Early Summer - Newly Mown Lawn & Harvesting a Fig.

5 December - sunny day with strong wind. Had to secure Figgy to stakes in case its branches break.
6 - 7 December - sunny days with mild breezes - 28 deg celsius
6 December - sprayed diluted full cream milk onto grapevine, kao kee, pak choy, hydrangea infected with mild powdery mildew.

I had to water the garden all these few sunny days.  This is  important because we have just mown the lawn and trimmed the lawn edges and I have to keep it from drying out too much in the sun.  The bare patches on the lawn are filling up with new growth and looking beautiful again.

I also dusted some pesticide on the front lawn two weeks ago as we found some African black beetles. They feed on the roots of grass, mainly Kikuyu. We have Buffalo Sapphire but I reckon if they are hungry, they will eat the roots of our grass as well, cause the grass to die and therefore bare patches.

The beetles were good specimen for us to study during homeschool.  We also caught stink bugs on our eggplant, white cabbage butterflies and caterpillars on our pak choy and grapevine moth caterpillars on our grapevine.

I found a few egg clusters on the pak choy this week. I left one cluster in a plastic tub and they hatched into some ant-like insects with wings. I have no idea what they are but I do believe they are good bugs.

I thought I have settled the possum problem for good but I still found nipped off plum tree shoots and peach leaves on our lawn. How frustrating! I am wondering if some flying animal visits our garden at night and did this. Gardening isn't an easy hobby. It takes a lot of brain power. Surely a hobby that helps keep human beings from dermentia.

At least I got to harvest our first fig from Figgy. Very big and sweet but a little dry (due to my under-watering). I was really upset with my dog on Sunday because he toppled my pixzee peach tree and ate one of the two beautiful pink peaches on it. The other peach dropped off and I had to throw it away. They were of good size but not ripe yet. I waited for one whole year and now I don't get a single pixzee peach!

Big Fig on the front garden has finally produced a fig!!! 

And the cut branch has produced new buds and leaves. It is possible to trim deciduous trees in spring or summer.

 We have been harvesting strawberries almost every day.  

This is one of my silvery fir tomato plant. Lots of tomatoes and I sighted one ripening already.

 The golden sheen hedge has been trimmed too. It was a lot of work! The corn patch is doing well. We could harvest sweet corns soon.

The is eggplant hand-grafted bonica which I bought from Bunnings and planted on the front garden. I was impatient waiting for my eggplant seedlings to germinate. The weather was really too cold to help with germination.  I would lose a lot of time. Hopefully I get some eggplants this year. The ladyfinger plants are very hopeless. They are only 5cm tall at the moment.

Spring is Almost Here.

Last night, our little family went to Bunnings to get some roundup and stuff as we are planning to poison our weeds and grass to make way for a brand new lawn which is to die for. I also came across a flowering plant with such gorgeous blue flowers. It was so irresistible that hubby gave me the go ahead to buy two pots. Even he liked them. See the two brightest blue pot of flowers? They are the senetti. I have not decided where to plant them yet. Seems tempting to plant next to the blue daisies.

Out of our main door, the pittosporum golden sheens are growing well. I am looking forward to cutting their 'hair' in spring because I am looking forward to seeing them bush up.

Out of my bedroom window this morning, I snapped a nice picture of my french lavender as the sun rises over my neighbour's roof. How wonderful to wake up to this picture right out of your window.

And just as planned, the peach tree out of my bedroom window is flowering pink! Unfortunately and yet predictably, we have few blossoms this year due to pruning before and after planting. It's okay, next year will come!

Stir-fry Black Pepper Beef (Recipe)

Still about yesterday. Son was using the computer while I had a look out of my front garden. The rain was a cool refreshing change. The patch where there is a rose shrub and dying-down calla lilies...that still requires further work. I plan to plant hydrangeas or kangeroo paws and some other flowers. It is too boring at this moment. However, hubby wants me to take my time as I am burning up my budget every month! The pittosporum golden sheens are doing well but I wish they would grow bushier faster and taller! The sweet potato creepers among the sheens are doing great :

The two white nettings are where my other two tomato silvery firs are planted. Doing great. In the foreground are my sanorita and vietnamese mint in pots.

Two conifers flank the small gate. My eureka lemon in that square patch.

The yellow capsicums harvested and spanish (red) onions ready for my beef stir-fry.

Two slices of blade beef steak sliced into thin pieces.

Onions and capsicum fried in ready-to-use black pepper sauce (which I bought). Add beef. Fry till cooked. No need to add water.

Sick days.

Okay. I have been sick for two weeks. Coughing really badly especially in the nights. Hardly had the energy to do much. Sometimes when that burst of energy comes, I will be out in the garden doing work...just whatever is required. Noticed that the strawberry delight in the pot has flowered.

Hubby and I worked on this little bare patch a week back - sown some grass seeds and sprinkled potting mix, watered..and the grass is growing. We have many other small bare patches to work on.

This is the second season for my capsicum in the pot. It has gone through one winter and survived it. Now it is flowering and fruiting.

Many things are happening in spring. One of the most obvious is my little bay plant. Many new leaves burst into existence.

Strangely my lemon verbena is having rusty-looking leaves. Not sure why.

My peach (pixzee) has put on a handful of peaches but they are really congested. Not much chance to further develop with that small space. I thinned the fruits.

Despite giving fungal spray in winter, some leaves are having leaf curl. I plucked off and dispose them. More spray next winter.

Just fed my golden sheens with charlie carp and cleared any growing weeds near them. They are doing fine in that good soil.

Apricot (Moorpark) is not doing too well after planting it into the ground. Somehow I already had the feeling that it would not do well. I am too lazy to uproot it again. If it has to die, I will buy a new one this winter.

Been harvesting snow peas recently. Been sick of eating them too. Haha...

Golden Sheen Pittosporum and Cyclamens

I am back in Singapore catching up with family and relatives. Had a bit of time to spare to update my blog while my boy is busy playing with all his cousins. What a wild time they are having. Here's a close-up of my golden sheen pittosporum. If this hedge is successfully grown over the next few years, I think it would be a really nice natural fence cum wind-break : The three pots of cyclamens which I planted into Patch 5 (shady spot) are doing well. The flowers are still looking good. I hope they will survive the summer heat (heavily mulched) and produce new corms underground and new flowers next autumn/winter :

Work at New House

Before I fly off again after moving into my new place, there are lots of work to do. One of it is pruning my pittosporum golden sheens, watering and fertilising it since it is spring. This is how they look like after my job, a few of them are shorter than the rest as I did not bother to measure using a string. :P

Although I have sown some tomato seeds recently but I do not have the feeling that they will work out. Feelings can be very true at times. Sometimes when my gut tells me that it wont work, it really wont, and sometimes when my gut tells me that it will, it will. Anyway, that made me buy a pot of beef steak tomato from Kmart and planted it into the new vege patch 1.

I spent a bomb at Kmart buying pots of flowers for the patch in front of the garage : Diosma Sunset Red, Candy Tuft, Annabel dwarf marguerite daisy, Blue Marguerite.

I planted them into the patch in front of the garage, plus one pot of rosemary which I have propagated and a pot of oregano which I hope will become some sort of edible groundcover. Thyme is another candidate which I am still considering about. It will take time and care before the patch be transformed into a nice flower and herb area. The front portion has yellow daffodils and I intend to plant King Alfred daffodils to another portion so that there is contrast in heights of all the flowers and herbs :

The three 'uprooted' snow pea plants (below) have been planted into Patch 2 of my new backyard.

Hope they survive the transplanting shock :

I also bought three pots of strawberry. Pretty leaves.

Had two planted into Patch 3 :

And the third one into a pot :