Lots of Showers! Another 300 Litres!

Showers these few days...collected 300 litres again - front and backyards combined! Just right when the previous batch of collection was almost finished! Okay, I dont want anymore rain. The peach tree on this rental property has already put on new buds, dripping with rain water.

Are these clover or chickweeds? They are growing very well. I wish I have a goat. It will surely eat up all these for me.

The two rosemarys grown from some roadside cuttings...doing very well putting on new shoots but this specie has very fine leaves.

One (below) of the three pots of rosemarys propagated from the original plant. This one has not got any powdery mildew and putting on new shoots. Somehow I love propagating rosemarys because I feel a sense of achievement when I succeed as they are challenging to propagate.

I have forgotten to cover my vietnamese mint/laksa plant but well they seem to not mind the cold rain and cold nights. They are the easiest to grow in my garden - root easily, steady-growers, non-demanding and pest-free.

The lone spinach (below) has put on more leaves...slowly.

The snow pea seedlings are getting a little sunshine here and there this morning. With the rain, I can only open up the covers in the morning and replace the covers in the evening.

Likewise for the oriental radishes. I open their covers in the morning.

The three snow peas in the green house are growing well. I have to transfer them to the ground soon. When the rain goes.

My spring onions grown from bulbs have been producing a few rounds of harvest...I am too lazy to harvest cos I am not sure what to do with it...

These (below) are spring onions from seeds...Organic seeds...

The original pot of rosemary and the two babies looking like white christmas trees because I have drenched them with fungicide. Hope the powdery mildew wont return!

The Life of My Nasturtiums

I sowed the nasturtium seeds on 22 Feb this year (2009). When they sprouted, the seedlings looked really pale and sickly and they grew into rather sickly-looking plants. However, today, still in the same pot they have started out, they are producing many gorgeous orange and yellow blossoms. Everything from the plant is actually edible and can be used in salads...but I am not trying...haha

The picture below was taken right after I returned from Tasmania. The pot was growing so well from neglect :P.

I love nasturtiums for their beautiful round leaves. My son and I love dropping water on these glossy waterproof leaves...the water droplets look like silver mercury rolling about on the leaves. We can play game with the leaves...haha...

The picture below was taken before my Tasmania trip. The pot was not doing fantastically well. I had put it under netting as they are prone to aphids attack.

The picture here shows the young nasturtiums doing a bit better after addition of vermicompost from my worm farm.

This picture shows how pathetic looking the seedlings were in the beginning.

Pruning My New Apricot Moorpark.

Another gloomy day. Not as windy but forecast to have storm and hail later part of the day. My boy is attending a holiday children's programme organised by my church these few days. I did a bit of the sponsorship job behind the programme and it was rather challenging. Hope that the programme will truly impact the children in a positive manner.

_________________________

Now it is time for me to have a break without much distraction. I have some time alone doing work without having my maternal instinct switched on, always being on the lookout in case he trips and falls here or there. I miss him and hope he will not wander out of the hall without any supervision. Did not want him to go at first as he is not even 4 yet but I decided that I would let go and trust God for his safety. I repotted the aloe vera again. Even though Hubby has drilled more holes in this green shallow planter, the drainage still did not improve. Then I remember Kelvin Hendreck's book saying that the height of containers/pot depth make a lot of difference to the wetness of the potting mix. Average wetness is greater when it is in a shallow pot than when it is in a tall pot. The aloe vera has grown definitely but now it has this slight purplish tinge on it....strange by me. Hope it will not die on me especially when I saw several pups developing. Some gardener says they thrive on neglect...I wonder!

This is the Apricot Moorpark before pruning.

I bought a pair of cheaper pruners yesterday and after reading on this topic, experimented on the large already bald peach tree and then went for the apricot tree. Haha I was procrastinating pruning the apricot tree for fear that I will damage it but I did prune it after all! It was not too bad. Now only time will tell if I have indeed done the right job!

Another branch after pruning.

My poor rosemary plants are still having powdery mildew. Perhaps the fungicide prepared a while back has lost its effectiveness. I prepared a new bottle and practically drenched the plant with fungicide. It is so strange since I hardly water them and do not practise overhead watering. Wont be eating them for a while!

Seedlings' Update - Spring Onion, Purple Buk Choy, Oriental Radish, Snow Pea.

Possums are a huge problem for me as a gardener since I am renting a house next to a reserve with many tall trees and bushes. They are here every night and I can hear them moving on my roof. While they are cute creations, they are not very welcomed visitors for me. My spring onion seedings have all germinated under partial shade after sowing 16 days ago. Looking forward to spring onion omelette. I love the thin spring onions because they cook easier for omelettes.

My oriental radishes are growing rather slowly thanks to the gloomy weather and thus they have not been receiving much sunshine. I have them protected under plastic containers at night but I am already working on large proper covers for them once they develop more. Keeping my brain juice churning! In my previous batch of oriental radishes, they grew very fast and leafy but their leaves were practically eaten away by some mysterious bugs/creatures when I went holidaying in Tasmania. See their gorgeous leaves here. And when I returned 2.5 weeks later, it was like this.

The snow pea seedlings are getting me a bit concerned. They are growing well. It is just that they could be eaten up again. My whole purple king bean plant was eaten up without a trace. Now that the snow pea seedlings are still small, they are protected as I do with the oriental radishes and buk choy. But when they grow taller and bigger, I have to figure out a way to protect them at night. I cant camp out in the garden. Erecting a scarecrow is another idea but I think whoever visiting in the night is quite clever to see through my plot. I thought of using chicken wire to wrap around the growing pea plants but they prove not very flexible, and with the holes, the pea plants can still be destroyed. Then I thought of plastic sheets. Perhaps I can try that since they have no holes and are very flexible to go around the pea plants. Moreover, my pea plants are a mildew-resistant specie, so I need not worry about this problem with them all wrapped up at night.

The purple buk choys will suffer similar fate as the oriental radishes if not taken care of, so I will probably use covers for them once they grow bigger. They get pest problems such as caterpillars and aphids. I reckon pyrethrum sprays will have to be used on the leaves of the radishes and buk choy once aphids start coming.

Strong Winds and Some Rain.

Tuesday. It has been very windy today and will be tomorrow as forecasted. 45km/h. My taller plants such as the calamondin, kaffir lime and cayenne pepper in pots were swaying under the mercy of the wind. I have erected plastic sheets around them to ease the stress. Hopefully this will help preventing any casualty. I had all the pots against the tall wooden fence a while back where they can get sunshine but it proves to be a bad windbreak area.

Calamondin protected by two layers of plastic sheets.

Kaffir lime and a small pot of mint surrounded by a sheet of plastic.

Vietnamese mint covered by a large towel with a plastic sheet on top.

Newly potted apricot Moorpark and fig brown turkey taking shelther in the garage against strong winds, rain and possible possum visits.

Would love to have more rain as water collected from the previous round has been almost used up. However, I do not welcome the wind at all. Gardening over here is rather challenging...up against droughts, heat waves, strong winds and cold weathers. And possums too. Seriously looking forward to moving to my new place. At least I dont expect to see many possums there.