The leaves have fallen and winter is before us! well for 2009 at least !

Last day of autumn. I have been away for a couple of days but thought I would show you chook house progress. Some of my garden, and the things I am doing to grow more. As well as areas I would like to pretty up a bit. I am hoping to put up a trellis for the kiwis so that they will hide the gas bottles. I am also going to plant the grapes so that they will give us summer shade on the deck. Cold and getting colder here today. I do get envious a little of the lovely gardens with great edges and defined paths. We have let our paths get grassed over, but they are being cleared, and we will re gravel. So I will be glad to have some time to deal with weeds and organising in the next three months. Joining in Sara's project 2010 of becoming as self sufficient in vegies, herbs and fruit on Simple Savings site is one of the great things I am undertaking for the next 18months. I love the aspect of planning ahead and really getting a grip on my garden so that it provides not only a place of beauty, relaxation and food, it provides my exercise workout, my quiet time, my care of my chookies. My DH and I find we dont really have a need to travel much or have holidays. Though we still do go away for weekends and a week or two here and there. It just seems to me our home is the place we are happiest. We already know that we are one of the most fortunate couples in the world we are content, we don't desire to be rich or have material things. We are happy with a lifestyle of simpler things, good friends, a sense of community and each other. We have our dog and cat, along with the native animals and birds that let us share their land. We see ourselves as being on their place and ensuring that we provide shelter and food plants for them as well as our selves, which in turn we kind of hope will help with them not eating our foods. (not that it happens )lol. Just had a wander around the garden to see how things are, and noted that in my absence of three days more mushrooms are growing or have become the giant mushrooms whilst I have been away, form my $3 bags of mushie compost. I have picked and picked so many swiss browns over 10kgs off them and the white button ones, another 6+ kg so have been able to share with neighbours and store mushrooms made into a mix of mushrooms, onion garlic and red wine. Great soup starter, or for rissotto. Popped several bags in the freezer. My blue angel peas are flowering, they are the ones in the polystyrene box sitting and trailing up the house.

More photos of my winter garden

The pictures are my broad beans and silver beet, and one lot of my brassicas. I have them under tulle yet still I had caterpillars on them. (explains the leaves with holes). I have hand picked all I could find. Little blighters are so hard to see. Eat your heart out MIrage and all those exotic resorts, we have eggotic Wattlegrove Chookie savoy

Last few days in Autumn 2009

First photos of chookhouse under construction. It is very exciting having the foundations and flooring structure up. This chook house will not be moving anywhere. Cemented in and structurally sound for a heard of sheep let alone half a dozen hens. My darling man says it is his Taj ma hal to me! His gift of love. Ohhhh I have such a lovely man in my life! My vegie garden is doing okay. Only trouble is my winter bed of greens seems to have been overtaken with weeds. Must be from the horse manure! I used old stuff, or maybe some of the sheep manure, but this was very very old stuff. Oh well I have been checking out with my plan what I am meant to have growing in this bed on Wikepedia (falling in love with this as I dont always know what a vegie looks like..lol so they give a picture). Helps me a lot. Silverbeet is going well (I have been selling some at the fortnightly produce market down here)! My broad beans are amazing me. I have flowers on a couple of them already. My peas that are growing against the house have some flowers on them. The Happy wanderer is coming into flower, and I am almost 100% certain this is early. Rosemary is flowering and many bulbs are up. I still have leaves on my plum, peach trees, though apricot cherries and hazlenuts aswell as part of the apple(grafted) have their beautiful autumn colours. We have had some rain and beautifully mild days with sunshine. The nights are cool (not surprisingly) and there have been a frost or two. I will be working on pathways, weeding, and fencing through out winter. Along with preparing seeds and seedlings for my summer feast of vegies. I appreciate the guys on the garden thread at simplesavings.com.au for their help and assistance with answering questions. I love my garden and am really enjoying providing food for us to eat. I have lately been having meals with all produce provided by producers in my local area. I am very proud to support them. I get great organic beef from Nicholls Rivulet, and fruit and vegies from fellow producers at our local produce market, and locale.

Alpine strawberries and autumn raspberries

So here I have been waiting and waiting for my alpine strawberries to ripen. They DONT they are a white strawberry and have a delicious taste. We have not got a lot just a couple of handfuls but made a great discovery. I was weeding about them thinking to myself that they were taking a long time to ripen. I noticed that some were going rotten and bugs had eaten them...hmm what? me thinks. So I popped one in my mouth, a lovely burst of strawberry. Darn ignorance in this case was not bliss. lol There are quite a few more flowers on the strawberries and raspberries, I am hoping we will have enough for desert of them one night.

Winter vegie beds and paraphenalia from tip shop to protect the seedlings

what on earth happended to April!

Well cool and wet down here today but I have been out to take some pictures of the garden. Things are growing relatively well and you will see my devices (mostly from tip shop) to try to thwart bugs.lol The silver beet is as you can see growing fantastically, I have sold several bunches at the produce market, people seem to love the tri colour of the stems. Broad beans are in same area and are doing well though I do have to put some string about them to stop them being blown about to much in the wind. I have also put in some tree onions in this plot, and a mesculan mix, and one or two other things um fenugreek hmm( I have to improve with putting lables about what is growing where. I have picked my very first saffron from my crocus two have flowered but sadly my DH accidentally threw out the first three i had drying. Second lot are in a safe place. Such a pretty flower. Still getting some tomatoes and zucchinis off the plants. Under the netting are my brassicas. Cabbages, Cauliflowers, brussel sprouts, and broccoli.