The last of the Summer Crops

With the hot days drawing to an end, we are picking the last of the Summer crops.  We have eaten the last of the sweet corn, but still getting a steady supply of Chillis, Eggplant and Tomatoes. Also, the odd capsicum.

 

Through the Summer we have enjoyed, sweet juicy rockmelons straight from the garden.  We thought that these were the best thing we had grown all season.  But we were mistaken.

This week end we picked and ate our first watermelon.  What a gem - simple Delicious!   We have about another seven still ripening.  So plenty of melons to eat over the next few weeks.

We will be definitely planting more of these melons, but a little earlier next year.  Apart from that we still have some QLD Blue and Butternut pumpkins growing outdoors.

Lately we have been preparing the shadehouse for winter. At the moment it is planted out with tomates, capsicums  fresh herbs, silverbeet and strawberries.  More will be added soon.

Over the last spring and summer months, we have learnt a lot about gardening, especially the timing of planting.

We still have a lot to learn and looking forward to what the next season brings.


Jen and Rog
Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Peek a Boo

Bella looking a little sleepy

East Coast - Heatwave 2017

Vacant Koala tree

It maybe hot outside, but in the bush its nice and cool!
Alas, no Koala sightings today.

Early morning at  the top of the block

Jen and Rog
Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Grass growing season

Regular Summer rains ensure that the grass just keeps growing.

Whilst Rog is recuperating, I have taken over the responsibilities of keeping the grass under control.  This has meant learning some new skills.

First up, mastering the ride-on lawn mower, which is a small tractor in its own right. I can now re-fuel the Lawn Boss by myself, attach the trailer and perform a tricky reverse park into the shed. 

Next, I took up the line trimmer, learning how best to tackle the edges and bush that can not be reached with the mower.  

This weekend I clocked up some hours on the mower.  Starting with the grass verge, inside the front fence and then around the shed and garden. 

Until the winter dry season, I feel this will be an ongoing weekly task.  Nevertheless, it is a satisfying when the end result looks good.

Jen and Rog

Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Photos by Roger and Jennifer Holt

Garden 2 - Beans and other vegetables

It has been almost four weeks since we planted beans, sweet corn, pumpkins, cucumbers and various melons in Garden 2.

Beans and Sweet Corn

Melons and Cucumbers

The veggies are going at a good pace but we still have to wait a bit longer before we can enjoy the fruits of our labour.

Jen and Rog

Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Photos by Roger and Jennifer Holt

Update - Garden 2

Today, New Year's Day 2017, we checked the gardens as is our routine and found that the beans and corn we planted on 27 December 2016 had sprouted.

Day old bean sprout

Sweet corn sprout

Meanwhile, the original garden (Garden 1) is still producing beans, basil, silver beet, squash, tomatoes, rocket, carrots and a few other items.

Rock melon and a Roma Tomato

We have been getting a few rock melons, these are very sweet and we have been having them Spanish style, a slice of rock melon topped with a slice of the locally smoked ham as an entree.

We found a "before" photo of the area where garden 2 is now located, compare it with the recent photo.

July 2016

January 2017

The introduced exotic plants (rhododendron and morning glory), an obsolete above ground pool and several steel poles (to be recycled as fence posts) were removed.

Jen and Rog

Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Photos by Roger and Jennifer Holt

First Planting of Garden 2

We arrived at Honeydale a few days before Christmas to the sight of several trees that had fallen during a storm the previous night.  That night we had another storm so the following morning the chainsaw and the woodchiper came out.  

Removing fallen trees was not included in the plan but it had to be done.  We returned to the main task of completing the garden fence which was duly completed.  The tractor came out and we ripped the new garden, given the boring name of “Garden 2.”  The soil pH was tested and dolomite applied as the soil was acidic.  Compost was then spread over the two garden beds that will be planted out.  The ripper was exchanged for the rotary hoe and the compost mixed in with the soil.

Two garden beds were marked out and prepared, slightly raised for better drainage and the reticulation installed.  The new reticulation valve station was completed and the reticulation for Garden 1, the original vegetable garden, was tidied up.  Having prepared the garden beds and a working reticulation system it was time to plant out the two garden beds.

Jenny watering the seeds

In Bed 2.1 we planted four different types of beans and sweet corn.  In Bed 2.4 we planted pumpkins, zucchini, melons and cucumbers.  All these plants can tolerate the heat that we expect to get in January and February.  If things go well we should be harvesting in March and April.

Beds 2.2 and 2.3 have been left fallow so the vines from the pumpkins and melons can ramble without overrunning other plants.

Jen and Rog

Email: honeydaleqld@gmail.com

Photos by Roger and Jennifer Holt