Macademia blossom
The Garden Share Collective. A monthly community of like minded garden enthusiasts who put pen to paper to share their vege patches with all those interested – the trials and tribulations of growing your own! Love it.
Sunday sunshine and the frogs are busy croaking like mad outside. I’m ensconced in our office, which just happens to have one of the best views of our property, well I think so anyway.
How brilliant is spring? Β I just love watching the garden come to life, although it means loads more jobs to do.
What’s happening in the Bonner’s garden?
My seedlings are looking sensational … lots of TLC, although I did leave the tray outside last night, a gentle reminder to those seedlings that they aren’t going to live in our kitchen forever. Truth is, seedlings need ‘hardening up’ so they need to spend time outdoors before being planted.
Cucurbit magic … teenagers
Speaking of the garden – our garlic and onions are growing brilliantly, Β the potatoes have shouldered their way through the soil and need some fertilising to get the ‘show on the road’. The insectary is looking amazing … and doing a top job of encouraging those bees. Mind you, the garden is buzzing with them, literally, well the totara tree is. We have a swarm!
Swarming bees
One of the queen bees has left a hive and has been joined by her team of loyalists. Amazing! Interesting that swarming bees are less likely to be aggressive, probably something to do with gorging themselves on honey before leaving home.
My tasks
There are two beds which need to be removed. I started on one during the week, hoisting out the nasturtium, calendula and spent peas. The soil in here is fairly good although this bed was home to brassicas (heavy feeders) over winter – so it needs some ‘bulking up’ before the summer crop goes in. Going by the book, root crops or light feeders should go in this space now, but going by my summer planting plan this isn’t going to work. No this garden is earmarked for my toms, parsley, basil, flowers, spinach, zuccs, runner beans and no doubt I will manage to ‘stuff’ something else in here. Truth is, I grow my soil, feed it with compost, food scraps, seaweed, coffee grounds, wood ash, rok solid, mulch and we can’t forget horse and chook poo, so I’m not overly concerned about what goes in here next.
The other bed (RB2) has slug chewed broccoli and cabbage plants, bright lights silver beet and a host of self seeded flowers and weeds. This also is in dire need of a ‘tidy up’ and will also receive the obligatory ‘top up’ of organic material. Yes, this garden will be Β for our summer salads and be filled with lettuce, herbs, beetroot, carrots, radish, chives and what ever else takes my fancy. We are going to be busy at the end of the month!
Self seeded madness – how pretty
Garden delights
We are still munching on spring onions (just), juicing broccoli leaves and enjoying all the herbs we have growing, coriander, parsley, sage, garlic chives. Eggs? Lots of them!
Where are you going?
To top the week off, I just had to add one more pic … we had our 18th year anniversary this week and I got spoilt with a new lens for my camera!
Happy gardening …
Pingback: Garden Share Collective; October 2013
Potatoes “shouldering” their way through – nice imagery π Congrats to you and Mr B too, for keeping on creating <3
Hey lovely Lizzie … nice to hear from you. We had a super anniversary – took the day off and enjoyed ourselves. π
hello from a fello garden share collective-r! it’s great t see the wildlife in you r garden – a hive of bees! amazinf. and a very gorgeous chook. good luck with your gardening chores this month.
Thank you … and a big hello back to you too! Love the Garden Share Collective … have loads to do in the garden. You too by the looks of it! π
and sorry for appalling typos. using a teeny tiny iPad today… π
Ha ha … don’t worry about those! So nice to hear from you
That swarm of bees is amazing, I have seen one mid flight moving to their new home but never still like that. Your seedlings are looking pretty healthy too, we have to sun harden ours before planting out or they get roasted. Your new lens looks fancy too.
Hi Lizzie .. The swarm was amazing, it was also on the trunk of the tree. Love to know how many bees it contained. Can’t wait to get those seedlings into the ground .. Soonish. Love the new lens .. Puts insects into a whole new perspective. π
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That swarm of bees is awesome. October is a busy month isnt it, your seedlings look really healthy.
Hi Sharon .. Yes October is so busy, just love it though. Can’t wait to get those seedlings in the ground. Ah, those bees have gone .. One on those hives must have a lot less residents now π
WOW that swarm is amazing!! Love your new camera toy, I’m sure you’re going to have lots of fun with it!! I also love your self seeded madness, it certainly is very pretty π
Hi Lisa .. Love the new lens. Loads of bug pics to come! I hate ripping out the flowers, the garden is ‘loaded’ with them. π
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What happened to the swarm? I too love your self seeded madness and am looking forward to following your garden through the summer as ours goes into hibernation. Sounds as though there’s going to be plenty happening.
Hi Anne ..ah those bees have gone to do their own thing . They were high up a tree. Yes love those flowers, so pretty. It will be a pleasure sharing my garden with you over summer. π
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Congratulations on your anniversary!! My friend is a Bee Enthusiast. She asks people to contact her when they see “stray bees” that have lost their hive. She then re-homes them in a new hive! Your seedlings look so healthy and BIG! I also love your self seeded flowers – so pretty π
Hi Sarah great to hear from you as always. Yes most apiarists love getting their hands (so to speak) on swarming bees. Our sadly have long gone. Yes, I love the self seeded flowers – find it really difficult yanking them out, but they are starting to ‘crowd’ my garlic. Hmmm π