I fed all my veges and new fruit trees with liquid sheep poo, removed all tomato laterals and tied tomatoes up (again), and propped up the bunches of fruit. Finally removed the finished row of brocolli and stomped on dozens of catterpillars. Picked some heads off the next brocolli row, pulled out the last of the peas, ate some scarlet runners and strawberries off the vine, picked the first of the zuchinni and am looking forward to the first of the cucumbers any day now. The lettuces are all looking good and this year have not (yet!) gone all slimy and rotten.

My apple trees have tennis ball-sized apples and the black currents have dozens of green berries....unfortunately my red current was attacked by borer so had to perform radical surgery to save it, and now have heaps of its cuttings taking in the garage! The remaining plant is happily resprouting and looking none the worse for it's setback. I'm so happy I planted the thornless blackberry - it's loaded with fruit, which are ripening up slowly. I was a bit late with getting the loganberry in - it's growing but no fruit, so hopefully next year. I'm going to have to make a trip to the 2nd hand shop to find some old net curtains or I'm not going to have any fruit to eat! I've decided to let the birds have their way with the last of the pajero strawberries in an effort to save my other varities (and the zuchinni flowers), I have tents of bird netting well bricked down, and yet they still find their way under!

I had to laugh, my SIL came over in the weekend. She said I had a beautiful garden and she wished she could have hers looking as good as mine! I've been told by many people (SIL included) that my garden is all topsy turvey and hodge podge - veges in the flower garden, flowers in the vege garden, and nothing in its right place. I must be doing something right! So many birds and bees around, and yummy fruit and veges coming on. One day we might even reach near self-sufficiency foodwise. Oh I would love to only go to the supermarket for a few necessities (flour, butter, etc).

Had a marvellous dinner last night - the only things that didn't come from our garden was the chicken and the rice. To top it off, husband won a breadmaker in a raffle the other day. It's so much nicer on the wrists having a machine do the kneading. We ate some of our first loaf yesterday, so soft and oh so yummy! Very filling - ate one slice and that was it for me. I wonder what's not in shop-bought bread that leaves me so empty afterwards?
That's my brag over, what's happening in your gardens?

Your garden sounds a bit like a permaculture garden with all that diversity - and it obviously works!

Isn't it gorgeous, wandering in the veggie garden and sampling - a bean here, a pod of peas there, a quick swizzle of radishes under the tap, and listening to the hurried buzzing of bees in the pumpkin flowers.

My main glow at the moment is watching my passionfruit plants venturing into Big Plant Leaves instead of their over-winter ones. So far so good.
The other one is enjoying the delicate colour of Dierama igneum which has settled in enough to produce this year.
My third good is enjoying the sound of rain - much nicer than hosing and dunking!

Hope those new spuds for including in the coming feasting season are coming along nicely. And mint leaves. Bottled mint sauce just can't compare.

Remember my earlier postings on a yellow-themed garden? Thats loooooooong since fallen apart! I now have tiny chilean guava shrubs, towering Cape Gooseberries, yellow alpine strawberries and pink-flowered strawberries growing in amoungst all the "themed" flowers now.

I meant to have the scarlet runners for dinner last night, but as I said in my first post, I ate them. Many things don't actually make it inside the house! Oh yes, I've got new spuds on the Christmas menu, along with the mint sauce. With any luck I might actually stop snacking on the fruit and veges and bring it indoors to actually put together in a meal!

I love passionfruit flowers! So exotic looking and fantastic flavoured fruit. I've used up pretty much all of our walls with my attemps at espaliering fruit trees so not sure where I could grow one...maybe up the clothes line!

I'm going to have to look up Dierama, can't say I've ever heard of it. I bet, once I see a photo of one I'll know what you're talking about!

Happy rain to you.....make it rain here for me!