PALMS

In our garden we have 12 palms. They are planted in a cluster around the pool area and are all mature and tall. So tall that now when the palm fronds die it is impossible to reach them without a ladder. Two of the palms are Bangalow Palms and have self shedding leaves but the rest don't. Now if I was planting palms I would choose all self shedding varieties because it is a pain in the but to cut the dead ones off. Eventually, after a few months they break off the tree and come crashing down to earth. By this time they are very hard and dry. The palm fronds are are real nuisance. They are too big and woody for the compost and take hurculean strength to cut through them. But on saying that I do love the palms, I love laying in the pool and looking up at them and imagining being on a tropical holiday.

Up until recently the fronds used to get broken up and put into the compost or we would wait until there was a bulk garbage colection and put them out for that.

But now that I am now longer throwing garden waste into the bin (gulp) I have found a use for them.

They are the retaining sides to my no dig garden beds. As more fronds fall down I raise the sides. I am working on my third no dig garden now. All green waste like fern fronds, grass clippings and other prunings gets thrown into the bed.

Speaking of the beds, the no dig garden beds are going wonderfully. The first one I made is growing pumpkins and there are a few pumpkins growing nicely. The vines have gone crazy and are rambling everywhere.

The second no dig garden has watermelon growing. In the photo above you can see the pumpkins at the back and a watermelon plant towards the right bottom of the photo. There are more plants there no since this photo was taken. No watermelons yet but the plants are growing nicely.

The no dig beds are on the other side of the fence (not our land but a council walkway/reserve). There is no water supply other than rain but every couple of days I have been taking a bucket or two around the side and watering them. Mainly though they are going well with the little rainfall we have had.

I am so pleased with this reclaimed area being put to good use. And I am dreaming of all the pumpkins and watermelons.

M xx

GOURD BLIMEY

I have never tryed growing gourd before. So this year I brougth a packet of seeds from Eden seeds. They were easy to grow from seeds. I grew 8 seeds and planted four into the side garden.

The side garden was an unused area - tree prunings, lawn clippings etc would be thrown into this area. Soon weeds grew over the rubbish and then nasturiums grew covering the heap. Finally Guitar Dude decided this garden area would be his. So full of very short lived enthusiasm he levelled the area, weeded and dug over the soil. He dug in dynamic lifter and ocvered the new bed with mulch. Then after doing the hard work he left the garden bed for me. So in went the 4 gourd seedlings. And along with the nasturiums they have covered the area.

Some of the leaves of the gourds have powdery mildew. When it gets cooler this afternoon I am going to remove the worst affected and throw them in the rubbish bin. Then spray the plants with the mixture below. I haven't used this spray before so will let you know if it works.

1 tbs baking soda

1/2 tsp liquid soap

1 tbs oil

1 gallon water ( being of the metric era I had to look up a conversion and 1 gallon is 3.78 litres)

I have a number of gourds growing. I have no idea how big they get or what to do with them. I know people dry them and carve them and turn them into bowls and bird feeders and other ornamental things. But I don't know when to pick them or how to dry them or how to carve them. Any ideas would be welcome.

In this garden bed I have also planted 4 rhubarb plants. And they are all thriving. I am very happy about this. Growing up in Tasmania we always had rhubard growing in the garden. It seemed to love the cold and thrived down there. So I assumed that rhubarb wouldn't grow here in Newcastle and never bothered trying it. MMM - I am looking forward to rhubarb and apple pies.

And in my seed raising area I have these red kidney beans growing very quickly. Also cherry tomatoe seedslings, chilli and some more watermelon seeds too.

M xx

Creating Memories

This time of year is so very busy. We have had Christmas concerts, morning teas, presentation days at the boys schools (I have one at high school, one in primary and one in preschool) , parties ... and the list goes on. I have visited the shops more times than I would have liked buying presents, food etc. While I love this time of the year I also look forward to the pace slowing down a bit.

I really do enjoy this time of the year. The thing I enjoy the most is the creating of memories and the continuing on of traditions. I want the boys to look back on these years and have very fond memories of fun family times and warm fuzzy memories.

There are things we do year after year at Christmas time. We put up the tree and decorations as a family.

I get out all the craft things - papers, glue, glitter, stencils etc and the boys make Christmas decorations. This year the two youngest spent a whole afternoon cutting out stocking shapes and gingermen shapes and decorating them.

I have an advent calendar with a treat in it for each day of December. Each morning the boys check it.

We make lots of delicious Christmas yummy foods like rum balls, Christmas rocky road, ginger bread men. Guitar Dude is a whiz in the kitchen and often gets in there and cooks. He uses every bowl and every spoon and makes a hell of a mess but the end result is usually delicious.

Of an evening we go for walks around the area to admire everyone elses Christmas light decorations. We don't put up outside lights so we walk the streets looking and admiring other peoples homes.

The boys make or buy each other and their grandparents Christmas presents. Mr Gadget and I really want them to enjoy the giving as much as the recieving. They take this very seriously and have made some wonderful gifts over the years.

We go to Carols by Candlelight each year at the local park and watch the fireworks.

Christmas day is sometimes here with just our family, sometimes with Mr Gadgets great big family and sometimes we travel to my families. But no matter where we are santa comes and leaves them a present by the end of their beds.

The other presents are opened later in the day one by one. We read the labels and a helper hands out the presents. There is no mad rush and ripping open of presents first thing of a morning here. We play games together and eat too much.

I have such wonderful memories of Christmas and so does Mr Gadget. His favourite memory is of playing cricket, Christmas afternoon at the beach. Mine is the delicious food and family time. I dont remember any specific presents and neither does Mr Gadget. I hope our boys will have equally fond memories too when they are adults.

How do others celebrate? What special traditions do you follow?

M xx

DUKKAH

I first tasted Dukkah about a year ago. For those that have never heard of it -it is a delicious Egyptian spice blend made by mixing toasted nuts and spices. Traditionally it is eaten as a snack by dipping flat bread into extra virgin olive oil and then into the spice mix.

It is delicious!

So after a bit of experimenting I have made some for Christmas presents with a little help from my very eager assistant Super Boy.

Here is my version of the recipe.

1 cup pistachio nuts

1 cup almonds

2 tbs dried parsley

1 tbs mixed herbs

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp five spice

1 tbs coriandr seeds

Roast nuts in a hot oven for 15 min., mix often to ensure they don't burn.

Roast seeds.

Cool nuts and seeds.

Process in a food processor and combine with other herbs and spices.

Store in sterile glass containers.

This recipe made 2 1/2 jars.

M xx

little HARVEST

Well this is what it is all about.
The weeks of watching and watering and waiting for the seeds to gently unfold from the soil. Nurturing them with sunlight and water, protecting them from the cold and wind until their true leaves appear.
Trying to be patient until the little seedlings are mature enough to go it alone in the elements in the vegetable patch.
Battling the soil conditions, the snales and caterpillars, too much heat, not enough rain.
But then going out my own door and picking my own vegetables right there in my own garden. Cooking them up and an hour later eating them. I am proud of this little harvest! Not enough to feed a family of five but enough to put a smile on my dial.
The lettuce, tomatoe and parsleywent into the salad. The basil,coriander seeds,silverbeet and thyme went on the fish. Yum, yum, yum.

DELIGHTS

We have just spent the last few months redoing our front yard. It did have a lot of brick pavers with dips and big puddles when ever it rained. There was no drainage in front of the garages and since there is a gentle slope down to the garages from the driveway this wasn't good news with heavy rain. So we decided to redo the whole front yard. Drainage was fixed, old weeds and all the grass was removed. We redid the driveway with a stampled concrete finish. And I was all for having no grass what so ever at the front. Mr Gadget is far more traditional than me and thinks that front gardens must be very manicured and must have grass. So a compromise was in order.

He got some grass. I got a much bigger garden in the front and a lovely sitting area. I love this front area. It is so pretty and a beautiful place to relaxing. There are fragrant roses, and pretty cottage garden flowers.
The heavely fragrant Double Delight rose

and the gorgeous apricot Just Joey are flowering prolifically.

A hedge is growing along the front of plumbago and in front of the bricks there is another hedge of photinia. Amongst the flowers I have tomatoes, eggplants, parsley, artichokes and thyme growing happily. I have planted a few trees too - a weeping mulberry, coffee tree and magnolia. It makes me happy to see the flowers as I come home and to be able to sit out here amongst them. Everyone should have a place of indulgence and beauty and this is mine.

In the back garden I have harvested 7 beans and two cherry tomatoes! Who would have thought I would get so excited over home grown vegetables. They went into the stir fry we had for tea along with fresh oregano, parsley and sage.

With the weather warming up I have been making lots of iceblocks and icecreams for the boys. Iceblocks are simply frozen cordial or juice. The icecreams are made from powdered milk mixed with fresh fruit or vanilla essence or chocolate topping. The powdered milk is much cheaper than fresh milk and I always have some at hand for using in cooking, custards or for the kids when we run out of fridge milk.

M xx

SUNNY DAYS

Today was hot. It was hot and sunny. Being a garden lover I spend many hours outside. I am very much an outdoors person during the daylight hours, whether it is in the garden, riding our bikes to the park, walking around the lake or just sitting outside in the fresh air. I have always loved the feel of a fresh breeze and the warmth of the sun on my skin.

But now I am finding myself far more wary of being outside during the high uv hours of 10 am - 3pm. I still am outside during that time but I cover up with a wide brimmed hat, sunnies, sunscreen etc.
You see, at the beginning of this year I found a mole that was changing and had grown in size. It ended up being a melanoma. The mole was right behind my right knee in the crease. Initially I had the mole removed but then had to have further surgery to remove more tissue from deeper and surrounding where the original mole was. I also had lymph nodes removed in my groin to check for spread and those behind my knee were also removed or damaged with the surgeries. Now I have lymphoedema in that leg which is a chronic condition due to the damage of the lymph flow. Means that my right leg swells up due to the high protien lymph fluid pooling. It becomes very heavy and uncomfortable and I need to elevate and rest my leg more that I like (and believe me with three very active boys it isn't always easy to do this). I wear a full length lymphoedema stocking during the day and am still learning what works and doesn't and how to best control and live with this condition.

Now most people that read this blog are gardeners and probably like me spend hours outside. I am writing this as a reminder to others that now with the hot sunny weather coming to please take care of your skin. Wear hats and sunscreen and reapply the sunscreen after a few hours (it wont last all day). But most importantly check your skin for moles that look unusual, are changing, are irregular in size colour or shape. Get someone else to check your back or hard to look at areas, like the back of your legs or neck.
Please slip, slop,slap and be vigilant.

M xx