Nothing is certain ... except death, taxes ... and change

After a lazy late winter/spring/summer! when I was too busy with my million other hobbies, the patch became weedy and difficult to get around. Plus I'd never netted it properly from our resident female bower birds and the occasional possum.

So after a dedicated weekend, I netted the patch, cleared the weeds off the path and used some scoria over newspaper for the new paths. I have used sawdust in the past and this works really well and you can scoop it on the the patch after it has rotted (takes a year or so!), but the little path around the patch is too small to do this easily, so the patch has gone a bit 'house and garden' :)

I found a use for some old ladders and trellis, providing a visually interesting climber for the peas:

Some crops left over from summer:
Rhubarb (Organic John gave me this healthy plant - I think it's had a bit too much nitrogen!):

Celery - I didn't know you could just pick the stalks as needed - bonus! I Haven't bothered blanching it (because I'm lazy - :)), so it's a bit more 'green' tasting than what I am used to (ie. more chlorophyll and more bitter (which is supposed to be good for you).

The Apples of My Eye

The Dwarf Gala apple tree, espaliered against the south fence of the veggie patch (but facing north) had babies for the first time this year. There were five crisp apples and on two occasions I had a hunch to pick them on a certain day, left it that night and the bower bird got in behind the netting against the fence. It's at least nice to know my instincts are in tune - just need to act on them sooner!

So she got the best looking apple and ate half (how nice that she left me some :^))



And the flavour? Delicious! Not quite as sweet as I'd expected, but not bitter and very crisp and juicy. In fact, I don't recall eating any apple that crisp and juicy. It just shows you how much is lost, the further away from 'fresh' that it gets.