30 September 2019

From the journal.

Here at Fairy Wren Cottage those really hot Summer days begin February through to March.  While some gardeners in warmer climates are already well and truly harvesting fruits & veg our cooler climate slows the garden right down in comparison. But still there is so much to do and pick.

We already prepared our ¾ acre block for the bushfire season late Winter when the days were still cool and enjoyable to work outside and bonfires were allowed. Who doesn’t love a bonfire!

The Spring blossom has been glorious.

Small bunches of herbs are coming inside daily to be air dried or dehydrated, to be stored in airtight jars to use later in cooking, herbal teas and for Lil and I to try some soap making over our summer holidays. We are thinking of lemon verbena & lemon balm for our first batch.

The three tiny black bird chicks can be seen around the garden now, they hatched in the nest on top of the empty wooden crate, outside the shed. Gosh they were fun and would sqwork at Michael everytime he walked past, beaks wide open, a tad disgruntled but comical in that cute baby bird with barely any feathers kind of way.

Michael and Lil made this nesting box. It is fixed to the fence, divided into three sections, the top half is this nesting box for a small bird, the middle section has a shelf with a small bird bath in it and the lowest section to the ground has logs in it, a home for insects. The trees will grow up around it all and it will make a great home for our feathered friends.

We have planted extra pumpkins this year, a mix of Golden Nuggets, Queensland Blue and Red Kuri. The Golden Nuggets work really well for us, they mature quickly, we don’t let the skin dry out, cut them into wedges freezing them raw in small batches to add to curries or roast the golden nuggets and add them to big batches of pasta sauce for the freezer.

In the Quince Orchard we decided to take all the small fruit off the row of Champion Quinces, giving the trees a break from fruiting this year and heavily thinned the Smyrna, Pineapple, Fuller & Van de Man varieties. This is the 6^th year the trees are in the ground and we aren’t wanting to weigh those still developing branches down with too much fruit, stressing the trees or worst still the branches snapping.

Honeybee is a darling and it is very easy to spend time with her and the hours pass very quickly!

Jude x