See you in a few weeks....

We are off for a HOLIDAY to the beach. This is the boys 2nd time at the beach so they are very, very excited.
We are worried there won't be any beach left due to the recent storms see here At least the unit we are staying at has a pool if the beaches are closed.
Have a wonderful week, we will be (sorry to rub it in)
Emily

Know your friends, but know your pests better

What am I talking about?

Garden bugs....

I have been planting out a lot more perennial fruit trees and shrubs, than other seasons.
One of the new additons to the garden has been a Cape Gooseberry plant Physalis peruviana. This is the first time I have grown a cape gooseberry, so it is abit of a learning curve for me.

Anyway I noticed a few 'bugs' (to be general) on it a few weeks ago, but was unsure if they were goodies or badies.

Well the were badies I have since discovered.

This is a 3 striped potato beetle or a common 3 striped beetle. They are bad. ie. they eat all the leaves of a cape gooseberry.

Since increasing the gardens and the plant numbers I have been dealing with a larger number of pests, (than other years). Thrips, white fly, vegetable bugs, grasshoppers, just to name a few. I grow everything using organic methods, (how easy would it be to grab that bottle of poison and spray every plant in sight!) and am finding the pests are becoming a real problem this year. *sigh* So I am on a mission to learn more organic treatment methods.

Here is a few of my favourites

• squashing
• freezing (pop eggs and bugs in to kill them and then feed them to the chooks)
• giving them to the kids to 'play with' (grasshoppers are good for this leave the bitey ones for the freezer)
• white oil

Have a great week - Em

As our camera is broken the Photo is from :http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74/image/53137933

Photo Friday

Eggs....

Our girls have been laying for almost 12 months now. These are afew of the odd eggs we have been given, ranging from tiny to rather large ones... poor things!

A new look...

Life is a bit crazy busy here at the moment and I have managed to grab a few moments for myself. So here is my new look 'blog'. I hope you like it, the other formatt just wasn't working for me.

I will be stopping by 3 times a week to blog, Mon, Wed and Fridays. I can't afford much more commitment than this.

So enjoy the new look and I will be adding a few other 'goodies' along the way.

Our first crop of potatoes grown in a sack

In the garden

Oh two blogs in one day, awesome!

I just wanted to update on the chook pen and the garden.

The pen is finished and they have been in there afew weeks now. We thought about putting wire on the top to stop the sparrow swarm, but that has gone into 'the too hard for now' basket.

*Note to all fellow pen builders, measure the size of the night house before you build the pen as it may not fit though the gate!!!!* I love that I can go to work when it is hot and know they will be cool and have heaps to do and eat.

The garden is going crazy with all the rain, we are harvesting giant cucumbers and tomatoes of all types, as they are all seedlings that came up in the compost.
What type are these, in the pic below? I really Don't know a cross between shop brought hard skinned things and Kellogs breakfast, i am guessing as they ripen orange and have the toughest skin? (Kellogs is a heritage tomato with orange skin.)
I also have zebra cherry, and large. Also a big beef steak type one! lovely and all tasty!

The foam boxes are covered to stop the 'girls' from eating them!

Have a great day, Em

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope you all have had a wonderful holidays, we all had a wonderful time, especially seeing my hubby's family at the 'farm'.

I finally finished the Christmas presents at 1am Christmas day, phew! I *think* the family were pleased with what they recieved. Here is some eye candy of what was given:

Neck coolers, or in this case a head cooler

A Pencil roll

Cushions embroidered with the kids drawings or the outline of their hands, this was a big hit with the great-grandparents (this was a work in progress)

Crowns, the kids loved these! 3 felt pieces and elastic to join at the back. I lined these with calico.


Take care Em