Primary School for 1 year until the eldest moves onto high school next year I actually thought I would have a ton more time and get out into the garden more!!!

I also work part time as a Remedial Massage Therapist and work did manage to get a little busier then dropped off again about a month ago, my husband as well as working full time as a Firefighter also runs a web based business selling weather meters and other safety and fire gear and needed an Admin person to help him out after 9 years in the business, the past few have taken off and he's super busy so I am now helping him out, helping at the school in my youngest childs class listening to the preps read, and caring for 2 new litters in the Rabbitry with 11 kits in total and consequently little gardening has been done!

I did however manage to get into the garden this weekend with the lovely weather and managed to plant some daffodils, Freesia's, Ranancula's - those things remind me of teeny spiders and some Hyacinths all over the garden, 25 tulips in pots that have been chilling in the crisper for the past 2 weeks, some were starting to go a bit mouldy so not so sure about their ability for flowering, built a fence to utilise a garden bed in front of the chook yard, this bed the dogs were jumping on and the wire covering the chooks window was getting bent so it needed a plan and I figured why not use the bed! I moved some Rhubarb out of a large pot where is never seemed to do any good into the bed 3 large corms and then planted some Broccoli (a punnets worth) around the Rhubarb as these two are companion plants. Then we built a super study fence from some old wire we had lying around to contain my free ranging rabbit Pepa.

On that note and we never did get that wire up against the front fence Pepa has now been missing for 3 weeks, we are sad he is gone for sure but I am also glad we let him roam for 3 years after all he really hated being caged and had a great life even though by our standards it was short.

Also planted a few packets of sweet peas and a couple of Daphne plants - yes I love scents!

I noticed also this weekend that finally we have a few Lemons on the tree - oh joy I think I have been waiting about 4 years!! I have also got some distorted and claw like Lemons which means there is a mite on the tree damaging the buds as they form although I am still going to eat the lemons though, should still be able to use some of it.

May 2011 - The Veggie Garden-Cottage Garden

Well finally after carting over tons of Horse manure from a neighbour, adding gypsum and cow manure and a dash of rabbit poo and then letting the rain do it's job, more turning and breaking down the horse manure - someone please remind me to mow the darn stuff first to make it little more fine and workable next time I do this!!!
It's ready! One more rake over with he metal rake and ready for planting, all aligned with the moon planting guide all set!

Ive planted some red onions a couple of weeks ago for this season as they did well last year, Carrots, Turnips a special thin sort though more like a Carrot, a red Turnip also long and thin, Broccoli, loads of it, Rocket, Cress, gourmet Lettuce and some White Pak Choy and snow pea's. Many have been planted as seeds so won't see much action for awhile in this cold weather.

Also planted a few Polyunthus flowers for the front and need to plant up some pansies in some hanging baskets, and that's pretty much my Winter planting done.

I brought some Daffodils to plant after being thoroughly sure I planted and entire 2 beds last year after being really impressed with a friends Daffodils she grows in wine barrels. They never came up, Jordan my eldest son tells me my free ranging rabbit went around and systematically ate every single one as they came up and the tuber!!!! So this year he is I am desperately hoping he will stay in the back paddock to do his free ranging and I can actually grow some! Otherwise I may have to invest in some small wine barrels myself that are too tall for bunnies to raid!

News From the Rabbi try - we had 8 about 9 weeks ago some lovely kits born as Ive mentioned they are all in loving new homes now, which is fantastic, Siam is looking to mate again, I am fairly sure I will be only be breeding twice a year from the Does so she's going to have to wait awhile.

Soon I need to go and poach some leaves from the gutter, sounds awful but we have massive old street trees here in Ballarat and although I live in a very old street this was the miners cottage part of Ballarat and we don't have the lovely large old trees so I need to travel to central Ballarat and find a nice old large tree to rake and take - I always ask the owner first - they generally look at me like I am nuts, can live with that, lol, then the kids and I all help to get at least 4 large garbage bags of leaves for the compost bins. I have this feeling that oak leaves are the best for composting but its something I learnt during Horticulture and I can't remember why that was - maybe some research to do prior to collecting! A subject for the next blog!!