Plotting for a food garden, week 5

Black Russian Tomato looking good with a few flowers on.



The Magic Square is getting greener with Mixed Lettuce, Mizuna, Mustard Red Giant, Kamatsuna Spinach & Cress all doing well. I spent a few hours this morning digging & sieving my old compost, getting the Rock Melon seeds out as they are coming up all over the place & will take over if I'm not careful, don't mind some but this is ridiculous! With the residue (including seeds) left I filled two buckets half full & topped up with water, covered with plastic & left to simmer, should make some good liquid manure, seeds will float to the top. Tomorrow I hope to transplant out peas which have been growing very well (except for one) in toilet rolls. Whether they will do much in this sand is another thing!

I've joined this web site Gardenersclick even though it's a UK based one.

Skywatch Friday (Season 4 Episode 16)

Red Sky at night etc...
Goodness Gracious etc...

Don't forget to pay a visit to other skywatchers around the world.

True Colours Thursday - BLACK

While I sit here on my BLACK chair, at my BLACK desk, looking at my BLACK computer (waiting for my new one) with Ebony my BLACK cat on my lap, there are BLACK beetles out there waiting for the full moon to come up.
Hang on - it's not Halloween YET! See more spooky BLACK stuff here.

The Wednesday What's It

Hellooooooo – is there anyone out there?

Go here to find out (a bit) more.

Today's Flowers #63

White Grevillea (not sure what the pink is). Photo taken at Yanchep National Park.
Go here for more of Today's Flowers.

Mellow Yellow Monday #41

I'm running out of YELLOW things but if you click here you will see many, many more.

Talking about Books, BUTLER bag & blog

Had another go at reading ‘The Secret Scripture’ by Sebastian Barry but just not the right book at this time. ‘Dear Fatty’ made me chuckle & get a few lumps in the throat, very enjoyable. At the library on Friday I just picked up ‘Whole Foods’ by Nicola Graimes to dip into & ‘A Tuesday Thing’ by Kate Shayler for a good read. It is the sequel to ‘The Long Way Home’ (which I suppose I should have read first) & I am liking it very much.
Now about BUTLER, bags & blog. This morning I had the most amazing email from a stranger I think I have ever had!

“Loved your article on the Butler family. I was recently clearing out loft when we came across a framed brown shopping bag. The bag shows a picture of the shop at 23 Union Street with a horse drawn carriage pulling up outside. The bag also has writing in pen on it saying Miss Evans 16 Charlotte Street Paid 23/4/96. So I wanted to know more on this gentleman and found your article.”

They have sent some scanned pics but they are through the glass so are not so clear. I ask myself why would anyone frame a carrier bag & who was Miss Evans who paid for shoes on the 23rd of April 1896? She was probably attended to by Katherine Hibberd who two months later married widower Alfred Henry Butler, my great-grandfather. Thank goodness for my blog, isn’t the internet a wonderful thing!

Plotting for a food garden.

Week 4

Magic square under netting so it's not used as a toilet by Ebony (maybe keep the cabbage white from getting to the lettuce).


Black Russian tomato, planted 10 days ago. Bought from garden center.


Tomato plants given to me last week alongside Parsley, Rosemary,flowering Rocket & 4 snails (it had started to rain when I took this photo, must have encouraged them out for a slither or a bit of loving!). I see also Rock Melon (coming up wherever I have put my compost) doubt if they will fruit but you never know so I will leave some to do what they want.

Skywatch Friday (Season 4 Episode 15)

New moon in Western Australia

True Colours Thursday - GREEN

To join in this colourful MEME please go here.
Off now to have a chlorophyll packed evening meal of steamed broccoli with parsley sauce.

The Wednesday What's It

Any old iron? I picked these two iron bar stools up from the side of the road yesterday. Knocked the seats out & popped in some pots with various cacti in - what do you think? Should I clean them, paint them or just leave as is? (The bar stools not the cacti!)

Today's Flowers #63

Geranium growing/going wild in the back yard. For more of Today's Flowers go here.

Mellow Yellow Monday #40

A friend said these yellow flowers all have a different face, I think he's right. Here they are all smiling!
Go here to see more Mellow Yellows

Talking 'bout Books

This weeks haul from the library includes cookery books to dip into. I started ‘The Secret Scripture’ but it was slightly slow going & I thought I’d better read ‘Dutch Point’ first, (finished last night) next will be ‘Dear Fatty’ the Dawn French memoir.

Plotting for a food garden.

Week 3 (today the temp hit 37 deg - much too hot!)


The plot thickens! My 1m x 1m square is looking green (well just a bit, if you look closely). The fake cabbage white butterfly's don't work, they are supposed to say "keep off this is my patch".

Skywatch Friday

Yanchep all ready for a hot day tomorrow.

Skywatchers are here. Lots of them all over the world.

True Colours Thursday - PINK

Go here to join in this colourful MEME
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month hence the PINK.

Laughter is the best medicine

Want to have a good old chuckle? Please go here.

The Wednesday What's It

My What’s it today is the will of Samuel Harbroe written in 1871.
I was tied up most of yesterday & today with genealogy, emails flying from the UK to Oz. A connection with the Farman family on the Blake side was easy, helping each other with information.
Then I had an email about Margaret Harbroe from a ‘boring old fart’ (his words!) berating me about my lack of putting a ‘source’ with my information on a family tree, says it gets right up his nose!! After a few missiles we ended up getting on fine (providing I ‘see to my sourcing’). We seem to have quite a bit in common apart from family. Hope it all works out OK.



Even if you click on the image you will find it difficult to read. It doesn't say how much he left his daughter but on the other document I have it says Effects: under £3,000.......
That's English Pounds, folks!!

Today's Flowers #61

A nice head of Broccoli.

Mellow Yellow Monday

These images do not belong to me so I am probably breaching copyright. Someone sent me the images a couple of years ago. Forgive me please whoever they belong to.

Talking 'bout Books & Birthdays

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRIS


Book Club book for October is ‘Dutch Point’ by Barbara Yates Rothwell. I own a hand signed copy so I have read it before and am enjoying it again. “Mystery, adventure, exploration and the pioneering spirit: all these are to be found in ‘Dutch Point’, which spans 300 years of Western Australian history.” The novel is set mainly in Yanchep.
The jars I found at the Op shop on Friday – they look like they should have old fashioned sweets in them but at the moment they have shells and bits of glass and china found on Fremantle beach.

Plotting for a food garden.

Week 2.
I was out in the garden bright & early (well early for me!) on Wednesday to fill up & start to seed my ‘magic square’ garden. Sad to say it only lasted about 20 minutes before I was surrounded by a cloud of midges or sand flies that started to BITE. I had put some repellent on as well as covering up but I still got bitten & now I have big itchy lumps.
Today I put so much repellent on I could hardly breathe. I just had to get these seeds in, ‘they’ forecast rain. Two hours later, all done, I put the last seeds in as a light rain fell. Covered the plot with a few branches to keep Ebony out.

Along the way I found a few worms, a large winged cockroach & lots of other creepy-crawlies including a redback spider.

Go here to find out more.

Skywatch Friday

On the road again......
Skies all over the world here.

True Colours Thursday - SILVER

Not much in the way of silver for True Colours today. Had to dig this out of the cupboard - and clean it! Plus a few silver coins & rings.

Oh, Blue, the things you make us do. If anyone wants to take part in this MEME go here.

The Wednesday What's It

This is probably an illegal photo - trouble is I have no idea where I obtained it from (there are others), very, very clever don't you think?
I made bread today - just a boring shape but oh such a yummy taste, warm with butter.
There goes more of my waistline.

Today's Flowers #60

Cymbidium Orchids - no not mine! Seen in the garden section of Bunnings (a large hardware store).
Many, many more flowers to be seen at Todays Flowers.

Mellow Yellow Monday

Spring sneezes on the way. 'Wattle' we do? (I think this is Wattle).
For lots of lovely yellow go here. #38

Talking 'bout Books

I'm still reading 'Seeing Things' & enjoying it. The book by Sebastian Barry 'The Secret Scripture' (from library)was recommended by a friend.
Picked up 'Dear Fatty' by Dawn French for $6 from op shop (plus 3 trays $1, $2 & $3.)

and a picnic basket for $5

Plotting for a food garden.

While I was in Bunnings on Thursday to pick up the ‘Garden Vegetable Kit’ (treated pine, pre-drilled 1200 x 1200 x 310) to begin the ‘Magic Square Plot’, I also came home with a flat pack, black plastic compost bin. Today I set to & put it all together. The compost bin was reasonably easy, just bolted together (bit of back ache but no big deal), Then I transferred the top layers from my other compost bin into the new one.


So far so good. When it came to the veggie kit things were a bit tricky. I had to get the recycling bin & 2 bricks positioned to balance the wooden boards on so I could screw it all together. After a lot of puffing & panting I finally finished. I had to dig out more weeds to get it to fit (also found a pipe coming from the bathroom), pushed & lowered the box into the hole & sat back for a rest. It is going to take MUCH more soil/sand/compost/potting mix than I thought.



Went & had lunch & read more of ‘One Magic Square’ book.Then back outside & picked up the wet newspaper I had in the next patch & laid it on the bottom. Luckily I had been given a bale of hay (nicely matured) yesterday so I padded the inside & bottom of the box with the hay. Then I got buckets full of nice dark brown compost & threw that in. It still is not enough to plant anything so it was off to get a couple of bags of potting mix. These are still in the car & I am EXHAUSTED.I threw some more newspaper down on the next box patch,watered it & went in & made a pot of tea. Good job it’s a bad time to be putting seeds in, have to wait until the full moon gets smaller!