Delightful Day in the Garden

I cannot be cooped up for too long, so I've found the past couple of weeks or so very frustrating, as I've recuperated from my horrible lurgy. However, this morning dawned beautifully fine and feeling somewhat recovered, I headed for the garden.

The first delight that greeted me was a lovely buzz coming from our early flowering peach - about two dozen bees were already at work, drinking the lovely peach flower nectar. I tried to take a photo, but alas it didn't come out very well. Actually, this peach tree was one I bought from someone at the local farmers' markets. It was supposed to be a yellow fleshed bottling peach, but turned out to be a white fleshed eating peach. It has some of the best peaches I have ever eaten, so the mix up is long forgiven. Can't wait for the new crop.

Another delight was discovering some little waxy potatoes in an area I was preparing for kiwi fruit. I had planted potatoes in this area the summer before last and apparently, a few have continued to grow. They made a lovely warm potato salad for lunch, accompanied by fresh herbs, baby beets, carrots and winter lettuce, all from our garden - not bad for the middle of winter!

While I worked in the garden today, I was serenaded by a local family of magpies. The song from Australian magpies is indeed unique and is especially beautiful on a Sunday for some reason. I found a lovely fat scarab beetle larva while digging and threw it to one of the magpies who then watched me keenly for the rest of the day, awaiting further treats. No more fat grubs, unfortunately, but the family did come down and dine from our compost heap, as well as checking over my diggings.

During the day, I was also talking to my neighbour and saying that I wanted to get some bees. Apparently, he has had the same thoughts, so a hive in the back yard should not present any problems. I just have to source one now.

And at the end of this gorgeous day was a chat with my sister, a lovely hot shower and dinner with my darling man. Hope your day was just as great.

love and light
naturewitch

This Morning in the Garden

This morning was lovely - we are having a relatively mild winter so far, but there's plenty more time for the cold. I had such a great time in the garden this morning, I thought I'd take a few happy snaps to share - they are nowhere near as beautiful as Cheryl's or Herbwitch's photos, but here they are.

Baby Olive, who was given to me by my dear friend, The Crone, before she moved to WA a couple of years ago, has now grown up enough to be put in the ground. Here is a picture of her after transplanting. She is about 90cm tall now and doing very well. Under the mulch are some Calendula seeds, which I'm hoping will form a nice drift of flowers for the bees. And in the bed behind them are some Oregon Giant snow peas just starting to grow.

The early peach is starting to bud up and almost looks like she's ready to flower, although it will probably be a few weeks yet (at least I hope so - I want to clear away the grass growing underneath and give her a good dose of manure and mulch).

Underneath another peach tree, a jonquil is preparing to flower.

Beside the fence, in the square holes of the Besser bricks forming a raised vege bed, the nasturtiums are still smiling, despite the cold.

Here's a fine head of broccoli ready to be picked.

And here's a cheeky potato plant, thriving underneath the protection of the dead asparagus ferns I am yet to clear away.

This patch may look like grass, but Molly assures me they really are oats.

And here's the rhubarb, looking incredibly healthy for this time of year.

There was also a willie wagtail flitting about the garden, but alas he was too quick for me!

love and light
naturewitch

Garlic Time

Someone once told me that you plant garlic on the shortest day and harvest it on the longest. For those of us here in Oz, this weekend is garlic planting time (Saturday is the best day as it is in a fertile time) and for our friends in the Northern hemisphere, it is time to harvest yours.

Garlic is a fantabulous herb. It is used both herbally and homeopathically to treat a variety of ailments. It helps to lower blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels, it boosts the immune system and is anti-microbial. It is fantastic for colds and flus.

In the garden, garlic can be planted in among roses to help keep down aphids, under apple trees to help reduce apple scab and around peach trees to assist in the prevention of curly leaf. Garlic also assists tomatoes and potatoes. But don't grow garlic near your peas, beans, cabbages or strawberries as it will inhibit their growth.

Many people get concerned about garlic breath. One way to reduce this is to add the garlic at the end of your cooking, rather than the beginning - just stir it into your meal a couple of minutes before you turn off the heat. Also, parsley can assist in neutralising the odour.

So go and get some garlic (I bought about a kilo of cloves today) and put it in the ground this weekend. Yes, you can use the garlic found in your greengrocer's store (or supermarket), but I always try to get Australian grown garlic. Apart from my views on imported food (that's another post!), the imported garlic may be irradiated and therefore not viable for food production.

Plant the individual garlic cloves about 5cm deep, 10cm or so apart, with the round part to the bottom of the hole or trench and the pointy bit to the top. Cover it over and let it go. You'll have lovely garlic for Christmas.

love and light
naturewitch