Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Garden Is Coming To Life

It is early Dec and my vege garden is starting to take on the look of a very productive home potager.  The flowers are still to come but the veges, cane fruit, bees and fruit trees are growing strongly.

My hive collapsed in October and I decided to take a break from trying to raise bees. It is no simple practise believe me, every which way you turn there is varroa, american foul brood and hunger or lack of food. But funny things happen, it was a sunday and I was out gardening when I heard bee activity and noticed a few bees buzzing around my empty hive. Later that day I found a swarm of gorgeous yellow bees had decided to make my hive their new home.  I have fed them up with plenty of sugar syrup and they seem very much at home. My bees that died out were very dark bees and really angry so it is wonderful to have friendly yellow bees who are happily visiting my strawberry patch, raspberry patch and the flowers on the fruit trees. They love the citrus out the front and so do all the bumblebees.  We seem to have several different types of bumbles, some very small ones and then a species that is huge and very noisy.  I love their sound.

I am confident I will have tomatoes this year. Dave and I build a double height raised bed with purchased garden soil and the tiny plants I grew on and some I sowed myself are really getting some height in only three weeks. And loaded with flowers.
Cabbage, cauli, celery and rocket gone to seed.
Tomatoes, lettuce and baby pak choi


Strawberries, spring onions, caulis, lettuce

Currants and potatoes in the foreground, an espaliered pear in the background with a cherry to the right.

Red raspberries in foreground and orange raspberries in background


And yes we even have a pair of ducks that visit all day, every day. At first I wanted rid of them but now I find myself feeding them and checking they are still around every day. 
The orange raspberries got badly effected by mould right at the onset of the season, I sprayed with an organic fungacide but they have been knocked backed.


In the spare bathroom an art deco print

A noticeboard in spare bathroom with postcards from the 1930's
three framed faces in our ensuite

Art Deco oversized art in kitchen
 Added a couple of new bits of art to the inside of the house. It has been a real trial and error for me to feel satisfied with some rooms.



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