Wild Hope Homestead

I’m not on entirely good terms with this wet winter. I would rather have cold mornings that give rise to sunny days than continuously soggy ground, but we have to make the most of what is given to us and find other things to do.

Once the big wooden planter was freed from the blackcurrant bushes, I moved it to where I always intended to put it, at the side of the back door. Even empty it was still ridiculously heavy. I had to do a big clean up first, as this corner had become a messy gathering of frost-tender plants and waiting-to-be-planted plants. In the planter I planted three of my frost-tender plants: lemongrass, the lime tree and the kaffir lime tree. I don’t keep many frost-tender plants because I can’t be bothered coddling them. That’s how my last lime tree died. I left it out in the garden in its pot hoping it was tough enough to handle the frosts. It wasn’t. I could have at least moved it to the deck. Poor plant. I wasn’t planning to plant the lime in the wooden planter as it will probably grow too big, but we’ll see how it goes. The kaffir lime and lemongrass were in desperate need of feeding but they’ll be happy chappies soon enough.

The tamarillo is another frost-tender plant I’m keeping on the deck. The lemon tree in the big black pot is frost-tender at this age so it’s still on the deck while I decide what to do with it. We really only need one lemon tree but the one in the orchard is a bit old and insect-damaged so I want to keep this young one. I suppose I should just plant it somewhere. Just not right now…

I’m trying not to use this corner as a plant dumping ground. In addition to the lemon tree, the mint and spearmint need to go somewhere in the garden too, just still contained in planters so they don’t take over the world.

The pine tree/potential future Christmas tree (if I remember to keep feeding it) is still loitering around the deck. Beside it I’ve put the last of my frost-tender plants for now: passion fruit, an alstroemeria and a salvia.

Just when you thought the rain couldn’t get any worse – a storm comes! Conditions are squidgy at best.

It’s just as well the Vege Garden is all raised beds with the amounts of rain we’ve had. All the garlic and elephant garlic has come up. Hooray! Now I have to watch closely for signs of rust and hope it can get going strongly before any rust affects its growth.

The garlic is alive! The four at the back are elephant garlic and the rest are ‘Printanor’ garlic.

More garlic. Grow fast, little garlic bulbs.

The brassica seedlings are chugging along and we had to hastily harvest and freeze a trug load of broccoli before loading up the car with our suitcases, otherwise it would have been a bunch of flowers by the time we got back from holiday.

The brassicas are growing slowly.

Can you notice one of the benefits to planting in raised beds?

The chickens’ Orchard Pen has gotten wet.

Who needs to build a water feature when you can have a stump with a self-filling most? I’m tempted to build a little fort around it with a drawbridge. And add some flags.

The fur child isn’t impressed with the soggy ground either.

As the skies began to clear from the last rainstorm hope was renewed of the water drying out once again.