A Sanity Day

Yesterday I took a day off work to relax and get my sanity back in balance.

And what did I do?


Washing, wash-up dishes, bake cookies, bake cake, bake bread, make yogurt, clean house, gardening, embroidery while watching Alys Fowler's 'The Edible Garden' and spent time with my kittens. I feel happily grounded, sorted and neatened again.



I found nasturtium flowers growing on my young plants, as well as three gorgeous big sunny, yellow ones on my zucchini plant. I grabbed a paintbrush and attempted to assist the pollination process with the zucchinis. I sure hope it helps because I'm dying to get some vegetables growing.


We finally bought a mower so our yard now looks like a lawn rather than a meadow. I preferred the wild meadow style until a particular weed with little seeds that attach to everything started getting out of control. We now have a small mountain of grass clippings and no compost to put them on.

Jam drops with difference conserves -
raspberry, cape gooseberry & fig with ginger

Today's Harvest

Four Lemon Drop Tomatoes and a Tigerella

Pesto... Not made for a jar!

Ahhhhh. As I type up this entry I am licking my chops in satisfaction.

I have just eaten a lunch of homemade pesto and pasta. Frankly, I intend to never eat bottled pesto again.

With a food processor or stick blender (with appropriate attachments) you can pick and chooses your own flavors and have a scrumptious pesto in literally minutes. I love the way my pestos are more chunky and much less oily than store bought ones too.

Usually, if I'm doing a Q&D pesto, I grab basil from the garden, cashews from the pantry, grated cheese from the fridge and drizzle olive oil before whizzing the lot together.

Today I added some sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds and was certainly not disappointed with the results!! I think in the future I may try adding in some of my fresh oregano with the sundried tomato to see how that works. Yeah!

Ode to the First Homegrown Tomato

g r o w i n g ..... impatience
g r o w i n g ..... anticipation

little golden globe
mouth-smoooosh
delectable tang on the tongue

love at first bite.

But the Produce is More Lovely!

Though I am appreciating the wild beauty of weeds in my yard, I am loving the fruit and vegetables in it much more!


This little capsicum was only just bigger than my fist, and the only one grown on the plant. But it was my first time to grow a capsicum fully until it was red on the plant. I harvested this little guy earlier this week and put him on a homemade pizza, with scone base, baked sweet potato, basil, onion and bacon.


I bought three basil plants for $4 at the bayside markets, a real bargain! I planted them amongst two of my tomato plants to try to tempt the bugs away, sacrificial basil. I've used some on the abovementioned pizza but also made homemade fresh pesto twice now. A handful of basil leaves, a handful of cashews, a sprinkling of parmesan (or pizza cheese if you run out of parmesan as I did today!) and a dash of olive oil. Process the lot for 20 seconds on low then 10 seconds on high and you have a pesto that beats any store bought one hands down.



Last year my mulberry tree went OFF and, again, this year, it hasn't disappointed! Every 2nd morning I duck out before work to pluck down those ripe berries that I can reach. I then spend a few moments staring at the ones near the top of the tree and regret that I have to leave them for the birds! At first I ate them like there was no tommorrow- with yogurt and by themselves at lunch times. Then I decided I should freeze them and try to make a jam or conserve (and a cordial if I have enough leftover). So I have a substantial harvest set aside and frozen for this....

Of all the things I've harvested from my garden recently the peas were the most unexpected. The seeds had germinated almost overnight in a seedling tray and mini greenhouse. Then the plants shot up in a way that gave a new appreciation for the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk!

I replanted them outside only to later read that peas should be planted where they are to grow. I watched as they struggled and slowly turned a sickly yellow green. By the time they had reached a mostly yellow tinge I had completely given up on them.

But one morning, while watering the tomatoes and basil beside them I noticed something green amongst the faded leaves of a plant. A pod! My heart thrilled, I realised there were pods on most of the small dwarf plants. A week later I harvested the small number of pods (about 12 in total), realising that the plants had done as much as they could given my poor care. Each pod only had one or two seeds but they were so sweet, fresh and lovely! It was a delight.

The Weeds in my Garden Are Beautiful

This month, the 'weeds' in my yard have been in bloom with the coming of Spring.

From blues to oranges, bright yellows and pinks.

I have been in love with my weeds.

Trials and Error

Attempt #1
My first attempt at growing plants from seeds were cornflowers. I love the stunning colour of the blooms of the cornflower plant. It is rare to see a seedling plant at Bunnings so they seemed like a good option for my first try.

I used cheap potting mix in seedling trays with no protection.


It was a delight to watch the little seedlings pop their heads out of the soil, some with the seed husk still attached. They grew up quickly, straight and proud.

Then disaster struck in the form of a destructive kitten. I came out one morning to find 10 or so seedlings had been uprooted. Not eaten... just uprooted.

So I was much more careful about where the seedlings were left around the house. The one day I was negligent, the other kitten jumped on the box, knocking dirt and seedlings into the carpet.
The few remaining seedlings were planted out the front and back. Now, a few months on, I have 3 plants at the front and 3 at the back of the house growing.

Attempt #2

My second attempt at growing from seeds was cheap Caspicum seeds, Heartsease flowers and Catnip. Not one single seed of the Catnip germinated. Only two seeds of the Heartsease sprouted. Most of the Capsicum flourished.

To protect these little guys from destructive kittens I bought a Yates mini greenhouse seedling protector. This helped out the Capsicums but still no further growth from the catnip or Heartsease.
Then I went on honeymoon and our house/kitten sitter forgot to water everything. When I came back most of the capsicums had wilted beyond repair. The tray was put outside to get some sun and aphids got in and ate the leaves off the remaining capsicum seedlings.

Total failure.

Attempt #3
I bought a 2nd seedling protection greenhouse and planted a variety of seeds, including Dwarf Peas, Marigolds and Forget-Me-Nots.

The peas grew faster than I would have imagined and were transplanted into a planting box with pea-sticks (aka sticks from the trees in my front yard!). They no longer seem to be thriving so well, though they have started flowering in the last few days.


This could be due to the fact that peas are supposed to be planted where they are to grow rather than in seedling trays.

The Marigolds and Forget-Me-Nots are doing well enough though their growth seems laboured compared to the speedy zoom of the peas.


Attempt #4

During my last Bunnings visit I was distracted by the seedling mix. I considered why people would use a specialised mix instead of just potting mix. It seemed that seedling mix was finer, alowing tiny and weak roots to penetrate the soil more easily. The potting mix I had been using was closer to compost with large pieces of bark and organic matter in it.

So I bought a coir-peat block and spent some time yesterday afternoon expanding this and filling some seedling trays with the smaller-grained stuff.

I planted out Diggers 7 colour capsicum mix, leftover Heartsease seeds and some Cut-and-Come-Again Lettuce seeds.

I'm excited to be trying something new and will be interested to see how successful it is.