Spring Harvest & Flowers and Aphid Control

24/25 October 2011 - Cloudy and drizzly.
25 October 2011 - Pioneer bean plants (sown much earlier) emerges.
25 October 2011 - Sown more water spinach/kang kong seeds in pots.
26 October 2011 - Sunny day
26 October 2011 - Loads of aphids on the underleaves of artichokes.
27 October 2011 - Warm spring day.
28 October 2011 -  Warm and windy day. Rains expected in the evening.  It's our 11th wedding anniversary! Off to have a nice meal!

Yesterday was a warm spring day.  My boy and I spent early morning watering the front garden.  I took the advice of one very helper gardener/blogger, Scarecrow, and blasted the under-leaves of my artichoke plants.  Their leaves were virtually coated with green aphids :

There were also lots of tiny winged insects which I strongly believe are lace-wings. However, I did not take chances and blasted all of them off the leaves. I was amazed at what a strong jet could do. Fortunately I have invested in a few fantastic nozzles. When I examined the plants later, they had most of the insects removed. They were on the ground so I decided to spray them with soap solution, in case they crawl up the plants.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck preening his feathers on the fence.

It was also a wonderful day watching the mynahs and spotted necked pigeons come feed in our garden. Oh I can stand at the kitchen window just watching these creatures. I told my son I wish I could stroke the pigeon in my hand but I know he/she would just feel feathery haha...

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck balancing on the plate for seeds. Very funny to watch.

Mr/Mrs Spotted Neck decided to have a sun-bath.

I harvested more rocket from the planter. Oh they taste so yummy with sandwiches. Even my husband and son love them :

Also harvested my son's favourite herb, Coriander. He would eat them fresh off the plant :

The few pots of herbs (Vietnamese Mint, Bay, Coriander, Thyme) are doing well bathing in morning sun daily :

We were counting lady bug babies on the peach tree. There were more than 15 of various sizes. Oh thank you lady bugs for doing a good deed feeding on the aphids!!!

The first spring rose has opened. My only rose plant, a standard, was also plagued by aphids. Thankfully, my boy discovered them and we were able to spray with pyrethrum. My husband kept 'threatening' to pull up this rose as it is useless. Of course I objected because I have pruned it into a beautiful healthy plant. Was it my imagination, it actually have a mild fragrance now! :

Pak Choy flowers. Edible, pretty, dainty and very fragrant. They attract bees :

 This year, our fig (brown turkey) 'Figgy' is looking better than ever. But it only has two figs at the moment. I yearn for more! :

 Our grevillea has beautiful curly flowers.  I am going to try get some sweet nectar, just like the honeyeaters :

 As usual, the arum lilies never fail to disappoint. Such a pretty sight :

First Strawberry Delight, Rocket & Spinach.

Hooray! I harvested my first ripe strawberry delight yesterday before going to church. Super sweet and juicy! Cant wait for more to come!

The free rocket seeds given by Bunnings have provided us with yummy salad greens for sandwiches.

Kao Kee Vegetables.  They are growing well and I harvested the tender shoots for stir-fry together with my spinach so that the plants can become bushier.

One of the many clusters of Carolina Black Rose grapes.  I gave the whole vine a good trimming so that the larger clusters can grow better :

The spinach this year is doing very well. Very big and leafy :

 Here's the basketful of spinach and the kao kee vegetables on the left :

We had the spinach stir-fried with garlic, shitake and golden mushrooms.  Hubby said 'Yummy!'.

Updates After Our Trip

Our family just came back from a week of getaway - to Mt Buller for the snow and to Sydney + Nelson's Bay.  With a hobby such as gardening, I had to do all that I could to keep it going fine before I went away.  I was happy that not one plant died on me when I came back. The pak choys and gai choy/mustard green in this patch are growing well.

My propagated strawberry plants have done well too.  Before I left, I placed pot dishes under the pots and water them well. Whatever excess water was collected in the dishes and the plants get their water throughout the week from absorbing the water in the dishes.

This is galangal ginger which I bought last autumn from the Melbourne Flower Show. I have removed their plastic protection so they would not get frosts. They dont look too good now but I am quite confident they will take off soon.

I germinated some rocket seeds which were given by Bunnings when I went shopping.

My lemongrass with its plastic protection removed.  Surely looks better than without protection.

Found a herb growing in Figgy's pot.  I thought it was a coriander but it turned out to be parsley.

I realised I am not the only gardener who uses styrofoam boxes for gardening. I used this box to place the 'Kao Kee' vegetables which I am trying to propagate. After using the leaves for soup, I made a mix of propagating sand & compost, trimmed their stems, stuck them into the mix and watered them. I covered the box with plastic and stood the box in the shade while we were away.

Here's how the stems look like. Hopefully, they will root and give me Kao Kee vegetable for soup.  I have no idea what the English name for this veg is.  I only know the dialect name for it.  It is yummy when cooked with pork liver and wolfberries.

Just found out that one of the two original green globe artichoke plants is having a flower!!!

Four of my 12 sweet corn seeds have germinated. That was very long time but I guess we didnt have much warmth to germinate the seeds with the cranky unpredictable spring weather.