Garden

Spring has Sprung!

/ sbaskitchen / 3 Comments
Spring has sprung
The grass has riz
I wonder where the birdies is….

 

I can still hear my late father reciting this little ditty as he walked through the kitchen door, many, many years ago – Oh how I loved his ability to recite poetry, ditties or sing a tune about a topic being discussed…

With the arrival of spring the birdies are back in our garden… The king parrot, such beautiful bird, and if you didn’t know it, you would be looking around for a squeaky swing, which is the sound she makes the entire time she’s here. Continue reading →

Home Sweet Home

/ sbaskitchen / 1 Comment

I’m back…

After a lengthy holiday in France, we have now returned to our home and the Australian winter!  Short days and frosty mornings which means cold, but sunny days (at the moment) and very cold nights!

Naturally after such a long absence, the garden is calling for our attention, so if the sun is shining we are immediately drawn outside to enjoy the warm rays. But the place to be in the morning is the kitchen, where the sun’s rays shine through the window over the sink, providing a wonderful cosy atmosphere. I was absolutely delighted one morning this week, when I was drawn to a familiar twitter outside our kitchen – I know the voice of a very small and busy bird, the wren – we have always called them fairy wrens, and the male, if you are lucky enough to see one, is superbly dressed in the prettiest of blue.  However, I was enjoying their antics so much, I have no photos to share… In the two years we have been here this is only the second time I have seen them, with the last time just before we departed for our holiday – I await my next sighting.

In the evening, the open fire, glowing beautifully and providing the coziness needed, is the place to be as the dark crawls in, dragging along the chill and dampness with it. Something that is always a treat at this time of year is mulled wine… Mulled Wine - Feature ImageWith the wonderful aroma of the festive season, this drink always provides warmth and comfort with each sip. Continue reading →

Giant Broccoli

/ sbaskitchen / 2 Comments

At the beginning of this year I planted broccoli, both the Purple Sprouting, and the pretty lime green Romanesco varieties. The plants grew… and they grew… and they grew… They were massive, but no flowers appeared, just more leaves and they got taller. I was getting ready to pull them out and send them over to Maggie’s chooks, when someone mentioned that dumping some ash from the fire around them may spur them into flowering mode. Continue reading →

Rhubarb & Frosts…

/ sbaskitchen / 4 Comments

As mentioned in my last post, we recently endured a spate of heavy frosts. While the visual effects were stunning, the aftermath in the gardens has been quite destructive! Citrus, lemons, limes, mandarins, etc literally froze on the tree, and because there was no reprieve from the frosts – they just kept coming, night after night after night, the fruit did not recover and turned to mush. Initially the fruit looked perfectly normal, but when you touched it, it was soft and squishy, and finally it just fell from the trees. That is not all, people in the district fear that their precious trees may not recover from the trauma, and it is the centre of many conversations within the community. That is just the citrus trees… There has been so much more destruction in the garden, and many have lost so, so many of their treasured plants and trees. Fortunately we were very lucky and my wonderful husband’s diligence saved so much. Continue reading →

The Frozen Garden!

/ sbaskitchen / 4 Comments

We have recently endured a spate of heavy frosts, and for us it was very cold – minus 7.6 celsius etc. The first morning I got up and wandered down to the vegie patch, before heading into the garden for the community in Stratford. As I worked in the garden there I was kicking myself for not having got up earlier and taken photos of the beauty that a frost creates. I know that it also causes devastation, but all I saw was beauty. Continue reading →