Change of Appearance

You may have noticed I have changed my blog theme here. The personalised one I had was lovely but was too hard for me to tweak and I was concerned about the slow loading time.

If you're reading this in a reader, I'd love you to stop by and take a look and let me know what you think.

Does this one load quicker or are people still having trouble?

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

I seem to be having so much trouble with bugs in my garden. :(

Firstly, SLATERS!!!

I have even resorted to poison (which I hate!) and that hasn't seemed to have culled the growth cycle of these horrible things. They chew threw everything!!! I had no idea slaters could be a problem in the garden but they definitely are!!!! I keep finding them intertwined in the roots of my plants that's roots are being chewed. Not unless they are feeding on whatever it is that's eating the plants.

Anything I plant is getting munched to death by something. Even the parsley I planted

I tried transplanting some strawberry plants and they all died.

*SIGH*

I'm kinda ready to give up. Don't think I'm going to have much of a summer garden this year. :(

Summer Planting

I finally got around to some summer planting today. My garden is going to be a little late this year with having been away. I haven't even had a chance to buy some seedlings to plant yet.

Other than a 50c parsley plant I purchased at the school festival. My parsley all died (hard to keep potted plants alive when you're away for 3 months).

While I was out in the garden, I transplanted a few strawberry plants and threw a few seeds in the ground, hoping for the best.

I planted:

* butternut pumpkins
* cucumbers
* zucchini
* beans

Plus I'm attempting to grow some tomato seeds in the window sill (not confident we'll get far).

I still plan to purchase some seedlings but figured it was worth making a start.

Now just keeping my fingers crossed some of them grow.

Last year I had that much trouble with slaters eating my seedlings. I'm hoping I don't have the same trouble this year but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And the ground is surprisingly dry for how much rain we had. Not a good sign.

Strawberries Galore

Image via Wikipedia

Is there an abundance of strawberries around this year? Because everywhere we go we're finding Strawberries being sold cheaper and cheaper. Yesterday I saw 4 punnets for $2!!!! I've NEVER seen them that cheap!!!! We're almost at the point now where we can hardly keep up with eating them!!!!

I think this trip may well go down as the "strawberry trip". :)

Strawberry Farming

I've always wanted to visit a strawberry farm and pick my own strawberries. All those rows and rows of strawberries are enough to make your mouth water!!!! So, now that we're visiting the sunshine coast, we've had a chance to visit a strawberry farm and pick our own strawberries. I'm so jealous though! Wish I could grow strawberries like this:


We noticed that the farm was using some kind of wrapped soil to grow the strawberries in. It keeps the strawberries clean but I'm guessing it also helps to keep the soil moist? Perhaps we'll try that. I guess our extreme temperatures don't help either.

Mmmm.....there is nothing like strawberries still warm from the plant:

The Lightening Plant

I have seen this plant growing many places from the Whitsundays and above:



I have no idea what it's called but I've nicknamed it "The Lightening Plant" because it's PINK!!!!

How awesome would it be if I could grow this in my garden back home. I must ask someone what it is. Anyone know?

It's so pretty, isn't it? :)

Preparing the Garden For Rest

Last week I finally got around to pulling up the remnants of the summer garden and spreading a nice thick layer of pea straw mulch over my beds so that they can have a nice little little rest while we're away. Hopefully, the straw will compost down and leave me with a lovely bed that's ready to produce well for the next summer garden I plant.



In the meantime, my compost bin is overflowing. I suck at making compost but I chucked it all in there anyway (yeah, I suck because I don't do the whole "layering" thing quite right) in the hopes that it'll break down over time (it has to eventually, right????).