Simple pleasures.

Miss Treacle pushing in on Busby to get closer to me.

I adore these two as I have all the dogs I have had come into my life. Miss Treacle is the most soulful and sweet girl she has too be touching me.

Last night on the lounge she was doing something else and Busby had climbed up and was laying with his head on my lap. I was patting him, when Miss Treacle climbs up and walks over him, pushing her 8kg/17.6lbs body in between his 41kg/90.38lbs body and the lounge. Forcing him to move, she then lays herself over his nose so I can not pat him so easily. I had to chuckle to myself at her devotion. I do feel for Busby, but he is a very easy going boy.

Dogs are great company. For me they have been integral in dealing with my breakdown, the times I was so unwell and life was just too hard in my ill state of mental health. Now they are integral in helping me and my improving mental health. Though let me say their tactics are pretty strong pawed ones.

Miss Treacle was not impressed, and actually pushed my hand off the key board and would not let me keep writing. She was not so subtle letting me know it was time for a walk and to get off the computer!

It worked, I realised if I did not get up now with less wind and no rain the opportunity might not come again today. So we set off. and the sun came out and it showed all the trees up in such a pretty light. The colours of Autumn are much more noticeable today.

We only saw one of our neighbours at a distance this morning and we just waved at each other. the dogs and I kept walking, I use the time for training Busby to come.

He tends to loose all ability to hear me if he sees any wild animals and will take off chasing them. I guess being a Staffie/boxer/ridgeback cross is to blame for his instinct in chasing. He is improving at coming when I call him, I only have myself to blame. He came into my life when I was unwell as a foster puppy with two siblings.

The wind was picking up on the home ward journey. as can be seen in the poplars in the middle row below. I also love the very old quince tree with the Hills Hoist rotary clothes hoist in front of it. Many hours of childhood were spent spinning around on one similar.

Miss Treacle her tail blowing in the wind

This mornings walk up the road, probably looks pretty much like the last photographs I posted. We took a chance in between wind and rain, to go out, and I timed it really well. Autumn has finally arrived here and Mother Earth is changing the trees colours well at least the deciduous ones. The problem lies with the wind, the leaves are being blown off so quickly.

Photos above Miss Treacle smiling at me saying see a walk makes us all feel better, and the clean air and being in nature the smells all wonderful. I had to agree and said to her yes it was wonderful that you made me get up and go for a walk. Second photo she is sleeping and snoring. Little angel that she is. Yes she does sleep with her eyes open.

Later in the day we walked about the garden. It was another interluded of sunshine between showers and wind. In the grass I often see these holes dug out, now if you do not know many people would assume that they are dug by rabbits. We do get rabbits here. These holes are not dug by them, rabbits when they dig usually leave little piles of manure, and a very different shaped hole. This one has a pointy shape and is quite different it is dug by a bandicoot, who as you can see have a pointed nose. This is an Eastern Barred Bandicoot we also have Southern Brown Bandicoots

Bandicoots – Bush Heritage Australia
bushheritage.org.au

The photos below show the vegetable garden and rhubarb which is in a bed in the front of my house.

The fig is giving me small tasty figs. I am not sure what I need to do to increase their size next season. It is growing in a half wine barrel.

The beans took a huge hit in the wind last photo.

Broad beans, coriander, kale, and other brassicas are doing well. I have small lettuce seedlings, rocket, red veined sorrell, silverbeet all coming up. The broccoli that you pick again small style is doing well, delicious and sweet I pick it and eat it raw.

My neighbours glass house is looking wonderful and I have said I am jealous. In a very nice way.
The colour of the blueberry bushes is such a strong red. I also have some garlic shoots already protruding. Along with the broad beans which are flowering already so very strange.

The wind has devastated the beans, and now I just wait for them to dry.

We returned inside, and relaxed for a while.

I found it hard to sit still today and at about 1700 I said to the dogs, lets go for another walk up the hill. You can probably imagine their responses.

They were both uber excited, and off we went, the sun was getting lower in the sky and I was a tad concerned about the critters that might be coming out, but we headed off.
I had no expectation of seeing anyone. So we were all very happy to see our neighbour at the top of the hill and his dog Toby. Off went Busby to play with Toby.

Miss Treacle actually squeaked in such joy at seeing our neighbour, she loves him so much. He picked her up and she was in heaven.

He and I talked and he had made 6 litres of pasata from his home grown tomatoes and dried several kilos as well. WOW!how wonderful.
The sky was darkening a bit as clouds came over and we headed home, two very satiated dogs.

We were almost home and Busby saw his other friends Chubb and Toby from across the road, and I said yes he could go and say hello.

Off they both went and I chatted with their owner. They played we chatted standing far apart.

As we were talking another neighbour and her little one came by with their bikes, so we all said hi and chatted. The little one no longer has training wheels on her bike, and so we watched her ride all the way down the hill and use her brakes well, several times. Complimenting her on her achievements and brake skills.

It was growing darker and colder, the tip of my nose was chilled. It was really feeling like winter.

I was very very happy to come home ,to my warm home made white loaf of bread. A big cup of tea and fresh crusty warm bread with butter and vegemite.(Please Note see how little vegemite I spread on my bread..some like a bit more but never spread it thick)
The best end to a really wonderful day all the while staying at home or very close bye, being safe and keeping social distancing, and exercising.

I am thankful for the beauty that I am surrounded by. I am thankful for the food I have and the ability to make my own meals from scratch. I am thankful for good neighbours, I am thankful for feeling unafraid in these times, I am thankful for being so fortunate. I am thankful for my dogs. I am thankful for my physical health. I am thankful for you. May you all stay safe.

Blessings Tazzie

April 26, 2020 11

Vegetable Garden Update

With the strange weather patterns we have been having here in the Huon Valley, Tasmania, it is good to know I am not alone in not having tomatoes ripening in the garden. In fact my garden is slow in many areas.

I forgot to mention I picked some plums that had to ripen off the trees, as the birds were getting too interested in them. I was happy with the plums as this is the first year that I actually managed to get some. They have never produced as they did this year, and it was not a huge volume, about 3kgs for four trees. I obviously am not doing something right with them.

I am delighted with aspects of my Three Sister Bed, Corn, squash and beans growing in one bed. As you will see below the corn and beans are flowering, sadly the pumpkin is only just producing some flowers now.
I have a feeling that I will be buying pumpkins this year. I may have planted to many beans. I put in climbing and bush. All the plants look healthy, the corn has a few swelling cobs. Fingers crossed I will at least have succeeded in growing edible corn.

The Sea Holly is such a beautiful flower the purple/blue is striking, and the bees love it.

I harvested some things from my garden today Yipee! I picked some beans, tomatoes, silver beet and kale. They will go into my dinner tonight.

In my vegetable garden I grow flowers along with veggies. Sea Holly which I have no idea where it came from. I had this weird plant growing in a veggie bed, and thought I shall let it grow as it looks like no weed I have ever seen. I did and the first year nada/nothing well just green leaves flat on the ground. This year it has grown and I love it. Great for cut colour just watch the spikes, and as I said the bees love it! Not just our huge bumble bees. (above photo).

Bumble bees are not native to Tasmania or Australia. They were imported from UK to pollinate tomatoes in poly tunnels but escaped and are now found here. They can get massive here. When I moved from the mainland 20 something years ago, I had never seen a bumble bee. I loved them and would watch them flying about pondering how something so chunky could fly. I was told you could stroke them, and they did not sting.

You can indeed stroke them, but be warned Bumble bees do sting. Unlike honey bees and native bees (I think) they do not die after stinging you.

In the photograph above is a Honey Bee I assume from my neighbours hive. Similar to a bumble bee with a lot less hair.

Which makes me wonder how Bumble bees keep cool in the extreme temperatures we have been having this summer. Yet I see and hear them buzzing about the flowers on my deck.

I make sure I have water in small shallow bowls with some pebbles to help them access the water. I also put a rock and stick or some thing to help them access water in my other bowls and bird baths.
I have Blue Banded Bees but have not been able to take a clear enough photograph to share here.
I also see dragon flies, butterflies, hover flies and most delightfully frogs.

The little frog in the photograph above was rescued and just popped into the jar for a minute or two for safety as I was moving pot plants about the deck and he/she had been contentedly sitting about between them.
I popped a bit of shade cloth over the top of the plant where I sat the jar as I moved it to its new location and the other three I then let the frog out and it hopped in behind the pots. I see frogs regularly when I am out watering the pot plants on the deck.
I also see geckos.

A sad lack of sun ripe tomatoes growing on my vines out doors. I do have tomatoes, and some small ones have reddened the majority remain small and green. I am not having a good season with getting bigger tomatoes. Last year I grew cherry tomatoes. This year I am not but I may as well be.

Tomato Timing
Hurry up and turn on the red
The sauce must be made
before retiring to bed

The garlic, basil, and oregano are waiting
the jars sterilized and warmed
there can be no time for hesitating.

Mother can slow living down to a trickle
choices I honor, but please be fore warned,
you will soon be a jarred green tomato pickle.
https://allpoetry.com/Brownisk

Now onto the deck first order of the afternoon was to get all the brassicas together, then began the search and destroy mission. The enemy had succeeded in landing, and dumping leaving eggs behind. Which in turn ate and ate my brassicas! No option but to find these green blighters and leave them for the birds.

It was a task to gently rub my fingers over ever leaf, every nook and cranny of the plant to find eggs, cocoons, and caterpillars of the white moth! As you can see the mission bore great success.

I realised my current method for stopping the white moth from laying her eggs was not working. I decided to move all the brassicas under the netting I had put up to keep the birds from getting to my tomatoes.

Now in thinking about this I have come to realise that this may not be so great either. As during the day I usually drop two areas of the netting to create openings that hopefully will not let birds in but bees can come in and pollinate. (I have done some hand pollination). If I leave these openings the white cabbage (thought her babies eat all brassicas so she will lay her eggs on any) moth can also enter. Sigh. Back to the planning board.

A lot of people do not like leaving their gardens to self seed. I am quite happy doing this. I do not let everything and I do pull things out as I need to. I love letting any of the Allium family flower and go to seed. The leek flower heads are also attracting so many bees.

Capsicums (peppers) these were in a punnet that for some reason I just grabbed in December from the local hardware shops nursery. I usually do not purchase any vegetable seedlings from them. The one on the right is in the asparagus bed which is more shaded than the other two which are in the tomato bed, They are only about six feet apart, but such a difference. The one on the left is twice the size of the other two and has capsicums forming well. The other two have heaps of flowers but I am not expecting huge if any capsicums to develop.

Along with the capsicums, in another bed where the Sea Holly grows are some chiles. I have no idea what sort, nor what is going on with them. See photo below. It looks like something has been having a try at eating it. On the other side it has scratch marks. Mystery plant mystery as to what is going on.

When I was in the vegetable garden I realised that some of the tomatoes were beginning to go a bit reddish. That will mean the birds will be wanting to get them. I popped tow bird wire cylinder around them and I am pondering if the birds will still try and pop on down into the area. I may have to cover the tops with some netting and hand pollinate the flowers that are still appearing. You can see the protection below. I have used bent wire to pin them down.

In the right of this photo below you can see the self sown sun flower. It is growing and I may end up with at least one. Which would make me so happy.

In the back ground You can see the brassica bed. The Kale on the left of picture the dark green is tall and very healthy. On the right is silverbeet going to seed. The green bending plant is seed of the silverbeet.

On the 9th Feb I sowed some beetroot seeds and carrots in areas of the vegetable garden. I also sowed several cabbage seeds. I left them in small seedling pots on the deck. I was so pleasantly surprised to see some of them have already germinated. I am hoping that they can go in the garden and perhaps the cabbage moth will not be about to lay eggs.

My intention is to sow some carrots in pots on my deck and perhaps some carrots too. I am going to plant more in the veggie garden.

I cleared out the garlic and coriander bed, putting some old manure on it. I have to work out what I will plant there next.

I noticed this week in one of my smallish pots on the deck a couple of broad beans are growing well. I intend to plant more about so will put some about the vegetable garden

I am so thankful for my garden, and to be able to spend time with nature. I am grateful for the bees that come in to collect pollen for their own needs. That the insects, spiders, lizards, frogs, all the creatures that make their home in and about my gardens are here.

I am thankful for the garden producing food some of which I had for in my dinner tonight.

With the addition of garlic and spring onions from my garden, the only purchased items for my meal were two eggs. So my delicious meal cost me a whole $1.10.

The blackberries grow on my boundary, in a hedgerow. It is a wonderful season for the blackberries this year.

blessings to you all, Tazzie.

February 15, 2020 8

New Years Garden Update.

I have been attempting to get the Vegetable(veggie ) garden going well this year. I am proud of what I have achieved so far. It is a very strange summer 40dC one day down to 17dC the next is it any wonder my garden is a bit all over the place.

I have shared before I am not a organised or brilliant gardener. My garden is very much like me. A bit all over the place, so we suit each other.

When I first began veggie growing here. I chose a north west facing area. Some thing went brilliantly for the first couple of years and than it was just to much heat and sunshine for them, So that area went when I needed to put in a new french drain.

The area I now use was begun the year I had my breakdown. Over the time since then I have got things going but generally they just had to look after themselves. Understandably a lot of things did not make it. The Onions in the wheelbarrow did as did the peach and crab apple, blueberries and hazelnuts. Some of the other fruit trees have not done very well. Though a couple like an apple I planted which has never done anything has fruited this year. .

Onions, self sown and doing OK. I am finding Acqual’egia/Columbines/Grannys bonnets, popping up all over the place and I love them. They can be a little problematic when they pop up in my little veggie beds or as in this case in the wheelbarrow. I do need to do some soil building up here and I feel that it will perhaps find a new place in the garden.

These pumpkins took quite a hit with the weather , I have given them some blood and bone and charlie carp. The new leaves are looking healthy so fingers crossed they will soon take off. My neighbours pumpkins went in later than mine and are just growing so fast. I have to admit I do have garden envy. I have another veggie gardener down the road from me. He is a gentleman almost 90 he walks every day and is out in his garden. It provides all his fruit and vegetables. I know I am not a great veggie gardener. Perhaps 2020 is my year to improve exponentially and have great harvests.

(lucky I pulled my garlic last week ) it is not my best crop of garlic but I am thankful for all I have grown.

Above These two plants I have a feeling are chilies. I planted them 2018 and they have never done anything. I have to say they are looking better this year, there is even a flower on this one. So it will be very interesting to see how they grow, and if I end up with any fruit.

Now the bed above is my three sister bed. Beans zucchini and corn. It is doing wonderfully well. The corn is an experiment for me. The beans and corn (well nearly all the corn are growing thick and solid, the beans are developing tendrils and leaves. I even have some red flowers developing on these climbing beans. I have fed them some Charlie Carp today so fingers crossed that will help them become happier. (photo underneath)

One of my blue berry bushes above. They are healthy but it is not the best crop this year. I will enjoy any I manage to get. The blackbirds have been beating me to most of my berries. Never netted them before but lost red currants and jostaberries to them.

Three sisters bed again showing the healthy beans and corns. Very happy so far with this bed.

Looks like the butternuts pumpkin is taking off, I it has more leaves all of a sudden. I am crossing everything in the hope of growing some great pumpkins this year.

Oh look one of my Ollas we are back in the 3 sisters bed. The Ollas were fantastic on the really hot day. I find them really helpful.

Above and below are two capsicum plants. Both have flowers. I am quite worried about the bottom one as it is not getting any height yet there are five flowers on it already. First time I have attempted capsicums,

Below is my zucchini I think, the labels have been blown about by the wind and the birds digging up the sugar cane looking for worms and grubs. It has begun taking off this week so I am hoping for yummy zucchinis, love them.

This poor tomato is one I accidentally broke the top off and it is finally recovering It has grown taller

Above the other tomato, oh just noticed it looks like a sunflower growing right next to it. sigh.. will have to thing about it as it would be the giant ones from last year and some of them were 9foot high with thick stems. Probably transplant is. The lettuce are picking up.

Anzac peach has so many peaches on them. I am so grateful that the super hot day did not seem to damage them. I feel that by the weekend I will be eating my own peaches. They are a white one.

My half barrels are evolving , finally the corn flowers I planted from seed are flowering. Another great flower, and makes a lovely pop of colour in a vase. Also in here are parsley which looks to have gone straight to seed. Also a small nastutium, I am hoping it is the red one, I took a cutting off last year, and vaguely recall popping it in here to see if it would grow.

Another plant I could not grow up until this year the marigold. I took a cutting from out side the local library(they have a garden, with herbs and flowers some silver beet. You can help yourself). It is flowering now and growing. The borage that you can see is tiny. Self seeded. I do hope that the seeds have spread further afield. Bees adore borage flowers and great added to salads.

I love this part of my garden, it is always a bit of a work in progress, to make it better for the birds to access the bird bath. I think I will move the salvia right next to it as it is one that grows super high and bushy. It will cut my view of the bird bath. I have lovely photos I will share of the birds, that visit my garden.

Sweet peas continue to flower and they are a favourite these ones are perfumed so beautifully I put them in my toilet. Beats artificial sprays.

January 1, 2020 20

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