Wednesday, April 23, 2014

we're back

Back from our sojourn to Cambodia.  You can read more about that here if you're interested

We had some decent rain while we were away, about 170mm or so and a few more showers since we have been back.  The rain was great as we had been in a drought, the locals saying they had never seen it this dry... now we have some green in the grass




that aside, our guest, Mark, kept the place looking great, the garden is still alive and thriving

Kale doing well

Toni has been busy in the garden, getting the beds ready with our home made compost and planting new veggies
Garlic just planted

Peas

The citrus is starting to show a tinge of colour, much looked forward to for yummy marmalade and plenty of fruit.  The trees are well loaded this year, Oranges, Tangelos, Mandarins and Kumquats on the way

Orange Fruit with a hint of colour

Some of the new fruit we planted when we first arrived is getting close, the chocolate sapote has fruit, so we'll see how that develops.

The newer fruits we planted at the start of this year are all alive and doing well

Dragon Fruit getting a move on

Mulberry, 4 months old

Some more rain would be nice as the drought took a real toll on our dam, so to get through the typically drier winter and a predicted El Nino more would be nice before we head towards another drought !

Monday, January 13, 2014

summer

While summer is heralded by the heat, several things remind us of Summer.  Some are great, like being able to enjoy swimming in the river, some that are annoying like the noise from the Cicadas is a constant reminder of Summer.

Hatched Cicada Larva
Luckily they are only bad about once every five years when the larva come up out of the ground to mate in the trees and the snakes start to move about.  I found this Night Tiger (Brown Tree Snake) on the upstairs windowsill.

Southern Night Tiger
We caught it and released it in the bush the next day.

But Summer also brings the garden to life

Asparagus
and always brings plenty of fruit

Passion fruit and Strawberries for breakfast


Strawberry Jam
Extra strawberries made into Strawberry Jam