Pumpkins!

This year I decided to grow pumpkins, I popped in 2 Musquee de Provence and 2 Jarrahdale seeds. I had no idea how invasive they are, they have literally taken over half of the garden, but saying that they have been fairly productive. The Jarrahdales have produced 4 large pumpkins in total with a couple more on the way and the Musquee de Provence sadly only produced one, but it is the biggest pumpkin I have ever seen, so I can't complain too much, we will be eating pumpkin soup all Winter.

When planting pumpkins I followed the general rule of planting good quality seeds in a heaped mound of well composted soil, I planted 2 seeds for every mound and once they were a decent size I would remove the weakest plant and leave the strongest to grow. A lot of gardeners "play bee" by taking a soft brush and hand pollinating flowers, I didn't have too many problems with pollination as we had an abundance of bees. The only problem I encountered was fruit yellowing and then dropping off the vine, this also seemed to happen with my zucchini's. I only watered them a few times a week and and a little extra on the days that were extremely hot, I have found pumpkins to be quite drought tolerant. Next year I will try Butternuts (they are considered a squash, but in Australia they are often referred to as pumpkins) and maybe something more exotic like Turks Turban. Happy Gardening!

Sunflowers

I have my first ever sunflower growing tall and proud in my little veggie garden. It is so cheery and bright you just cannot miss it. I planted quite a number of them, but sadly I grew quite impatient and pulled them all out except for 2, now I am kicking myself for not having some self control and patience. As the saying goes "all good things come to those who wait" next year I am definitely going to be patient and watch these beautiful flowers grow into tall majestic golden suns. Happy gardening.

Happy Christmas and New Year!

Wishing everybody a very happy Christmas and New Year! See you all in 2011 for more gardening stories!

My Veggie Garden!

Hot Summer Days!

The weather has been a little warm over the last few weeks and I must confess to becoming a little lazy due to the heat, it has made me quite lethargic and not terribly interested in doing much at all.  The veggies are growing in front of my eyes and the bugs are eating them just as quickly, I have succumbed to spraying Dipel (a bio insecticide) that only kills caterpillars, and is safe for bees, lady bugs and other flying insects, sadly it doesn't kill slugs or snails that seem to be everywhere and are eating their way through all forms of plant matter (they are even happy to munch on rhubarb leaves which I thought were poisonous!)
On the other hand the tomatoes I planted are laden with fruit and now I am waiting for them all to turn a glorious cherry red, fingers crossed this might be my best year at growing tomatoes. I have mainly all heirloom varieties and some "tommy toes".  I am a little perplexed with the green zebra tomatoes, how will I know when to pick them? If anyone has grown them before I would love some tips!

Mini Roma Tomatoes

The hot weather is even affecting the animals I spotted Milo flat out and sound asleep enjoying the cool afternoon breeze wafting by on the veranda!  Happy gardening and happy holidays!

Christmas Gift Ideas!

I have been keeping a mental note of all the lovely little gift ideas that I spot as I turn the pages of glossy magazines and treasures that I covet from afar as I read new and exciting blogs, there are just so many that spring to mind so I have narrowed it down to 10 and here they are!

1. Orla Kiely handbag from Small Acorns

2. Star fish pendant and chain from Tiffany & Co

3. Seed saving envelopes from Lark

4. Environmentally friendly re useable takeaway cup from Keep Cup

5. Resin salad servers from Dinosaur Designs

6. Bird Bath from Eva Solo

7. Organic pamper kit from Bloom

8. Hand crafted Tea lights from Wapa

9. Newspaper seedling pot maker from Heaven in Earth

10. Vintage Children's Nursery lamp from Vintage Nursery Lamps

Radishes

I love radishes! For a start their colour is so brash, the wonderful colour combination of deep pink and leaf green is so vibrant and almost "showy" for this humble overlooked vegetable and one of my favorite characters little Peter Rabbit found himself in trouble over a few radishes in Mr McGregor's garden. One of the other reasons I love radishes is that they taste great in a salad and are amazingly easy to grow. It really is as easy as scattering a handful of seeds in rows in a sunny position and daily watering to keep the soil moist and before you know it in approximately six weeks you will be pulling up baby radishes. There are quite a few varieties of radishes, I grow French Breakfast and Round Red, but the list is endless so be adventurous and try an heirloom mix of all different colours. Happy gardening!