I'm back lol

Hi Everyone, well the rugby season is nearly over, the sun is feeling warmer and I went into my very very neglected garden today and harvested leeks and potatoes that have sat all winter and made a big pot of leek and potato soup. Missed you all Giving up the club captaincy of the rugby at end of this year so hopefully can have a life after that. Have managed to continue to sow seeds every month or two over autumn/ winter, although none since May so have got slack, but will do some this week. Did an indoor tomato experiment with Canabec Super and Kimberley, (thanks Tessa), they did grow and fruit and ripen, but certainly not prolifically and without adequate space to do more than a couple of plants it isnt an experiment worth repeating. Beautiful tasting toms though all the same. Cold winter here as I'm sure Richard will have told you all. Bring on Spring I reckon

Hi Di and Welcome back... It sounds very cold where you are its warm here in Brisbane Hubby is in shorts and Tee shirt

Sorry No we have not heard from Richard.. Hey Leek and Potato soup sound so good to me, looking forward to hearing about what else you have been up too in the garden...

Welcome back, Di. I think we might all have a neglected part of the garden ..... well, at least those of us who live somewhere cold enough in Winter to want to stay indoors. That Leek and potato does sound good and reminded me I was going to make pea and ham soup today. I shall do that too, no prevaricating. Just wondered, are you able to grow delphiniums where you are? I was given a link to a fabulous Delphinium nursery and I'm sure it was in NZ.

Hello Di,
Sorry I didn't catch up with you while I was in NZ. Time was very short that day.

Hi Di, welcome back

Hi Betty, I'm sure we can grow delphiniums I do love them, but dont grow alot of flowers apart from some perennials. The area we are in is new and so not very established so my focus has been getting lots of shrubs and trees planted and growing and also of course my fruit and veg garden. Also its very windy up here, so lovely long stalks of delphiniums would get a battering. Things are slowly getting bigger and I reckon at the end of this coming spring and summer we will probably have a decent 1 - 2m buffer most of the way around the garden perimeter and we are starting to get some of the trees up to 3m to give some wind breakage but its hard work starting from scratch.

The leek and potato soup lasted two nights and the second night it was accompanied by big slabs of homemade garlic and herb bread with home grown garlic and herbs of course.

That's something I hadn't thought about, Di, that any of the tall flowers - delphiniums, larkspurs, hollyhocks etc. -are no good in a newish garden. Just wondering really whether the weather there is better for delphiniums, whether they need cold winters? My problem here is that all the time I was showing dogs and not gardening at all seriously, I was content with the wire fences that were here when we came. It allowed us to see what was going on, say on the dam and in the paddocks. Now, when I'd like shelter for plants I reckon we could do to have a solid back fence. I started a windbreak instead, but like you, am finding it takes a while to get going.

Yeah it's slow going, but I was delighted to look out yesterday and see one of last years trees hosting a flock of waxeyes, one of my favourite little birds. We found it was worth ringing round some of the tree nurseries. We found a place that has very reasonably priced tall shrubs/trees about 3+ metres, they are a bit tall and skinny but they give some instant structure and do bush out rather than grow up in the first year or so in the garden. Also some good fast growing shrubs/small trees, if u get them at 1.5 - 2m they soon have some bulk, we are just getting there now, we have been here just over 3 years ad I am just starting to get the odd little pocket where I might be able to put something a little wind sensitive in.

It's all fun though, isn't it? A friend called here a while back and when walking around the garden with me I realised he thought that all our natives had been planted before we shifted here. Not so, our place was as bare as yours must have been .... well, we had some standard roses, and cypresses/pencil pines, but little else. It was nice putting it all together.