wild life

Ladybirds and cockatoos are not the only wild life in my garden.  I won't mention the possums but they do leave their calling cards in some parts of the garden and sometimes on the car.  At the moment the lizards are hiding and there are many places for them to seek shelter from this inclement weather we have been getting.  When it is warm and sunny though, I see them scuttling along when they hear me come.  I have seen little ones and the big blue tongue variety.  When the sun comes out the birds will return.  I wonder if the crows have finished building their nests.  I have been watching one a couple of weeks ago, breaking off a long twig from the jacaranda tree and flying off with it in its beak.  The twig itself is as long as the bird but it managed somehow.  The magpies like to stand on the edge of the garden box, looking for worms, I suppose.  I was digging the soil to plant seedlings (pepper, chillies, tomatoes and eggplants) this afternoon and I found enough worms to satisfy any number of magpies.  They (magpies) are too fast for me to photograph.

morning pickings

While watering the garden I was noting what was good for picking that would be a change from parsley and silverbeet.  It seemed I have been harvesting the rampant parsley and chards, the white and colourful ones, to keep up with their prolific growth.  I am not complaining and pleased to say that there are friends willing to accept my offerings.

The flowers in the house needed changing and I was quite hungry after two hours of watering.  There were enough violets, blue and pink, to fill up a small vase and the nasturtiums, together with bluebells and jasmin make an impressive arrangement.  I love having jasmin in the house for the sweet fragrance.  The wild freesias and bluebells too give off a perfume, albeit slight.
Beneath the vigorous turnip greens I saw a hint of purplish pink.  I have yet to decide whether to have the turnip raw or cooked in a vegetable soup.  There are plenty of yacons and Jerusalem artichokes to add to the soup if that's the way to go.  The broadbeans (some of them) are the size of my thumb and would be good cooked whole in butter with a few leaves of sage for flavouring.  The snowpeas I could eat raw and that is what I have been doing as they are as good as eating a sweet fruit.  This morning pickings would provide me a couple of meals today.

lemons

Three years ago I planted this lemon tree, close enough to the fence with the intention of training the branches along the two rows of wires already fixed to the fence posts.  I have yet to find time to do this job so the lemon is growing bushy rather than espaliered.  It has produced some lovely looking lemons which shall remain on the bush until they are needed.  So far the possums have ignored the bush and I hope they will be distracted by other greener crops.  They have been grazing on the tops of the roses and a couple of parsley bushes but have ignored some other vegetables such as the snow peas and broad beans.  I can afford to spare the parsley as they are all over the place and I let them grow wherever the seeds landed.  That is a good supply of vitamin C and iron and I do not get tired of tabouleh and for that salad the lemons come in handy.

colourful freesias

The everyday commonplace freesias are making their presence felt by their sweet perfume, when you are kneeling close to a patch.  There must be millions of self sown freesias in paddocks and garden beds.  They are a hardy lot.  I am not sure if the cultivars are as strong or if they will carry their created characteristics into the next generation.  Last autumn I planted a mixed collection of freesia bulbs, not knowing what to expect.  I have been pleasantly surprised.  The colours are vibrant and the size noticeable.  There is even a double.  I hope they will come back next year looking just as good.  I will of course, lift the bulbs when the leaves die down and label and store them.  I must learn to be methodical with storing my bulbs and seeds or I will not know what I have.  Some bulbs, like the ixias, I leave in the ground and they do multiply. At the moment my wild ixias (they are wild because they seem to be able to spread themselves unchecked), are everywhere.  They are creamy with a bit of yellow, and they look marvelous when the sun shines on them. (see picture below)  Today however, it is back to wet and grey weather which I am not complaining about as the ground is starting to dry out because we have had very little rain in August.  We'll have cold days but the warmth should spring back and warm up the soil and by then I will be ready to buy eggplant and tomato seedlings.  I will buy one grafted tomato and I have picked the spot to plant it in.

 

blossoms

This time of the year we see pink and white blossoms of the stone fruits.  No exception in my garden as the peaches, nectarine and the lone apricot are all showing off their delicate flowers, attracting bees and providing a gentle buzzing sound outside.  From the house I am enjoying the view of fresh looking blossoms.  The pink of the small flat peach is just about finished but the big peach tree close to the front verandah is still full of flowers.  Last year I had to prune the tree hard as it suffered from curled leaves.  I don't know if the spraying I did in winter would prevent a recurrence.  I hope my apricot tree will give me a few more fruits and from the strength of the white blossoms I hope to enjoy a few sweet apricot in summer.