Allotment tales 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velveeta
Here is the link to velveeta cheese, it is quite creamy when you melt it and used in lots of recipes here.

Cricket, aren't they beetles in the yard? he he
Wow. And WOW. Your lottie is just exploding! i can't believe how quickly everythingis growing there! You must get fairly regular rain to keep it all watered, because you aren't there bucket watering it everyday eh? I'm expecting some pretty good arrangements once you start to cut the flowers!
Thanks for that Link Candee. It would compare to our processed cheddar cheese I think. Gosh, I always learn something at DG!
We just had a little shower of rain, after a glorious sunny morning. Now its blimmin cold enough to have the heater on. Brrrrr.
I've been intown at a garden this morning, but got a stone chip on the windscreen! I've had it repaired (kinda made todays work redundant) and while I was waiting, I had my legs waxed for the first time. It wasn't too bad.
Anyway, I did some grocery shopping, came home, and found a note from the postie to pick a parcel up back at the shops. Doh! I really want the parcel, so I will go out again, but it's school holidays and the highway is a nightmare! Also I'm now wary about stone chips!
Enough moaning and groaning from me! Loving the good work Terri, and the pics are just wonderful to look at!
Sue

Hi Sue - is your windscreen what we refer to as the windshield? I got a crack on my van about 4 months ago - now it is dancing it's way across in zigs and zags. It is in the lower edge of the windshield so my view is not blocked, but I am hoping that it will stop, and that I won't have to replace it any time soon. Your chip must have been small for them to be able to repair it.

Enjoy your cool weather. We are in the midst of another heat wave.

I don't have much vegetables growing in my garden, Terri, but my apricot tree has had a good crop. We are down to the last few.

Ouch, leg waxing! you are brave ..lol.
Thank you! I'm delighted you think it's looking good and the pics are ok, I was thinking it might be boring for you seeing the same stuff all the time, but just a bit bigger!. It's been raining nearly everyday for 2 weeks now, so I think that has made the explosion of growth. I've been going to the lottie twice a week recently! 16 courgettes so far and they've only just begun! Luckily we have a few veggie friends who are very grateful to recieve them lol, we invited them to the lottie to pick their own and they went home with a huge bag of lettuce leaves and courgettes! They want to make a lil lottie in their garden now.
Sorry you had the windscreen episode, glad it's fixed!
Katie's school breaks up for summer holidays today for 7 weeks. After school I'm taking her to get her brace fixed again!!! she's only had it on for 2 weeks and it has broken twice already. Next week she has the top one fitted..
Your parcel wouldn't be plants would it? LOL BROMS???
I don't have time to make arrangements, I'm a farmer woman now, haha!!
Keep warm Sue!

Hi Dianne, Did you take any pics of your Apricot tree this year? It's great you've had a good crop. Do you make jam with them? Quite a few of the plots have fruit trees..I've seen Cherry, apple, pear, plum, they all have fruits growing. I would like to grow some fruit but those trees take years to fruit don't they? I was thinking of getting some soft fruits, maybe Blackberry, raspberry or gooseberry next year or something that will give me fruits in the first year.. lol. Would love to grow Bananas or pineapples, but they wouldn't survive the winter.
How are your tomatoes doing? Hope your heatwave isn't frying your plants, keep cool!

Funny, to Sue I'll say good night sweet dreams! to Dianne Good morning, have a great day!

Hey terri you can still grow pineapples like I do just take them in during winter months. What are you feeding katie, bricks LOL?
Dianne, be careful of that chip, I hear that they can really expand in the hot weather like getting into a hot car and turning on the AC. Did you check with your insurance about repairing it?
Sue, so you are downunder there in the chill. Guess it won't be long before we are facing heating bills again, but won't think about that right now, too much to do. Never did that waxing thing, but with my legs I don't really have to worry there isn't enough circulation to really grow hair! Everything has a positive side right!
I removed all the stone edging along the back wall of the house, just got sick of it and now we are grading it to put in mulch. Always something.
Today headed to the cabin to cut grass, spray the spatterdock in the pond and perhaps fish a bit???

Hi Candee, LOL! I think she tried to have a sneaky cookie (she's not surposed to have anything hard) but she's not admitting that of course. It broke all by itself! ...yeah right!!!
It's nice to have a change in the garden, sounds like you've been busy moving all the stone edging. Bet it looks really different? Have a nice weekend at the cabin, hope it's lovely weather and you manage to relax a bit in between getting your jobs done!


Dianne it sounds quite dangerous, be careful!

I will make fixing that windshield a high priority...
Candee - have fun at the cabin

Nothing at all like the quantity and neatness of Terri's lottie, but here is my small vegetable patch. This is my tomato strip - with two eggplants and some chives in the right

My first eggplant of the year. This is the Japanese long ones.

Instead of the regular tomato cages this year, I am trying a different method. I have metal stakes by each plant, and in the past, put cages around the stake and plants. But, I bought some coated metal wire and is snaking them between the stakes, collecting the tomato stems between the wires. The hoop of extra wires are for continued twining as the plants get taller.

A closeup of the coated wires and tomato stem

Closeup of the tomatoes. I planted mostly the Ace variety since we had a lot leftover from a package that my co-worker seeded.

to the right of the tomato strip is my vegetable planter. In the front is some self-seeding cherry tomatoes, hidden in that jungle is two more eggplants, two bell peppers, some oregano, two cucumber (no sign of any yet), and a Chinese fuzzy melon (the viney thing hanging over the edge of the planter). And that is the full extent of my vegetable garden. I do not have many area around my house that has enough sunshine to support a lot of vegetables.

Hi Dianne, Thanks for posting pictures of your veggies, it's great to see what you've got and how you plant stuff.
I noticed your chives have white flowers? interesting!!! mine are purple.
I planted 2 melons, one has died and the other looks sickly! they probably need more heat to get healthy looking like yours? Your toms are growing thick and look heavy with fruits! Do you take off some tomato leaves?
What will you cook with the eggplant? need ideas for courgettes... lol!
Thanks again for sharing your veggie pics! What you've got growing looks like top quality food, thats what we all want isn't it?
I plan on going to the lottie tomorrow, weather permitting. I want to have a look and see if there are any new potatoes yet..

I think I am going to chop up the eggplant and add it to the tomato sauce to make a vegetarian sphagetti sauce.

oh, almost forgot. Terri - you asked for a photo of my apricot tree. Most of the fruit is gone now (lots of it eaten by squirrels and birds), but here is a photo of one of the later ripening branches. Despite having to share with the critters, I did manage to pick some to share with family and friends, and even made 4 small jars of jam a few days ago. I did not add any sugar, just boil and mashed them, and added a little lemon juice. Because of the lower sugar content, I will be keeping them refrigerated.

Next up, the nectarine crop is ripening. Fruit trees do take about 5 years to start bearing fruit well, but once they start, they produce fruit for years. The apricot and nectarine tree I have are about 18 years old, the cherry and persimmon tree about 15 years old, and the lemon and tangerine tree about 10-12 years old. I have been thinking about planting some blueberries too - they have new varieties that can take the heat. Terri - you are lucky to have room for blackberries and the other cane fruits.

Nice Apricots, I love apricot jam it's my favourite! Apart from taking years to get fruits, trees can take up so much valuable growing space on the plot.. lol. If I get soft fruits I will probably make a netting cage where the Sunflowers are for them.
Yep, I made tomato sauce and used some courgettes chopped up in that for spaghetti the other night... LoL ..next!!

Hi terri, I finally made it! WOW, you have been very busy here! So ok, lottie gal, whats next???

Hello Blossom, nice to see you here. Don't bother sitting down just yet!
The watering cans are by the shed, follow me down the path to the water butt.

I't great having your help with those 2 watering cans, 4 cans a trip, between us we should get the plot watered in an hour or so!!

Okie dokiie, I am your pack mule for a day. HEEYAW!!! Sure glad I brought my wheelburro!

LOL! I did get 3 watering cans in the wheelbarrow here, but the spillage does my head in with the uneven pathways!

Root Quiz!

I found this root sprouting in the compost bin, obviously something I dug up when clearing in the spring.
any ideas what it might be???

Beautiful garden Dianne. You both have me inspired to put in some effort.
Terri, would that root be from asian greens, like Bok choy?
I weeded half my vege patch yesterday, and am going to buy some 'blood'n'bone' or some liquid fertiliser to feed up my plants. The brocolli is going great, but I don't think it is going to get all that big, as the stems are only an inch thick. Nevermind, its no fun having too much anyway. I dug out some ginger root and sweet potatos, so thought I might make some soup, using the pumpkin and a bit of bacon (sorry tez)
I might put in some peas soon, and when its a little warmer, some beans and corn. I don't think I'll bother with tomatos, as I seem to get plenty from neighbours or customers.
I really want to try carrots, but need to build up a proper bed for them. I will have to think on that one for awhile.
lovely sunny day today, and I only worked for half of it. I sat in the sunny window catching up on the phone with Mum instead.
Sue

Dianne you have quite a lot of produce coming in there. Everything looks so healthy and quite neat in spite of not trying.
That is an interesting water trough terri, do you collect the rain water? Can you hook a hose up to it to save the walking or is that not allowed?
Guess it doesn't matter since you have BB there to help you carry the buckets!
We do remove some leaves those little suckers from the maters, we generally are gungho about it early in the season and then get a bit lax later on with keeping up with them.
Sue I will be curious as to how our broccoli does. It is getting quite tall and looks pretty healthy so we shall see. How thick do the stalks normally get?

Thanks, Sue and Candee. The swimming pool took up the prime sunny spot in the backyard, so my veg patch is quite small. But, now that there is only two in the house, that is enough to supply some basics.

Sue - I have always wanted to try growing some ginger root. Does it do well for you?
Candee - I get lax at the beginning of the season LoL...I always mean to remove the suckers early from the toms, but never got around to it this year. I am hoping the wiring will keep the tomatoes from laying on the soil.

Bok choy does not have a thickened root system so that mystery plant is something else. Did you throw any turnips away?

Hi Candee, I was thinking of the store bought Brocolli, and I was actually a bit generous with my measurements! It was more like 15mm! I cut off the tops of about 6 of them, as it looked as though they might go to flower. Hopefully i will still get some more brocolli shoots from the leaf axis. I am making my soup right now, and it smells delicious., I put in some chillis (seeds removed) and a couple of leeks. The only things I've added that i didn't grow myself, is celery and peppercorns.
Dianne, the ginger grows here quite easily, but usually dies down for winter. There are still green shoots (old ones) so it obviously hasn't been as cold as in previous years. I have some galangal ginger grown from seed, and I think it is used in the same way for asian dishes? I love Thai food, and add coriander and kaffir lime leaves to most stir fries. Yummmm!
Sue

Sad wasn't it?
This is my cauliflowers starting! Gawd, I hope they get bigger than THAT!

Hi Sue, good to hear you have some fresh veggies to eat! Nothing is happening on my Broccoli yet. Tony had some huge Broccoli and the stalks were very thick! He also grows his carrots in big pots and they have been long and straight !! Your cauli looks healthy, it will grow big in no time.
I didn't plant Bok choy Sue, but who know what was planted before me. lol.

I did have turnips last year Dianne, but the leaves on the root are not like the fresh turnip I have growing now.

Hi Candee, The water troughs fill up from a main supply, sometimes it's very slow if alot of people are watering at the same time. Hoses are not allowed, it would be so much easier if they were!
There were lots of weeds today, so I did a blitz removing the tomato suckers and lower leaves also!

5 Courgettes have turned into marrows... !

Marrows, courgettes and 2 cucumbers. I strange looking bean!

There's more cucumbers growing.

Scratched around and found a few new potatoes! and a couple of turnips!

Sweetcorn looking nice!

More lettuce...

Rudbeckia is finally flowering......

Coleus is flowering...

Godetia, think it likes growing in my lottie!

I picked all these flowers!

there's plenty of flowers left, it doesn't look bare!

The first Sunflower to open...... it's number 6 no one has it so it's mine haha!

What a bountiful harvest - for both vegetables and flowers! Definitely got the green thumb, Terri.

The zinnia seeds that I planted last week has started to sprout. I hope that there is still enough time left for them to grow and bloom before the cold weather. Though after almost 100 degree days for the past whole week, cold weather is in the dark recesses of the mind right now.