More rain

Yes, it's true, we ARE rain obsessed! But we had more yesterday and today, and the promise of more tomorrow. As long as it doesn't come with yesterday's gale force winds I'll be happy (and so will the veg patch).

Today I picked the last of the potato crop - in a few weeks I'll have to go back to buying them, which will be a big disappointment. On the bright side another cabbage was ready for picking today, and half of it (only a small cabbage) will be on the plate for dinner tonight!



Soon we will have another exciting addition to the 'farm' - stay tuned!!

9 girlfriends??

That's "More than Lucky" (if you're not English you won't get this reference)......so that's the name of our new rooster - Lucky for short. Isn't he a handsome fellow? So come spring we hope we will have our own chicks!

And here's the latest photo of "the kids" - Freddie on the left.

Garden Update May 25

Thanks to a decent bout of rain in the last week (alas, not a droughtbreaker) things are looking green and lovely.
My winter crop of snow peas has started to shoot - you can see the latest organic slug-busting creation (copper slug rings) in place protecting them - thanks Lucy!
I've planted loads and loads of Garlic - 4 different varieties in all - and some of them are starting to sprout .


I'm onto the third crop of pink radishes, and the autumn raspberries have their last fruit of the season.

Last week I harvested my first crop of golden turnips. I tried braising some, but the best results were in a slow cooked beef casserole. Lovely! This morning's harvest basket contained beetroot and broccoli. The beetroot is going to be roasted with other root veg for dinner, and I've already blanched the broccoli and popped it in the freezer. All in all, a good morning's work.

New girls

We've added 2 new girls to the brood - and very pretty they are too! And laying eggs which is what we like. The Top 'chick' has very pretty herringbone like patterning on her breast feathers. She's a cross breed from one of our friend's 'experiments'.

The bottom chick, Houdini, is a lovely glossy black with a green tinge. She is Houdini because we couldn't work out how she kept getting our of the run...until we realised she was flying! None of the others can be bothered to do that much exercise.

You know you are sad when....

the most exciting event of the week is picking your first ever, completely-home-grown-from-seed cabbage. As last year's crop was completely munched by bugs I think I am justified in feeling a bit proud.

I am also feeling a bit more Barbara than Margo with these sexy dungarees - and yes, there ARE a pair of green wellies on my feet!

What can I say - it's high fashion here in the country :*)

Rainy days in May

FANTASTIC!! We have had some rain - over a few days even. Because we're about the only people within 500 klm without a rain guage I can't tell you how much we received, but the ground is still damp 2 days leter, which is great.

Unfortunately one bit of rain was preceeded by a severe storm, and we had a direct lightning strike to the substation power pole in the paddock. Bye bye 2 light globes, modem, and one of our phone sockets. We were also without power for 7 hours....and with no power we have no water (as no pumps to pump it from the tank). It's times like these you realise how addicted to power (ie the Internet!!) you really are.

But $150 later we have a new modem, and we'll get around to getting the phone socket/cabling replaced sometime...

I've created a flikr account for our photos for those of you that want less words and more PIKCHURES (yes, Artmummy, I AM talking about you). There's a link to the page on the left menu bar under more photos...the address is http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigeandgabs/. There are already some photos of our recent mini-break to the alpine region (and yes Anita, even one of both of us!!! but be warned, it's not a glamour shot hahaha)