Thursday, January 2, 2014

The Barefoot Gardener is Moving....

Add to Technorati FavoritesNot only are we FINALLY making a tree change, but we are moving hosts as well! You can now find this blog on WordPress.

Take me to WORDPRESS now!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Ugly Truth About Gardening....

...isn't the floral gardening gloves or the safari hat, or even the dirt under the fingernails. Actually, it's letting things go to seed! My garden at the moment looks like it has been taken over by great giant warty stick insects - that are taller than me! But what has actually happened, is that the silverbeet (chard for those of you reading from the States ;-P ) has gone to seed. And since I am a gardener who likes to save her own seed, I have to put up with these monsters that are sprouting up everywhere.

Normally, I don't care so much for an untidy garden, after all, if it was good enough for Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (no, there were no gardeners there, were there? Yet, it's everyone favourite garden), then it is good enough for me. But some things are always the exception to the rule - scraggly gone-to-seed plants are mine.

Unfortunately, this is pretty much all I have growing in my garden for the time being too, since we had the 30 year floods hit on Christmas day - our suburb being one of the worst hit. I lost all my cucumbers, lettuces, most of my tomatoes, and anything that was at seedling stage (that means nearly EVERYTHING).

So, today, I decided it was time to clear everything out. Since I had put my hand up for the Nillumbik Home Harvest Festival, and volunteered at the bare minimum, silverbeet, then I figured that I must at least have that GROWING by harvest time in April (which is Autumn/Fall over here in the Southern Hemisphere).

Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Not only so I have a few seedling silverbeets starting, but I also found plenty of parsnip and carrot seeds to share on harvest day. I also will have plenty of spaghetti squash to contribute to the event, which should challenge the chefs and cooks on the day! I might even have a few watermelons and rock melons to spare - fruits that normally don't grow this far south, but have been the only thing to flourish with all the rain and humidity.

But my greatest find was one last Golden Queen peach, clinging to a branch. With all the Queensland weather we have had this summer, all our stone fruit have moulded as soon as they started to ripen. But I found one that is close to ripening. One that I can take off the tree now and let mature on a windowsill inside.

Hopefully, there will be one peach to enjoy this season!


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Monday, August 8, 2011

I Have Found My Happy Place...

...actually, it's been found for quite some time now.

I know it has been a long time between posts, So here's an update. Unfortunately, it's not an edible gardening inspired post, but as least it's a post ;-)

Every year I tend to go AWOL around this time (well, normally a little later than this, but it's an Spring this year). I get out there in the garden and frolic in the dirt. I pull weeds, I rediscover the good growing spots in the garden, and I plants bucket-loads of seeds. I have such an addiction to buying seeds that I am no longer allowed to enter Bunnings with my credit card. In true addict-style, I bought four packets of seeds from my fave eBay seed seller, Lil Miss Seedy, this morning to celebrate the fact that I would be dedicating my blog to gardening today.

This year, besides the obligatory vegetable seeds, I have also promised my daughter her very own secret garden. Shock Horror! That means flowers, and LOADS of them. Luckily, it is a secret garden, and can be hidden behind the orange trees, otherwise my friends and family may pull me up on the fact that I have finally caved.

My daughter, on the other hand, is terribly excited about having a new garden. She has decorated it with all her fairy statues that she has been collecting for this very purpose. While it is endearing, it is also distracting. As I plant, I have to keep rescuing the poor dears from being buried alive. I have also had to explain where fairy heaven is after stepping back to admire all my hard work and accidentally squashing one into oblivion. Interestingly enough, my daughter has announced "Don't feed the fairies." When I prompted her, she replied with, you'll get taken back to fairyland and you can never escape. Erm, think she's got her fables mixed up there!

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