Weekend work

We did some odd jobs in the garden this weekend. Hubby cleaned the leaves out of the pond and I managed to fall in it, Funniest Home Videos style. I stumbled on the edge and rocked in limbo for a moment before crashing in to the water. Our pond is about half a metre deep, so I went in up to my neck as I was horizontal by the time I splashed in. The children were quite worried about me, but I was ok, just drenched.

We also did some work to our raised bed. Hubby and his Dad built this bed from scraps we had been given. I worked hard to fill the bed with compost and good stuff and we are now starting to see some growth in there. This weekend we added the string to two of the sides and the bamboo stakes. The beans are starting to slowly climb so it felt like it was time to add some support for them. We have clumping bamboo growing in our front yard so we used that in the bed. It is great having bamboo, it is so versitile in the garden. We have tomatoes, onions, beans, cucumbers, beetroot, carrots, celery, corn, dill and nasturtiums in this bed.

Raised bed with new string supports

Bamboo stakes for extra support

View from the back

The other thing I did was to move my greenhouse to the back patio. I bought this one at Aldi. We don't really have anywhere flat enough for it to go, so it needs to sit on the paving. I had it in a sheltered spot on the East side of the house but it wasn't getting enough sun there. I am torn between it not getting warm enough in that spot, or having it here on the North side and cooking my plants. It is prone to blowing away also, hence the garbage bin and heavy pots around it.

My hot house.

My wonderful hubby brought me two of these stands home from work. They are on casters, so very easy to move. There is a third one, but it is on a non rolling base. Can't wait to grow something over these!

New stands

We also paid a visit to Aldi to buy some plants this weekend. Maybe I am mad, but we bought Kiwifruit. I have no idea where we will grow them, but we will work something out.

Male and female Kiwi fruit plants

While we were there I grabbed this Port Wine Magnolia. I am hoping the flowers will be a deep colour. The photo on the tag does not really indicate that, but you can live in hope. I think I will grow this one in a pot.

Port Wine Magnolia

Well that was our weekend in the garden. What did you get up to?

Monday Harvest!

Garlic

Finally I can join in on Monday Harvest as I have harvested something. Did it need to be harvested on Monday? I actually pulled it from the ground over the weekend, but am only posting about it now.
Garlic! I have never grown it before. I purchased some lovely organic Purple Rocambole garlic from someone who is in my milk co-op and as I got to the end of the bag and a few were shooting, I decided to pop them in the ground. I planted three in a pot and one under my Rose as I had read they are good companions. I didn't think too much about preparing the soil at the time and just watered them whenever I was watering the other plants. Recently I started to notice them yellowing and wondered what was happening. I got impatient and decided to pull the one out from under the Rose. It was tiny and non segmented. I presumed the rest would be. I left those, but the tops of them were now on the ground and looking a right mess. After watching Vasili's Garden last week I saw him mentioning that a lot of people were complaining about their garlic doing this. He mentioned too much water or not draining well. So I decided to pull them up and try again next year. I was pleasantly surprised to find that these ones were larger and segmented. I cannot wait to try them. Can I use it straight away, or does it need to hang for awhile?

Hanging on the hook with the lemon balm

Potterings from weeks past

This is a post I started writing a good week or more ago. I wasn't going to post it as so much has changed since these photos were taken, but I am wanting to document the growth in the garden so I will put it here.
First up, I have been using my compost. I am going to write a long post on compost soon, as I just adore the stuff, but for now here is some pics of it at work in the garden. This is the patch of mixed plants in front of our patio. On this particular side the weeds have been taking over and the grass gets in there also. I removed as much as I could and have spread my compost into the top of the soil. I have since added a layer of sugar cane mulch and the plants have grown a lot.

Some coriander, nasturtiums, lambs ear and rose campion

Remains of freesias, parsley, some foxglove and pansies starting

You can see the compost isn't totally broken down, but it will continue to do so

Remember my lavender cuttings? I trimmed them back and they have just taken off. These two photos show how quick they are growing. Probably only a week between the shots. I am thinking I might cut those flower stems down to encourage more to grow. They are very long and are drooping over on the fresh grow. A few even snapped off.

Lavender starting to grow

Flower heads really shooting away now

Something I am adoring in my garden is this Cape Mallow. Please correct me if that is not its name, but the Google pics seemed to match the plant. Our one is growing all bent over. I would dearly love to trim it back but am afraid I might kill it. I have collected seeds from it and I am attempting to strike them. If they take, maybe I can think about cutting this one. It would make a charming hedge I think. Not that I have anywhere for a hedge to grow.

Cape Mallow?

The climbing roses have started to bloom. We have two that are planted near the Banksia Rose. This bloom is hanging down under the canopy. Unfortunately where it is positioned above the house means we don't get to enjoy its flowers. I did get brave last week though, and climbed into our loft for the first time ever. It was lovely to see the roses from up there.

Climbing Rose

One of the last Freesias to bloom and it's a purple one. I really like this colour. I planted these bulbs and unfortunately I put them in amongst the daffodils and they got crowded out. Will have to move them.

Freesia

The Clivias have finished blooming and this one has reproduced. I was so excited to find this fledgling plant growing at the side of the parent plant. Looking forward to more blooms in a few years time.

Clivia

Still yet to identify this one, but it is gearing up to bloom. It didn't bloom the entire time it was potted, but I knew it was supposed to flower. The flowers are a pretty blue colour.

Can you name this plant for me?

Finally I have another gifted plant. This Rhododendron was an anniversary gift from my hubby. 8 years this year. I was a b it shocked at the choice when I first received it as I thought they grew very large, but the tag says otherwise. Now to find a spot for it.

Anniversary gift

Things that go slime in the night

WARNING.
This post mentions the killing of snails and slugs. Do not read if this is not your cup of tea.

I have always loved snails. They are such sweet looking little creatures. The babies are adorable. I have never worried too much about them or slugs, but I have also never been really serious about my gardening either. I am now stuck in a quandary. We have a lot of them here. A lot of slugs too and they are doing a lot of damage. I have started to become quite ruthless in my eradication of them.
A hunt them at night with a torch. The array of slugs we have here is amazing. All different colours and sizes. Some so large I mistook one for a snake at first glance. I do not want to use baits here so I have taken to hand picking them off. I squash the slugs without a second thought, but I have trouble killing the snails. I have taken to tossing them into the vacant block next door. I don't know what this does to be honest. They probably make their way back or maybe the fall kills them or only maims them. My sister mentioned collecting them and freezing them, I think hubby would have issue with me having them in the freezer. Would drowning them in water be an acceptable method?
My other concern is that maybe killing them is somehow unbalancing my ecosystem here. Could that happen? I have noticed them feeding on things like fallen rose petals etc. If only they stuck to those instead of feeding on my brand new seedlings or strawberries! There jut seems to be so many here. I have collected 100 at a time. They do extensive damage to my Hippeastrums and Aloe Vera. Is there a way to live in harmony with these little beasts?