Category Archives: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

My favourite place to be is in the garden.
We started with nothing except too much lawn.

An Abundance of Greens.

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This week we harvested snap peas, broad beans, spinach, spring onions and 4 types of lettuce: Butter-Head, Red-Leaf, Loose-Leaf and Little Gem.

Yesterday Norm experimented with pizzas on his new outdoor cooker/BBQ. However, our new friends and alfresco dinner guests were totally surprised by the taste. Norm has always been often called “Normando” the pizza man. I was able to make up a beautiful green salad with item mostly from the garden.

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Alfresco Kitchen/Diner Completed.

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  • Work began
  • Day 1
  • Day 2…then a snap Covid lock-down
  • 1 week later Day 1
  • Day 2
  • Day 3

  • It was a long slow process.
  • Tiler Tim was a perfectionist.
  • The bottom of the back steps were also tiled.
  • Then grouting began a few days ago.
Norm’s new BBQ/Pizza Oven/Cooker
First, check instructions.
View to back garden.
Decor creations.
Herb pots scattered around for handy use in cooking.
If you check the photo Norm is in, you will notice the new outdoor clock. The photo with the art work above was taken before we decided to put up the clock. The artwork won’t be down for long. We’ll find a new place in the garden for it. I’m pretty sure we aren’t finished yet with what goes where but I’m sure future photos will reveal changes here and there.

Archived in: I’m in the Garden & Retirement

A Workable Area

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With the Alfresco going in I won’t be able to make muddy messes under the awning. I needed a workable area that didn’t leave so much mess after re-potting and a place closer to the garden too.

We decided to store the messier items at the end of the path.
Every garden has a messy corner. Unfortunately, the furthest corner in our garden isn’t that far from anywhere. The pizza oven’s old coal storage bin is now storing garden soil.

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More Alfresco Planning.

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To follow on from the post a few days ago, we spent this morning fertilizing the lawn and painting items for the garden and Alfresco area.

  • Fresh paint on an old pedestal
  • with a Japanese message
  • Does anyone read Japanese?
  • Everything is all ready for when lock-down is over and tiling can be completed.
    Only the strawberry pot and the pedestal will remain where they are now. The 2 large white pots and the blue pots will be relocated to the tiled area.
Below is the link to previous post.
A Bargain and another Snap Lock-down.

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A Bargain and another Snap Lock-down.

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We found these 2 black concrete pots on Gumtree, a local online market place similar to eBay. They were just $10AUS each. While waiting for the tiling to be completed we spent our time stripping the layers of old paint, sealed and painted them white. When the alfresco kitchen/dining is completed I’ll post update photos. Update: We have gone back into a snap lock-down. Our tiler can only do emergencies. Again we wait.

Archived in: I’m in the Garden, Retirement & Covid Lock-downs

Norm’s got worms.

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Norm’s worm farm has produced enough fertilizer to keep the garden well fed since we first planted seeds and seedlings into polystyrene banana boxes early last year. Today, after a good flush out I was able to fertilize all the vegetables and herbs in the plots and pots. Norm’s worms are thriving and so is the garden.

I couldn’t take photos while our hands were covered in worm poop but here’s a pic of the worm farm – front left.
Everything looks healthy. This past week we have picked spinach, lettuce, broad beans and leeks.
Even the the strawberries are doing well.

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Another fine day in the garden.

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A few little changes and wishing well looks like it’s been there for some time.
We lopped off the broad beans that stood high above the fence and stripped the beans off. Once we cleared the higher stalks we discovered a couple of shooters mid-way up the fence and many more closer to the soil. I won’t have to wait too long before I’ll be harvesting even more. I get the lot because Norm doesn’t like broad beans.
Everything is looking healthy. It shouldn’t be long before we see the Poinciana and Frangipani beginning to bud.

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Facelift and Iris Bloom

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  • Garden Shed facelift
  • Just a little project
  • Standing very tall
  • First Iris for the season

I’m thinking of putting in a Wisteria vine on the right side of the shed too where the love seat is.

This isn’t the iris that bloomed last year so I’m hoping that at least two out of the three bulbs I planted will flower this year.

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Spring is Coming

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Lettuce, cherry tomatos, snow peas, corn, butternut pumpkin and spinach seedlings planted. Some of the mature lettuce and spinach are still growing happily with leeks, garlic, and yes, that tall plant is giving me a serving of broad beans at least twice a week.
The days are mostly sunny and warm. Our night’s are still a bit chilly but I took the chance to plant a lot of herbs here and there in pots. Marjoram, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary, chives and more. We use a lot of herbs. Norm, when he cooks in on the BBQ or in the pizza oven. I use them when I cook in the kitchen.
Norm helped re-pot the verandah hanging plants into new and more colourful pots.

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Out of Lock-down but I’m still in the Garden.

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Most things are back to fairly normal. Regional N.S.W. residents are still on alert and wearing masks away from home. I have returned to the Koala Hospital which makes a big difference to routine again.

I haven’t been in the front garden for almost 3 months. The Christmas Bushes are now re-potted.
Some trimming and dead heading been done.
I re-arranged the the gnomes and added a few small shrubs.
New solar lighting.
When I returned to the back garden, I discovered we had a visitor. As we near Spring, we’ll probably see more of these neighbours.

Archived in: I’m in the Garden