Yesterday I showed you this mess… so today I decided to get out and do something about it.
There was no wind or rain today, and although it wasn’t the nicest of days, it was mild enough to be comfortable in a t-shirt!
Another nice little clump of parsley – thought I might leave it there
Why not put some of those excess broccolini seedlings (or maybe cabbage??) in here?
I kept all the green tomatoes… most should ripen inside in the warm (I hope)
Often when the weather turns, I will pull up entire tomato plants and hang them upside down in the hothouse. Eventually the leftover fruit will ripen. Because there wasn’t so much on each plant, I just cut off the stem that held the fruit.
It doesn’t look pretty or stylish, but I have found it a good way to ripen the last tomatoes. If you don’t have a hothouse, a shed will do fine.
Next I spent a very pleasant half an hour picking the dried bean pods off my runner bean vines and started some grand plans in my head for extending next seasons garden.
My little dabble into selling vegetables on the roadside seemed reasonably successful. Now that we have the bore water, I am a bit excited about extending the whole production and being able to offer more vegetables and fruit out the front
I still use the rain barrels to scoop up water and give my undercover plants a hand watering.
Getting the bore put in last December has given us a whole lot more freedom in what we can do in the garden
Before the bore the only water we had access to was what we caught off the house and shed rooves, which were stored in two tanks – capacity of about 18,000 litres (4755 gallons). Which isn’t much when you get at least three months over summer with little to no rain. Your showers get extremely speedy!!
I am a bit excited to plan and create new gardens for next season!
Night falls pretty early here now. 5.30pm and its dark. The fire is on and I am still adding layers to my crochet projects. I learned a little late how to make the centre sit flatter… not that I intend undoing it to fix it!!
Tonight I also whipped up a batch of lemon butter teacakes…
They taste pretty good… but they stick to the paper pretty badly. Maybe I am supposed to wait until they are really cool before eating?
Hope whatever is left of your weekend is fantastic.
The rain is now coming down again quite heavily, so I feel cosy inside. Pip is curled up under my windcheater – a warm purring lump – and the fire flickering along.
Cheers
PS Occasional extras on my facebook page!
I love that you post on the weekends. I also love your upside tomato idea. I’m hoping mine produce enough to have to do this. My kids planted tomato seeds and they are coming up nicely so it’s a fun learning experience.I planted some spring flowers in hanging baskets and cleaned up around the front yard a bit this weekend. Love the pretty splash of color near my front door now. I am going to try to keep my seeds this year for replanting next year. Wishing I had a lemon tree!
Good luck with your tomatoes! One day I will have some success with starting them from seed – the self sown ones around here are great luckily!
Spring is so fabulous with all the colours that keep popping up around the place.
I am so lucky I can access Ruby’s lemon tree… ours that we transplanted is still titchy small – but alive! I take heart from the fact its still alive!! 🙂
My condolences for the loss of your tomato plants! But oh that parsley.. mine is being reluctant to grow, at best. Do you by any chance have the recipe for those teacakes posted somewhere? My mother in law would adore them and I would adore cooking for her.
Its always sad seeing the end of tomato season. I refuse to buy them – they are expensive and have no taste… so we do without! (Which is why I love that the hothouse extends the tomatoes that little bit!) Yes! I had trouble with parsley – then I had one lot go to seed and this year -wow! Parsley EVERYWHERE! Yay!
I’ll post that recipe tonight for you. I’ll try another one today now that they are cool and see if I have the same trouble getting them off the paper… if so I may have to try them in my silicone muffin tray & grease it next time.
It’s the same here! I wish I could grow them, but my husband isn’t ready yet, we’re both still quite new to gardening and plan to stick to containers. We love the little cherry and grape tomatoes year round though, especially great in puttanesca!
My mother in law had the same issue this year, but with mint. I wanted to bring it all home, she’s just letting it grow all over the yard and doing nothing with it! Soon her house will be covered in mint.. 😉
Thank you so much Lisa, I can’t wait to read it and try a batch out!
Mint can take over!! I have the opposite issue… mine seems not to want to take hold. I Adore mint sauce!!
I actually find growing stuff in the ground a lot less troublesome than containers. Mostly I kill stuff in pots. I don’t have the knack to pay them proper attention. Where as the stuff in the garden that does a lot of ‘fending for themselves’ does really well.
Even if you are new to gardening, you could choose one thing and stick it in the ground and see what happens! 🙂
BTW I am scoffing a lemon tea cake now. It came off the paper a lot better than when they were super fresh! mmmm
Here’s hoping that your mint will be prolific this year!
I would adore to put things in the ground, but unfortunately we’re relegated to containers for the next decade or so because we own a condo. I would secretly plant things near the bushes around the property, but I suspect people might not take kindly to a woman scampering around in pajamas on weekends to pick them. Nevermind what the gardeners might do to them!
I guess the moral of the story here is to eat them all when they are fresh. 😉 Can’t wait!
LOL – Okies!! I see!! I just had some great visuals of the “Mystery Pyjama Gardener”
Hi Lisa,
I think Pip is so beautiful. Cats are probably my favorite animal. What is a windcheater? Most of the time I can figure out what you mean, but this one stumps me. It’s also interesting how you tie him out in the yard. Does he ever try to pull and get away? If he does, do you have a hard time catching him? How old is he? Did you get him as a kitten?
Janet
We’ve always been a cat family – even growing up. I love their independence. (and weirdness!)
I think you may call a windcheater a windbreaker??
A sweater is different and we call that a jumper. (Usually wool or wool-like)
Pip is really good on the lead. He has been on one since a kitten. He doesn’t try to get out of it. If he tangles himself, he waits for me to sort him out. When we walk around the yard together sometimes he pulls because he wants to go the other way to me. We are pretty careful as we are on a country highway that is really busy at times. My heart has stopped when he has slipped the lead or bolted outside before I could attach him. We don’t chase!!! We shut the front gates and wander up calling (very sweetly lol) “here kitty kitty” and other stupid stuff and he usually comes up to schmoozle us – then he is caught! If you chase – forget it! He is a lot faster than me!
Yes – we got him as a kitten. I accidentally saw him in the pet shop about 6 months after we lost our other big beautiful Siamese to cancer. Then I accidentally went into the shop and asked to hold him. He jumped straight into my arms and schmoozled my chin. I was a shot duck. He was mine!
Thank you for answering my questions. Sometimes I think animals (or people or things) come into our lives when it is meant to be.
Yep! And sometimes they choose you! Do you have pets?
I have a 31-year-old horse. He’s doing well for his age, but I know the day will come.
I have a 12-year-old cat we adopted from the shelter 3 years ago. He does not have an interest in going outside and doesn’t even pay too much attention when the windows are open (with screens). He was declawed when we got him, so he was probably always an inside cat.
I have a 7-year-old black Lab and a 2-year-old Lab/Border Collie mix. The 2-year-old is new to us in December after our 15-year-old German Shepherd mix passed a week before Christmas. He declined quickly in his last a week.
We have had other dogs and cats over our 31-years together, and of course growing up. That’s a whole lot of memories. We also have a 7-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy.
That’s great! You have rescues! 🙂 My first cat was a rescue. I am sorry to hear about your German Shepard. Its so tough losing an animal.
Bet the boys keep you busy! 🙂
I had a gorgeous horse for about 17 years. I still miss him. He was a darling.
Would love to have a horse again – just have to work out the right time and a suitable location.
We wanted a dog, but until we build a secure area, we feel too nervous about our location in case it got out of the property.
Maybe in the future!