We went away for a five-week holiday and came back, right in the middle of the heat wave. Thankfully, the damage was minimal. I was actually so happy to see my plants/trees again, though lots of tall weeds welcomed me too! After the heat went away, Paul (hubby) and Samuel (my first son) and I started the weeding work in the back garden. Some weeds were as tall as 1 metre.
Okay here's the update on some of my edibles. The Trixzee Pixzee peach tree produced a surprising number of peaches again this year. We did not get to eat a single peach last two years as our dog ate all the unripe ones. After our last house move (autumn 2014), we planted the tree into the ground in winter and I protected the tree with some plastic mesh. I did not notice a lot of flowers in spring but when I returned in Jan, I found many peaches... probably 20. I decided not to thin them this time. This morning, one fell off the tree, still small but soft. I cut it open and ate it with my boys. Thumbs up! Sun-ripened sweetness and clingstone-free!
Here's my ginger! It's about 40 centimetres tall. I planted a piece of ginger (that was showing some green buds) in early spring. It was in a large pot at a corner of my deck that constantly received sunshine in the day. I also protected the pot with good translucent plastic. Towards summer, the plastic protection was removed. When I left, there was no sign of life. When I came back, the ginger shoots have grown! I have tried growing edible ginger twice so far and both times they were successful. However, they don't survive the winter and probably rot away underground. So, I have not successfully harvested any ginger stem for use so far. Hopefully I will this time!
Tomatoes. Alright, I am no great fan of raw tomatoes but I love them well-cooked in soups. But I was convinced to buy these two vines from Bunnings when I visited one centre. Before I left for my holiday, they were started to flower but after five weeks, lots of fruits. And these tomato sweet grapes are really sweet and juicy to munch on!
I wouldn't mind crunching on a few each day!
One cold morning, I noticed these two tawny frogmouths roosting on the large branch of the silky oak tree in our back garden. The boys and I were really excited! Months ago, one roosted on the stool at one corner of our deck. We are definitely happy to see more!
The frogmouths spent the day cuddling and cosying up to each other. They really have good leg strength, sitting on that branch whole day long and at times very still.
I am thankful that my friends (Keng and Ad, who stayed over regularly) have been feeding the birds loose bird seeds in a pot on and off. As they could not be at home (like I do since I am a home-maker), this resulted in many spotted neck pigeons congregating on my deck. About 10 come regularly now, from the initial four. I am trying to make them go away as I do not appreciate their voracious appetite (they hardly stop eating) and pooing all over my deck. I came back from grocery shopping early last week and hanged a new seed block. And then I heard the familiar calling sound of the beautiful king parrot one evening. And Ahhh! Here he/she comes! We hope to see the rainbow lorikeets (which we hear in the trees and flying past) and the eastern rosella (which I have not yet since our holiday) come to feed too.
