Time for change…

I arrived back home from extended travel in January, that was 6 months ago, now I’m sleeping in the same bed every night. My days and weeks have become structured. I have enjoyed watching the garden change through the seasons.  See the garden in its summer glory here. It is now mid-winter, but in Queensland that means slightly cooler days and nights and no humidity, ideal for working in the garden.

Back in January I planted vegetables and tomatoes in pots.

The tomatoes have done very well and kept us in a steady supply.

But, annoyingly,  the birds also found them. A bird net over them solved that problem.

I keep the salad greens and herbs in pots so I can move them around to follow the sun. They are now down the far end of the garden in a sheltered area, protected from the winter winds, and they get all day sun.

The raised bed for herbs, in the front garden keeps on keeping on.

So that is my vegetable supply and my entry into Jude’s (earth laughs in flowers) weekly/monthly garden photography challenge and for July the theme is “the edible garden”

But while you are here I will take you for a garden walk to see what is happening in July in my garden.

Today winter has arrived it is a rather grey and dismal sort of day, showers are forecast and the temperature is only about 18c degrees, but until this week we have had some warm sunny days and this flowering shrub is bursting into flower. I inherited this shrub when I moved in and don’t know its name but it has a most beautiful soft scent and flowers twice during the year.

I wonder if you remember the bat plant, the most unusual plant in my garden (see it here) It is a true tropical plant and look at it now.

It certainly does not like the cooler temperatures. (this is for you Sue)

The compost bin is full and quietly decomposing. It has been a busy time of pruning and mulching as this year there has been plenty of rain and the growth has been phenomenal.

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After that wander around the garden I would like to invite you inside ( joining Ailsa’s Travel Theme, Indoors), through my front door. (Joining Norm’s “Thursday Doors” challenge)

Come into my very untidy “studio”. That is possibly a rather pretentious term for where I now like to indulge in my new passion.

So for a while I am going to be loving and leaving you all.

I took my first tentative steps into  the virtual world of the blogosphere in 2009. Since then it has become a major part of my life, journaling my daily and weekly happenings, joining in challenges, searching through thousands of photos in my archives to find the perfect submission for the themes. Taking photos with the ever-present thought of “will that be suitable for a post”, and, of course, making many dear friends from all over the world in this wonderful virtual world of Word Press. Enjoying the connection of “chatting” and commenting with other bloggers and the community spirit of friendship.

Now I want to take a break, spend more time practising art, trying and learning new techniques. Immersing myself in the flow of creativity, reading more books and of course spending time in the garden.

I’m sure I am going to have withdrawal symptoms, 7 years of regular posts is a major commitment, so I will occasionally pop by to say “G’day” and keep in touch with my blogging buddies.

The hammock hangs forlorn and unused waiting for summer.

Maybe I will find time to do some house-work, but I will not disturb this spider I think they do a good job of catching mosquitoes.

So that’s it for now. I hope you all have a really great weekend. Bye for now…

 

Our snail exterminator…

Along this western side of the house it is very hot. Jack has created a habitat for our blue tongue lizard. On the right hand side, under the rocks, he put down drainage pipes.

Every morning we share our breakfast fruit with him.

He is quite shy and if we get too close he will quickly back into his home. So Jack uses a length of wire to pass him the offering.

Here he is munching his banana. In this close-up you can see his bright blue tongue.

Because we have this little fellow on snail patrol we have very few slugs and snails around, so I don’t give him too much extra tucker as I think he can find plenty for himself.

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I’m linking this to Jude’s “garden photography” that for April has been macro or close-ups in the garden.

Mini backyard veggie plot…

When we finally settled back home after 6 years of roaming around I made two decisions

1. I would not have a vegetable garden…
2. I would not grow things in pots…

I would keep the garden easy care…

But 3 months later just look…

If you have seen previous posts about my garden (here and here) you may remember the front garden is a tropical style with lots of trees and palms shading a large area. Ferns, bromeliads and other exotic species cluster in the shade. It is riddled with tree roots and tends to get very dry. Not the best conditions for growing vegetables.

But, the back garden’s smaller and gets the sun most of the day, especially near Jack’s fish ponds. I’ve suggested we take out the ponds and turn that area into raised beds. But Jack loves his fish and water lilies.

So the solution : veggies in pots standing around the fish pond…

Above is my tomatoe forest, planted 6 weeks ago with parsley and rocket to keep them company.

This is the second crop of lettuce. Autumn and winter are the best time to grow vegetables. Summer is just too hot and humid and all the pests and diseases proliferate and consume or kill the produce before we can.

Tish over at “Tish Farrell” did an inspirational post about growing her radishes in pots, accompanied with mouth-watering photos (take a look). So here they are Tish only 6 days old. The garden in pots is expanding in all directions.

Another cluster of seedlings sun themselves under another tomatoe. Waiting to be potted on into larger permanent pots. Silver beet, land cress, more parsley, the radish sharing the container with coriander and at the front pansies being hardened off before going into a garden bed in the front garden. My nod to spring in the tropics.

But just a minute what can I see…

Let’s look closer…

Oh no!!! Some thing has been nibbling.

I look around and next to this tomatoe is my lemon tree in a pot and the lemons are starting to colour up.

But then I see it. I have never seen anything like this before. I imagine it will be a beautiful butterfly. So I am happy to share some of the tomatoes with him.

I’ve also put a mild chilly plant in a pot.

Spinach does not like the warm tropical climate. To grow well it needs a colder winter. But I have found a species called Ceylon Spinach ( Basella alba is an edible perennial vine in the family Basellaceae) It is not a true spinach but tastes similar and is used in the same way. But most importantly it thrives in the tropics. It is a vine and I have put it beside a post it can climb up.

So I guess I have tied myself to the garden for a while. Winter is traditionally the dry season in this area, so I will need to be here to keep pots watered.

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I have included some close ups to join in with Jude’s “garden photography challenge”. This is the last week for her close up theme.

Garden Photography : Macro… And Day 2 of 7 Days of nature photos.

It’s April and time for a new theme at Jude’s garden photography challenge. This month she is challenging us to get closer to your subject.

As Gilly (Lucid Gypsy) has nominated me to take part in the “7 day nature photo” challenge I will combine them with these photos.

Today I nominate DJ (musings of a frequently flying scientist) to join in. DJ is a fanatical photographer and has an artists eye for composition and a scientists flair for presentation. Hope you can find the time in your busy life DJ.

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Today I visited  the Roma Street Parklands. An oasis in the centre of the hustle and bustle of Brisbane. It is one of the worlds largest subtropical gardens in a city centre. I spent 3 hours immersed in the beauty of these magnificent gardens and I will be showing more of the photos I took as the week goes by.

These vibrant red ginger were tucked away under the foliage and it was the bright red that caught my eye and I had to duck down to get a photo. It was then I noticed the tiny, true flower just peeping out from the whorls of the stem (not sure of the terminology here). So then I tried to take a close-up.

I do not have a DSLR or a macro lens so I got as close as my camera would focus, then did some cropping. Interesting theme from Jude this week as it makes me look closer and study things around me. Jude has a pin sharp bee to show us this week.