Back to it.. spring garden 2013

So much to catch you up on, first of all - I'm home!  I've been away fora lot of the past couple of years, and I don't just mean from my blog.  My job has involved a lot of overseas travel, and whilst I have seen some great things, tasted some great things, achieved some great things and met some amazing people, I have missed my family.   That all came to end a short time ago and I started a new job in the same industry that is much more family friendly.   So I've been slowly getting back into my groove 

You might or might not remember we moved house about a year ago and I'm still unpacking boxes.. yes! So needless to say a lot of catching up to do around the house and the garden.. 

Here's some snapshots I took today:

These are our main vege patches at the moment, unfortunately they don't get as much sun as our last one (opera house), but is perfect for carrots, lettuce and cucumber which we have in there now.  Over the next month I'll be weeding this and getting it a bit more functional.  The other one, is not fit for photographs yet!

Our herbs and tomatoes now live in pots on the perimeter of the deck which does get a lot of direct sunshine.  Currently in the process of transferring things into tin ice buckets - they are colourful and aren't as heavy to move around, we started this last year - here's our thyme which is in flower and rosemary, they are now so big they need their own buckets or pots.

 We have 3 varieties of tomato on the go - these are our cherry tomatoes, but we also have black russian and Grand Lisse.

The basil pot, regular and Thai varieties don't you love the fans?  Cute right?  Each of the girls bought one of these and has staked their claim (literally) in a herb pot each.  This one is Laura's.  Eloise's has parsley and oregano (and needs to be separated also) and Olivia's is the top image, with Chives and sage.

Unfortunately, as when happens when is starts to heat up - suddenly - the coriander (cilantro) has gone to seed....

So we chopped it back today and re-sowed some of the seeds.

It's an easy job for kids to do, Olivia did the task today.

And we'll dry the majority of them in the paperbag, just keep it somewhere dry like your shed.  

I couldn't resist this shot of the bottle brush, that's the thing about being away from home, it makes you nostalgic for images like these..

 Tell me about your garden adventures! Starting or reviving a herb or vege garden? What's growing well for you at the moment?

The Frills in the Hills Autumn cleanout checklist

Hello friends!

After a weekend dedicated to the Annual Autumn clean-out that I normally do just before Easter I realise working I just don't have time to do it all at once and secondly before making myself a list I thought I would never get through it, but I've done my list and I'm working my way through it so I thought I'd share it with you and you could join me for the ride (and even give me some of your tips!)....

Here's my list:

Prune:  

• I prune my prolific growers - jasmine and gardenia- really just to give them shape, just a small trim really but it now looks a lot better!
• Clean out your summer harvests if you have some - get your tomatoes gone if they haven't done that by themselves already - here's some ideas to preserve your glut
• I give my herbs a bit of a haircut too, not a major one, just again the prolific growers like mint and oregano.

Plant:

• Bulbs for spring before it gets too cold.  We're planting some daffodils.
• If you have a vege garden, now's the time to be planting your carrots, brussel sprouts and cabbages - here's other suggestions too

Feed:

• The lawn, your plants and your trees.  Especially feed your flowers that will bloom in spring.

Our passionfruit got a good feed this weekend, isn't it glorious!?

Gutters:

• Clean out the gutters whilst its dry - nothing worse than having your roof cave in because you have stuff caught in your gutter (happened to us almost, next-door neighbours cricket ball!)

Sweep and Rake:

• This would have to be the most thankless job of the autumn, because just as soon as you've done it, you need to do it again, make it a once-a month job. 

Clean:

• The exterior of the house - we have a karcher but any guerney will do - you can hire them cheaply if you don't have one or a friend to loan you one, ask your neighbour or friend if they want to split the cost... it takes no time to do and you can give your deck/entertaining area and driveway a good once-over too.
• Also if you have any outdoor furniture it's a good time to give that a clean and seal if it's wooden - Wash all cushions and store in the garage for spring if you don't think you'll be outside much in Autumn.

Cull:

• Time to get rid of that stuff sitting in your garage that you've been meaning to take to the tip... that space you will need for the car and other outdoor stuff you may want to store undercover over winter

Clean:

• Your oven - before you get those casseroles and puddings and baked treats in there, give it a good clean.
• Your bedding, before it gets too cold or wash your doonas, blankets, throws and cushions.  Get them dry-cleaned before the rush if that's what you prefer.  If they were cleaned at the end of last spring and you haven't used them, just give them an air on the washing line for a few hours.
• Light fittings, because you'll be using more artificial light during winter, pull them apart, give the shades a good once over, keep them bright.
• Cobwebs - you probably haven't noticed them, but make it a habit to seek them out at least once a month - you can use a broom brushed with lemon oil to deter the spiders from coming back.
• Walls - clean from bottom to top to avoid streaks but I just do this with a vileda sponge that has the non-scratch scourer on it and some warm water with liquid sugar soap, you notice the difference straight away- pay note to light switches and power points too - they get a bit grotty!
• Defrost your freezer, and get rid of any food you don't recognise or looks a bit dodgy!

Service:

• Now's the time to have your fireplace or heating serviced if you need to (before the price-hike!) get your firewood sorted or just clean the filters in your heaters.
• Your coffee machine if you have one - you can get DIY descaling kits online.

Cull:

• Clothes you don't wear anymore, clothes your kids don't fit anymore - donate or list on ebay - but if you haven't listed after 2 weeks, donate!! 
• Pantry goods that are out of date
• Plastic containers you've been saving for a 'rainy day'.
• Books and magazines you've read that you're not likely to read or refer to again
• Toys and Board games that are missing pieces

Look at my donation pile!  This is going to Salvation Army/Freecycle, and this is HALF of what I started with (already freecycled a bit!) I also took about the same to the tip!

Store:

• Hand-me down clothes and toys for later - I find spacebags work best.  Store them above wardrobes, under beds or in trunks.  Don't forget to label the contents and sizes!
• Outdoor furniture/soft furnishings/portable fans.

So friends, feel free to add your tips or your thoughts - do you do an Autumn Clean?  Are you motivated to do one?  I'm about 1/3 of the way through mine, and on track to finish before winter, are you keen to join me?

What happened last weekend....

My life has never been so much like a game of tetris.  Squeezing in everything rushing, rushing rushing.  Last weekend was no exception.

Some things we got up to:
Spent some time in the garden:

We re-planted the opera house garden - celery, tomatoes, chillies, cucumber, lettuce, carrots and zucchini - plus of course nasturtiums to keep the snails out...

Cut back the passionfruit a little...

bought some lattice for $1 a length from Bunnings, it was obviously not perfect, but it will be covered within a year with this lovely little lonely passionfruit...

We did a lot of driving, and as my hubby drove, I got some cooking inspiration from Martha Stewart and Super Food Ideas magazines online...love this! 

And on Saturday night hubby and I got dressed up for the school's trivia night... our table drew the short straw and we were the 'Pimps and Pros' table.  Hubby won a best dressed award as a pimp!

And I went as 'John, the customer'

Dodgy right?  We did raise just under $14,000 for our school, and had a great night, so worthwhile!

And of course.... waaaaaaaaaaaafffffles.  Love my new waffle maker!

Did you do anything out of the usual last weekend?

Blooming marvellous!

Finally, my gardenias are in bloom!  My garden (and house) have that sweet perfume that make me swoon.  I love gardenias and I think anyone who has visited my garden knows this - I have about 12 bushes!

And with all the rain and absolutely no hope of derris dust staying on the tomatoes, it's little wonder the snails have had a good feast on our tomato vines - getting some lovely plump tomatoes though - we do need to pick them before they drop because the weather is too unpredictable to let them ripen on the vine unfortunately.

More strawberries!  Our strawberry plant is paying big dividends this summer!

As is the blueberry bush - what excites me is next year it will be bigger and each year we'll get more - maybe one day my dream of making a blueberry pie without it costing a small fortune may come true.

And here's our grapevine - it's waiting for our new garden bed to be finished after almost carking it over the winter - happy now! (It's an Isabella)

And the oregano, doing it's usual December thing - going crazy.

And the sage is too - this is the best I've seen it.

The coriander has gone to seed, will collect these over the weekend.

And the pretty potato vine, we look over this from the loungeroom, I love it.

And here's a view from the deck - look at the Jacaranda in all its splendour! The gardenias are lined up in front!

So that's the latest update!  Are you getting busy in your garden?

Around our garden November 2010

It's been almost a month (to the day) since my last update so here's a few pics!

Look! Raspberry flowers!

Chinese star jasmine in all its glory.  3 years it has taken to get to this point, we are hoping next year it will start to have grown on the roof beams of the balcony - it smells divine!

These are some of hubby's roses - pwetty huh?

And these have started to grow along the fence line near the entrance to the opera house (our vegetable garden) I think I might have dropped a few of the yellow cherry tomatoes on the way out last summer and they've self seeded, I always grab a couple of ripe ones on my way in and out - super sweet!

 And talking of tomatoes - here is a one of this seasons - how gorgeous is it? (It's a grosse lisse)

And here are our onions, with lovely big flowers on top.  They are so pretty!

And here are the brussel sprouts, I think we'll be eating these over Christmas! 

And look at the nasturtiums! Love them! 

 Look!  A strawberry!!

And the pretty strawberry flowers! 

And the blueberries!!  Come on little babies, ripen up! 

Berry gorgeous

Our little berry farm is going well.  Although surrounded in chicken wire to keep both the dog, wildlife and three very eager frills out..  look at that strawberry - I can't believe someone hasn't snaffled it yet!

And here's the blueberries... not blue yet!

And raspberries - now no fruit on this but it's over a metre high now, which I'm really impressed as I thought we'd almost killed during the winter!!

Can't wait til we can start picking berries!  These are all in pots at present, in full sun, anything stopping you from having a berry garden or do you have one?

I love berries, but I suspect I'd need a good many more plants to sustain us!

Happy Monday everyone!

How was your weekend?  Get up to much?

Like the gate on our opera house? Isn't it cute?  I've only been nagging suggesting to hubby we do this for the past year - I love it!  It cost $5 from the local salvage yard and the posts/hinges cost another $7.  $12 for a cute gate like this is a bargain I think!

I've taken a few photos of bits and pieces of the garden this weekend - I love this time of year in our garden, everything is bursting to greet you!  Such wonderful smells too.

The jasmine is budding like there's no tomorrow.  I look out on this when I wash up, and it makes it a pleasure!
Can't wait until it blooms!

We spent our weekend at home - hubby had a little knee operation on Friday so we couldn't really stray far.. It was a lovely change as the school holidays have been quite hectic for me especially and my house and housekeeping has gone to the dogs and lets face it, when you're not home much and there's three kids constantly messing up what you've just cleaned it is a little soul destroying!

Our Jacaranda tree at sunset, pretty right?

So yes, I've cleaned windows, I've baked, I've washed the couch covers and curtains in our loungeroom, I've decimated most of the washing baskets.  I'm feeling like this week is my week to catch up.   Hubby is home for another couple of days recuperating so even though he's slow on his feet he can help supervise whilst I get things done!

Coriander, how I love thee!  Pretty and delicious!

I've got no recipe for you today, but I'm sure you'll forgive me... right?  I'm planning on doing some baking today so standby, something will be up for you tomorrow.

Lemon Thyme - smells as good as it looks!

Whilst I'm at it, what would you like to see?  I've had a request from the Frills in the Hills Facebook page for vegetable side-dishes - so I'll be working on that - any other requests?

Oh, by the way, if you're not a liker on Frills Facebook yet, join in !  If you are start suggesting because we're less than 50 likers off 500 and I'll be giving away 3 lovely Christmas kitchen somethings when we reach 500!

Potato vine in bloom - three years I've been waiting for this to cascade over the deck balustrade - and finally it has complied.
Love it! 

Lastly, I'll remind you about the Super Food Ideas subscription competition - don't forget to take a photo of any of the Frills recipes you use, follow these instructions and you'll be in the running to win a SuperFood Ideas subscription!