I’m a little slow at posting these due to a 5 day trip away followed by a week of not-so-good weather. This gallery of photos show our verandah garden, vegetable plots, succulent corner, the arch and native gardens.

Archived in: I’m in the Garden

It been six years since our son Ken came up from Sydney between lockdowns to fix our back yard.

It was a swamp back then.

The work transformed the whole area.

The past week it’s been raining most days leaving everything a little wet but nothing like it was in 2020. I’ll post our 2026 Spring garden soon.

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We finally completed the mulch laying in the front garden. We didn’t need as much mulch as the past 7 years but it took us longer to lay. Old age and aching joints doesn’t help but working together over the past week between raining days, we finally finished it.

Everything seems to have taken well including the new bright pink Hibiscus and the pink Frangipani cutting we received from a neighbour. This year I’m considering entering the small garden competition in the seniors community we live in.

All done for another year.

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I was curious at the scratchy noises that were coming from the back garden. At first I thought Norm was cleaning up after the birds that visit but this is what I found him doing. He told me he didn’t want to waste the broken paver (of which he received a refund because it was broken during delivery) nor did he want the left over bag of pebbles to go to waste. My fault…I have never been one to waste anything especially in the garden. I think my habit has rubbed off.

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With Autumn well and truly here on the east coast of Australia, I have begun to focus on our front garden where the sun shines all day when clouds and rain stay away. Recently, neighbours across our little avenue sold their home to move to the west coast to be closer to family. I purchased a blue pot on a pedestal from them which I have always admired in their front garden. Being a good time to plant pansies, and so I don’t have to bend or kneel, the pot is perfect for annual flowers. It motivated me to upturn a small pot and place it under another blue pot Norm found at the recycle bin earlier in the year. In this one, I planted more pansies among tulip bulbs I planted a few weeks ago.

The orange, pink, red and yellow Hibiscus are flowering simultaneously. The yellow Frangipani is still blooming even though the leaves are falling. The top left and the below photo shows another Frangipani without leaves which is still in a pot ready for planting once I have established the right position to plant it. The colour of this one should be fruit salad.

For those who follow my garden photos, you will notice that I have painted the park bench. It wasn’t the colour I chose. The paint chart showed it to be a greyer colour.. “Horizon Grey” or some such thing. It looked grey with a tinge of blue. Anyway, the colour stays. In the 3 blue watering cans in the foreground, I have planted Lavender, Paper Daisies and Baby Blue Eyes seeds. The watering cans are currently also protecting a white Lavender our son propagated. Once the Lavender is established, I’ll relocated the watering cans to other sunny positions.

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Yes, it’s Autumn in Australia. It’s been a hot year so far but this evening’s soft sunset and cool breeze lured me out for a walk around the garden.

The sunset changed the colour of the water in the bird bath. Shades of pink painted the trees beyond the fence.

The vegetable plots and fruit trees are looking green and healthy.

It’s going to be a warmer than usual Autumn so I hope to see the Poinciana lose it’s leaves soon to allow sun on the vegetable garden.

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After a poor summer harvest and the heat killing off some normally thriving vegetables, we’re actually harvesting a few items such as Okra, capsicums, spinach and cherry tomatos. Strawberries have been lacking quantity and size but with cooling nights, some growth is making a difference.

It’s great to be back in the garden most mornings and in the cool of the evening but more rain is needed. This has been an extremely dry summer with showers a rarity of late.

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The front garden is the best it’s ever been. Solid clay with pipes going every which-way is not the easiest place to grow a garden. Even after 7 years of loads of mulch and topsoil every Spring, the clay stays in charge.

All three Hibiscus are flowering at the same time as the yellow Frangipani. The pink Frangipani is a new plant so I’m waiting to see how our recent heatwaves have affected it. The front garden gets full sun most of the day.

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It’s been a busy week in the garden since returning from a 12 day road trip. On our return I set about trimming back the tomato vines that had taken over. These cherry tomatos are the ones that fell off while I trimmed and pruned, or were clutching the remnants of the pruned vines. If they ripen I plan to cook up some home made spaghetti sauce.

Once the vines were contained, we were able to see just how many tomatoes were still growing in bunches and what else was ready to harvest.

I’ve been the garden every day since we returned home. Our neighbour, who kindly watered while we were away, did a great job. We didn’t lose a single plant and he had fresh vegetables every day as did the neighbours.

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I know when winter is almost here. Shadows fall early on the back garden. These photos were taken at 10.15am yesterday.

It won’t be long before it will be all in shade and the garden will rest.

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Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

Today, after days of hot and humid weather, I was able to spend a couple of hours in the garden trimming and pottering.

The white climbing rose as never flowered so well and it’s finally actually climbing the arch.

Lorikeets have been in the garden most of the day but if I’m to close, they wait in the trees beyond the fence until I move away from the arch and bird bath.

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November 2023

November 2024

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

Greens galore. Does anyone have a recipe that will use LOTS of spinach? We keep picking and it keeps growing. The lettuce, cucumber, salad capsicums and snap peas are growing well too. It’s a garden of greenness and abundance.

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We haven’t grown potatoes in our garden previously but after we have had thriving spinach for three years in the same plot, it was time for some soil regeneration. There’s more to dig up when we have eaten these. Of course, we didn’t go without spinach for very long. They happily grew from seed in another plot where the previous season of lettuce grew. More about our green vegetables next time on…🦋 I’m in the Garden

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Much to the disgust of the Lorikeets, young Magpies are visiting the garden at feed time. They soon found there was enough food around the garden for all.

The Farm is thriving. We recently planted tomatoes, capsicum and cucumbers to add to the mass of lettuce that keeps growing. The neighbours don’t mind though. We’ll be picking all our salad vegetables as we need them real soon.

Those tall plants sharing the plot with yet another sun flower, are potatoes. Our first crop in the garden. We have grown potatoes in garden bags but they didn’t produce much. We’re waiting in eagerness to see how many potatoes we will harvest later in the year. Spring irises, hyacinths and pansies are also showing their true colours this year. I think there are a few tulips in there too. We’ll see.

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Early blooms and sunny days means more outdoor living. Evenings too, are warming up. It’s almost time to put the outdoor heater back into storage.

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Finally the weather has been warm enough to get back into the garden. This weekend we cleaned up the potted herbs in the outdoor kitchen. I was surprised to see many of them still alive after the bleak winter. I re-potted some, trimmed others before removing the soggy muck that had accumulated along the fence.

Norm then brought out the sugar soap and scrubbing brush to clean the tiles. Actually, except for a few stubborn stains, the gurney wasn’t really needed.

Once the area was clean and tidy, I put the pots back in place. Reminding Norm to bend his knees and mind his back, he kindly moved the heavier pots for me.

Ready for Spring, new growth and seeds to sprout.

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Lettuce Rejoice!

It’s been a colder, dryer and windier winter this year and most of our vegetables are struggling to provide us with what we need. We have been relying on produce from local grocery shops. Spinach and silver-beet has been non-existent for the first time since I stared the garden back in January 2020. However, we have been continually blessed with lettuce. We haven’t shared much with the neighbours, simply because they don’t like our varieties and they don’t eat salad vegetables in winter. It’s a good thing we like our greens. Surprisingly, most of our herbs are doing OK too.

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I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We usually have a lot of Lorikeets visiting the garden, but this is was first. Apologies for the poor photo quality. My aim was to identify the makings.

The Rosella stayed most of the day. At times we caught glimpses of damaged feathers on the top of his head so he may have sought refuge after a possible dispute with members of his flock. Norm needed to refill the bird feeders before the Lorikeet invasion later in the day.

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I’m not sure if these have grown from seeds dropped by birds or if the seeds were in the mulch we spread around the garden. The tallest sunflower has already grown higher than the front windows and it’s still yet to bloom. Norm took these photos for me because they are so tall. Note the clever angle in the fifth photo.

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I have been saving since Covid lock-downs ended for just the right garden statue. Locally, the one I liked has been priced three times the amount it was before Covid. And yes, it was the exact item because they have not order any statues in since mid 202o. I have been disappointed with local garden shopping since Covid so I just kept putting a few dollars aside each week in hope.

Early last week, on our way to Kirra Beach just over the Queensland border, we visited Ballina’s Summerland Garden and Antique Centre which is often advertised on our local TV station. (Ballina is about four hours north from our home and about two hours south of our holiday destination) There we found five statues in a variety of similar styles and priced almost $300AUS cheaper than the one locally. We decided to think about which one while on holiday and purchase it on the way home. Which we did. We had named her Maid Marian before we bought her.

Maid Marian has been placed pretty much where I want her. We’ll let her settle in before I plant something in her flower pot.

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This post was created a few days ago and scheduled for today. By the time you read this we’ll be well on our way to Queensland for some warm sun, rest and relaxation.

This photo was taken on Tuesday. We picked the last of the spinach, beans, salad capsicums and peas for the season as well as some fresh tomatoes, early spring onions and a couple of chilies. And of course, fresh herbs. Norm did a quick dash to the store for some fresh beef mince to create a kind of taco meal. Leftovers were great too.

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The heavy rains have finally gone and the April sunshine has arrived. Temperatures over the past week, after the wind eased, have been in the mid to high twenties. That’s Celsius. Saturday morning was a good day for enjoying the garden after just a little tidy up here and there. The corn has doubled in height in just a few weeks and the beans are finally flowering. Spring onions and leeks usually do well during Autumn so we planted seeds back in February and they seem to be thriving.

Our salad garden is still thriving with snack capsicums, tomatoes, lettuce and beetroot (out of photo). Spinach and silver-beet continue to grow all year although slow at times. We even have late season strawberries growing.

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Despite rain bombs and a windy hail storm during the past few weeks, the Hibiscus shrubs are flowering in their pots in the front garden. We haven’t been able to do much work in the garden this past week due to wet weather and the more than usual medical appointments we have had with more to come. It’s been nice to return home each day to see colour in the garden.

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Matthew 26:42–46 records that Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane. Each time He expressed His willingness to obey His Father’s will. The garden is the place I meet with Him, talk to Him and listed to Him.

Jesus prayed in a garden: Matthew 26, wept in a garden: Luke 19:41, John 11:35. Jesus healed in a garden: Luke 22:51 and Jesus rose in a garden: Mark 16

One of my favourite hymns is about the garden: Author: C. Austin Miles

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses.
Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own,
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing;
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.(Refrain)
I’d stay in the garden with Him
Tho’ the night around me be falling;
But He bids me go; thro’ the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling. (Refrain)

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We have had quite a bit of rain over the past few weeks including three days of rain bombs and wind. We discovered on Friday that we had a lot of water under our back verandah. Norm did some creative cutting and digging and spent a few hours playing in the mud.

With two trenches dug, the water finally started to flow out. It will probably take a week of warmer days before we can lay a couple of drainage pipes in the trenches and replace the turf.

The lawn is quite spongy still but we no longer have our own private mud bath. It’s draining away quite quickly and we have regained access to underneath. Fortunately, the only items we store under there are water containers which we had taken out earlier in the week to fill with rain water already collected in garden trugs. Note: there was no water under the house when we remove the containers.

The wind and rain came mostly from the south-west and came under the back awning. With the gaps in the deck paneling, the water went straight through. Over the weekend we also laid an outdoor vinyl matting along the back deck to lessen the amount of rain coming through.

We had already placed same from the back step to the back door and it has worked successfully. It won’t stop the rain completely but it should help in future weather storms. The trugs are overflowing again and although the rain has eased there’s no sign of sunshine. We have been repeatedly told that a drought is on it’s way… Those notifications have mysteriously disappeared from the TV news and local government notices.

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The humidity and high temperatures have finally eased. Autumn has begun with good planting weather. Norm re-potted the Raspberry Bush that desperately needing a larger pot. It’s a little early but we needed to save it’s life.

Norm also put some of the skills he picked up at the gardening workshop we attended a few weeks ago.

While I planted corn seedlings next to the seeds I planted a few days ago.

Our garden has been a place where we can both enjoy.

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The back corner of our yard has gone wild. Bottlebrush shrubs in large pots mostly grow here surrounded with native grasses. The red pot in this photo holds a Melaleuca. They can grow huge in Australia but this one is destined to be stunted by the size of it’s pot. Because the Bottlebrush is a short lived shrub the Melaleuca could be given a bigger pot in a year or two. 🙂

We have finally beheaded the last two giant Sunflowers. Since this photo was taken, they have been stripped of their seeds to be replanted and added to the bird feeders for the Corellas and the occasional pink Galahs that visit the garden.

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We love our garden, especially in the cooling late afternoons in Summer. Apologies for the missing photos. Media library ate them. 😉

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It’s just the second year the Crepe Myrtle has flowered. This year it’s covered with blossoms ready to burst open. It’s rich colour adds vibrancy to the back garden attracting bees and birds like a magnet.

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Caught unawares, these two lorikeets are often in the garden. Here they are after a meal of wild-bird seed and fresh apple.

Other couples, notably their scaly-breasted cousins, join the union. I wonder if that’s the marriage celebrant over near the fence.

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We have seen this blue tongue lizard often this week. I’m sure he’s made our garden his home.

The vegetable garden may look healthy but this hot summer is messing with producing our usually good harvests. Keeping water up is easy enough when the trugs are filled by heavy downpours of rain and hail but the ground is so dry within a few hours from the scorching heat that it is a never ending chore.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden & 🦋 Down on the Farm

Happy New Year to all Riverside Peace followers. I have posted a few summer garden photos Norm and I have taken between Christmas and New Year while I give an update of where I’m at now and my 2024 plans.

I’ve been a little out of my normal routine since my total right knee replacement on November 2023. A whole new routine, mostly rehabilitation, has taken over. One thing I have return to is the garden – with limitations which is why I trained Norm.

I have been writing a little too and I plan to post at least one new poem and/or devotional post every month. I won’t promise more than this because I’m also taking on the huge challenge of learning to sign in 2024. At a few new followers request, I’ll be re-posting some my most popular poetry and short devotions from my book ‘Glimpses of His Glory’. I’ll add a few others from time to time as well.

The lorikeet above is a regular to our garden and especially loves the apples Norm tosses onto the lawn in the evening. I find the garden provides rest and relaxation.

These final 3 gallery photos show the cheeky sunflower that’s growing in our vegetable garden. It has grown above the back fence and follows the summer sun across the sky. It can be seen by everyone who drives by. I have also returned to river and other local walks. I’ll post these photos too each week.

Have a very happy and safe New Year and a healthy and blessed 2024.

Archived in: 🦋 I’m in the Garden

Because we were traveling late on Sunday, I was unable to prepare photos for this week’s I’m in the Garden post. It’s been beautiful weather and very relaxing in the Hunter Valley NSW wine country. We’re mostly just taking a breather from all the appointments we have had of late and a rest before my surgery in just over a week away. I have managed to find a couple of photographs I took of the front garden on Sunday morning using my Samsung phone. I hope you like them.

The agapanthus will be in full bloom while we’re not there. The miniature blue agapanthus are usually a little slower in blooming. Probably because they are situated further to the left behind the shrubs.

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A few months ago, I think in July, I tried something new. I never thought it would actually grow.

In early October I planted it like this into a garden plot.

This is what it looks like now. I cut a few outer stalks that were bent and added it to a stir-fry for lunch.

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It was brought to my attention a few days ago that we have several entries to our back garden. ‘Which entry do we use?’ they asked. I decided to photograph each entry. Maybe I will need to draw a map. 😉

Above and below is the east entry. The side of the house I call the boring side because leading to the grass-curved path is nothing but terracotta pots filled with struggling succulents along a very long gravel path.

Once you veer right you can follow the grass path to the back entry of the house and the outdoor kitchen and dining area. (below)

Or, you can veer left and take the southeast entry through the ‘farm’. Next photo.

Then there’s the entry through the carport into the outdoor kitchen and dining area. Oh. There’s also one directly from next door’s gravel path.

There’s the entry via the back steps. The entry I most often use.

But my favourite entry has to be through the arch to our ‘farm’.

Which entry will you take?

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It’s been a while since I featured my herbs in ‘Down on the Farm’ and what better time to show them off than this beautiful season of Spring. Mind you, it rained for nearly 48 hours straight before I was able to take a suitable photo over the weekend. The rain is gone and the sun is shining again.

On Saturday I was given some beautiful lemon grass. I don’t have a big enough area to plant it straight into the ground so another potted herb it is. I love how they are growing, how fresh they taste, and how Norm is now using them in his outdoor cooking. There are some larger ones planted among the vegetables too which we’ll use more until the little ones grow. I use some of the bigger plants for making fresh teas too.

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The last crop of broad beans and our first salad-size capsicum.

Our first Elderberry Flower harvest. Norm made me a cup of tea with a few flowers and it was delicious.

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My plan was to paint the white picket fence yesterday but it rained before dawn leaving the fence too damp to paint.

So..today I started straight after breakfast but with the temperature rising, I only managed two-thirds of the entire length. Tomorrow’s weather station says it will be clear skies again. I hope to have it completed well before the promised 25C. I’m so glad it’s not a very high fence. 🙂

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I’ve been watching this iris since it sprouted back in mid-August. I thought she would clear the top of the Poinsianna the way she was growing.

As the sunflower begins to droop, this iris is reaching for the sky.

I expect to see her in full bloom for a few more days while a second iris (to the right) thinks about bursting out into full bloom.

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Spring has Sprung with a burst of sunshine. Do you remember my post: https://riversidepeace.com/2023/08/28/late-august-wind-brought-out-a-nice-surprise/ ? This Sunflower is now greeting the Spring sunny mornings with a big smile.

Seedlings are up and the bulbs are finally opening. The irises are a little slow but they’ll be out any day now.

And – the white climbing rose bush has come alive and blooming.

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We had this candle holder sitting on our occasional table since we moved into our home in December 2019. I have decorated it at Christmas or placed an unlit candle in it but usually it just sits. After seeing terrariums and their ridiculous prices at nurseries, Bunning, etc., I decided to put my creativity side to good use. What do you think? Be honest.

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Except for the apple and pear trees, buds and/or new growth is evident.

Strawberries and Blueberries. Can’t wait for the first harvest.

Seedlings sprouting.

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Early Spring flowers in the front and rear garden have added bright colours here and there. My herb seeds and seedlings are doing great. I’m excited about including medicinal herbs this year.

A couple of the fruit trees and shrubs look promising. Bottom photos: Tabpoles and frog ponds are ready for occupancy.

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A quiet afternoon in the garden until these visitors arrived.

It was still beautiful.

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After a few dark and gloomy wintery weeks, we finally braved a morning in the garden and it was good to feel the warmth of the sun. We harvested a variety of lettuce and spinach which hasn’t happened for over a month. Snap peas are looking promising for next week’s menu.

Norm pampered the fruit trees: Apple, pear, avocado, orange, and mango as well as the bay and elderberry trees. We repotted the blueberries and potted two raspberry shrubs – which I forgot to take photos of.

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