Backyard Garden Edging Done!!

I have done so many jobs around the garden this weekend but my main achievement has been to finally get my backyard garden edging and framework in place! It was a job that I wasn't really looking forward to doing as I wanted to ensure that they are all level and straight and neat and tidy. Thankfully there was no concrete involved so that made things a bit easier, but still when you are making a really long row these things need to be done right!
Yesterday I spent 3 hrs measuring, levelling, measuring, banging, measuring some more etc I think you get the idea and then today my friends Kirsten and Russell came around with their powered saw and helped me finish off the edges by cutting the remaining bits of wood to the required sizes. They also gave me a bit of wood from their left overs pile from their garden edging as I was 81cm short! Thanks Guys!!

I think i'm going to have to redo some of the posts after it all settles into place etc but that's to be expected

Today I also finally got my bum into gear and did the first coat of stain on the cyprus posts of my pergola.

Ok so here are the pics!

Oh and here is George the Gourmet Farmer

A busy day in the garden

Today I had a pretty busy day in the garden, both front and back. In the front yard I decided it was time to cut back my gaura - they had become extremely large and I needed to trim them back before spring and they went from this:

To this:

I also decided that I wanted to have some potted colour around the place, so I planted some in some pots that I'd previously bought from an op shop and an old wok that I had that had seen better days:

I then planted some seeds - 6 Tommy Toes Tomatoes, 6 Beefsteak Tomatoes, 12 Roma Tomatoes and 12 sweet corn and put them in the green house:

I also bought three new natives for my front yard today - through my use of weed killer I've randomly killed a few plants so I bought 3 new natives today - Candles/banksia ground covers:

Today I also spent 3 hrs levelling out the ground for the sleepers in my backyard for the framework of garden and paths - I wont put any photos up until the job is finished tomorrow

My First Ever Broccoli Picked

So today I picked my first ever home grown broccoli! I was quite excited about it too. I knew during the week that it would be ready for the picking this weekend.

AND I didn't just pick one but I picked 3! oh and some spinach

Because I don't have the need for 3 fresh broccoli's I decided to cut 2 of them up into serving pieces and then blanch them in salted water and put them into the freezer in serving sizes to use later on

Vegies Update 22/08/11

I haven't had much spare time lately to spend time out in the vegie patch but tonight I got just under an hour of daylight out there to potter around, pull out some weeds, do some more string ropes for my snow peas to climb up and to water them with some seasol and molasses - it was a nice way to end the daylight house.

Last week was a week full of rain and this week is going to be several days of 20/21 degrees - great growing conditions!

Onto the photo updates:

The first planting of Onions and Garlic are still going well:

Second planting of Onions and Garlic aren't doing as well - not sure why they are yellowing - anyone know? They are planted right next to the first lot

Broad beans are still soldiering on

Cauliflowers are getting big - can't wait to see the edible bit growing

Broccoli - one of them is almost ready to pick!!

The Leeks are getting really tall

The snow peas are also getting taller - I've added some more string for them to grow on today

Spinach is growing nicely still even though I chopped a lot of it off the other day to eat

The Spring Onions are slowly growing - hurry up!!

The second planting of Broccoli and Cauliflower are starting to get bigger

I have a BIG snail problem so I've put out a few containers with beer in them - the theory is that they love the taste, they go into the container, get drunk and then drown. I was going to put snail pellets down but it's not a good idea seeing as I will be getting chooks soon
My first victim

Spinach

Today I harvested the first of my winter crop of vegies - some spinach!

To dream a dream

Sometimes I allow myself to dream - to dream of owning more land than my 448sqm's, to dream of having more available space for vegies and productive plants but it's not even just the vegies but I'd love to have my own farm animals too. I'd love to have a house that is run solely on Solar instead of electricity and I'd love to be self sufficient or at least be able to source what I need from local farmers. I would love to live in a community that supports that kind of lifestyle. Sometimes these things aren't always possible due to lots of outside influences but it would be great to be able to get as close to it as possible.

I worked out a budget this week and if it all goes even closely to plan then I should have my house and block paid off in half the time of the loan, unfortunately that is still a number of years away, but knowing that I could halve the duration goes a long way to maybe one day being able to realise The Dream.