not just butterflies and bumblebees

THIS

PLUS THESE

= THIS

I spent a lot of time penning a witty little explanation of the pictures above but I have been wrestling with the computer tonight and it seems to have disappeared. I can't be bothered trying to recreate it sorry, so long story short. I thought the pretty little white moths were the culprits but after most of the damage had been done I found the perfectly camouflaged caterpillars. They now live in the park across the road. Needless to say I'm not planning on making cauliflower soup any time soon.

Kurtis and I were very excited. I thought this flower was a good sign but never having grown any food (except herbs) before I didn't know if this was a good sign or not. I thought I had heard of things "going to seed" or "going to flower" before and I thought this may happen after the plant had fruited.  I made a note to myself to ask someone without sounding like a complete fool. Anyway before I had a chance to do that Kurtis and I were out surveying the progress in the garden a day or two later and I said to Kurtis "I hope we get some zucchinis" to which he replied "They're here mum" as he pointed to the fat green stem behind the flower. I must say it looks a lot like a zucchini and I'm rather inclined to trust him. What do you think? 

And I cannot believe how quickly they grow, they would have to be three times bigger than everything else we planted at the same time.

Our first strawberry.

Luckily I took this photo for you as proof because when we went to check on it today,  it was gone!

When I asked Kurty where it was he just said, with a very serious face "someone must have eaten it". Someone indeed.

spiders

Spiders, usually I'm ok with them, unless its a huntsman. For some reason huntsmen make my skin crawl. Its always been this way much to the disappointment of my husband who occasionally gets woken up in the early hours of the morning by me holding an ice cream container and a piece of card. He knows what to do but is never happy about it.
We had one this morning after Clint had left for work. It was down quite low compared to their usual hangout near the roof. I saw it and ignored it because I have heard that fear is a learned response and I don't want to pass my issues on to Kurtis.
Kurtis saw him shortly after.

 "Mum there's a big spider"
 "I know buddy I saw him too, he's a big one isn't he"
 "he's a Daddy Enormous Legs"

Oh how I laughed. I think Daddy Long Legs are the only ones he knows the name of and he's never seen a Huntsman before as they always seem to come out at night and I have them removed immediately.
So he just figured that's what they must be called. I told him they were called Huntsman but he thought Daddy Enormous Legs was really a much more appropriate name and I really can't argue that one.
Then something amazing happened. I got the cardboard and the ice cream container and I calmly put him outside! Amazing what you can do when your child is the motivation.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, this blog has been a funny thing. I used to wonder why people would put there thoughts out there for anyone to read and I also used to wonder who read them. Then I started to read them, and found them interesting, entertaining and fascinating. I love to be a fly on the wall to peoples thoughts. I have always been a reader and sometimes you can stumble across blogs that are well written and thought provoking or just delicious eye candy from all the amateur photographers and crafters and interior stylists.
Then a friend suggested I start documenting the birth of our veggie garden and here we are.
What has surprised me most is that in a few short posts I have been read in 6 countries! AUS, USA, UK, Canada, Sweden and Malaysia. What the?    I don't even know anyone in Canada or Malaysia. Even more surprising is how chuffed I feel that people are reading what I write.

I also love how permanent this is, I have a crap memory and I mean REALLY crap so I am going to start documenting other things here too. Veggies take awhile to grow so I need to diversify if I want to post regularly.

Stay tuned.

 
 
I do love photos in blog posts so here is mine for today. I love beautiful houses and this is one gorgeous kitchen.
I should have taken a photo of the spider but I know I people with real arachnophobia can't even look at a photo of a spider without freaking out and I don't want to be put anyone through that!

Image from a blog that I enjoy daily The house that a-m built. 

Georgia xx

unbelievable

So I did it. Finally. And boy did I laugh. After saying that my printer wasn't compatible because the installation disc said XP and Office 2000 I simply plugged the thing in and it installed! All by itself! I'm amazed. I guess discs to install hardware are old school. I am so glad I didn't go and buy a new printer without checking this first. So all this time I had a way to get my photos over here. Who knew. (probably all of you)  I am hoping they will now upload quicker than before so here goes............

So to update you.
Not everything died after the hot spell we had the day after I planted. I worked out how to protect the tomatoes on hot days (they are actually feeding us right now although Kurtis eats the ripe ones in the backyard each day so I can't collect enough for a salad )  That is my late Grandmas beach umbrella, looking at it takes me straight back to Portsea back beach circa 1976. I can smell the coconut oil now.......

Status update:

zucchini - growing very well, with any luck we will be eating zucchinis eventually
eggplant - growing well, has a couple of purple flowers?
cabbage - being eaten by cabbage moths
watermelon - still small seedlings
rhubarb - still small seedling
basil - growing well
tomatoes - growing well
strawberries - fruit is growing
cucumbers - not much change since planting
corn and sweet corn - growing well
carrots - got fried in the heat, thought I would leave them there to see if they recover
pac choy - moths are loving it
spinach - thought it was lost in the heat but new growth shows it may just recover
celery - lost to the heat
cauliflower - moth food
cos - two out of three look ok
dill - doing well
chives - thriving
coriander - thought it was lost but looks like it may recover

 As I went out to start planting this is the scene that awaited me.

Kurtis after planting, looking very unimpressed. He had a good time with the planting he's just not into having his photo taken.

Well those took awhile to upload, not as long as the old laptop but still longer than I would like. I believe you can take photos on the iphone and upload straight to your blog. That sounds great, with any luck I will have that nutted out by Christmas.
So any ideas about how to stop those moths? I was given a suggestion but I forgot what it was, I really need to write stuff down!

Worm update - they are still not eating much but after re reading the booklet that came with the farm I realised my worms are babies and therefore don't eat much. They take 3 to 6 months to mature so no need to panic yet.

Well I can here my boy stirring from his afternoon siesta so I must go. You can look forward to more regular updates from now on, or not, depending on whether you have enjoyed the previous ones.

Georgia xx

 

Don't go away

I promise that today I will work out how to put photos on to this computer. I have been putting it off because I'm lazy and i don't like all things technological. I also don't like to break a promise so now I have promised you something I WILL follow through.

Watch this space

ooops!

This post is without photos, sorry. I am on the new laptop, yay but have yet to connect a printer so I can't get photos off the camera yet.
Anyway, I actually did what I said we would do and went to Bunnings last Friday. We spent $70 on seedlings. Went home very excited.

 First mistake, I brought too much.

In our excitement we planted them on Friday afternoon. My chest puffed out as I showed my husband our perfect veggie garden full of seedlings, now we just had to sit back and wait and water until we could harvest our beautiful homegrown veggies.

Second mistake, I didn't check the weather forecast.

Saturday was the beginning of four days in a row over 35 degrees celsius, one day got to at least 39. Needless to say at least half our seedlings have curled up and died.

Feeling pretty stupid right now but you live and you learn. Oh well back to Bunnings..................................

The beginnings of some lettuce

Our beautiful sunflowers in all their glory. I feel happy every time I see them. Kurtis believes they are still growing and he checks on their progress regularly, 4 or 5 times a day at least.

We have visible growth from our lettuce seeds! It happened just four days after sowing. I'm blown away.
So, I should have documented this earlier but my six year old laptop walks with a limp. That is, it seems to take an eternity to upload a photo to this blog amongst other things. A minor issue I guess but it kinda takes some of the fun out of posting. Hence the infrequency to date.

Things should be a lot better soon.  I have a brand new Sony notebook right here beside me. I got it on Monday after my hubby nagging me for the last twelve months to upgrade. And I kept ignoring him. Hang on that is sounding strangely and embarrassingly familiar.
I had been resisting because it just seemed too hard. To say I am technologically challenged doesn't even begin to describe the situation.
So I thought I had finally done it and was feeling quite proud. Until I tried to load the software or whatever for the modem and the printer. It turns out neither are compatible with Windows 7.   FUCK.
 I should have stuck with XP but I was trying to be cool and move with the times. So now I need to buy a new modem and printer. Not happy.

Anyway, about the garden. It is still devoid of plants or seeds but we have filled it with composting soil or something so it really is ready to go. We are going to buy some seedlings on Friday. Apparently there is still a lot of stuff I can plant now.
And the lettuces are growing, in punnets for now. Please don't comment on our planting technique.(Or my photography skills this is a gardening blog remember) I know they are waaaaay too close together but the seeds are sooooooooo tiny and combine that fact with the fine motor skills of a 3 year old, and you may see where I'm coming from.

I really had to reign in my inner control freak here and let the boy do his thing.
I want him feel ownership over this garden. This project is more for him to learn and connect with the earth than it is too feed us. Although if it feeds us I will be ecstatic. And I thought it would help us fill in the sometimes seemingly endless days at home. There is only so long one can discuss at length the differences and similarities between some 99 matchbox cars!  
Now a couple of questions. How much do worms eat? I realise their mouths are tiny so I haven't been giving them much. Probably something every five days or so but they seem to eat so very slowly. I kind of thought they were going to help us get rid of our kitchen scraps but to be honest I don't think that they're doing their fair share. I have been chopping up their veggies in the Thermomix so they don't need to chew too much but so far they're efforts have been pretty disappointing.
The other question is, when I plant the seedlings into the dirt should I put a layer of Lucerne hay or something around them to try and keep the soil from drying out too much?

I would love to know what you think.

Georgia xx

my beautiful boy

Just some photos of my oldest child for some one out here in blog land. Hi Sarah.