Coming up to Spring - Growth and A Changing Landscape

Here a Picture I've taken of the same section of our backyard - shows more transformation.  Working steadily towards copying a Grove set-out.  Will slowly be doing things with the greenery as it comes together.  I don't like to see metal at all if possible in a backyard and work towards covering it. Love clay, timber and rock. Look foward to my cousin flying over from the West to stay with us in a month's time.  Will enjoy immensely comparing ideas and sharing "garden experience". So love the Garden.... 

Some of the Vegetables and Herbs at their Spring-time best.  I estimate it takes a few years to bring soil up to it's maximum potential.  Each season is a further learning experience.  Not only can climates, soil, aspect, seeds and rainfall all be different - I bet your mood affects the garden too!...(Smiling here). I wasn't totally happy with the Rainbow Chard - bought from a lady who raised the seed for the markets. The leaf turned under a little.  I watch for things like that - can be a sign of certain deficiencies in the plant.   I will send away for more Heirloom varieties but have my "ear to the ground" to use seed handed down through families. Since this photo was taken in September I have put in some seedlings from "Diggers".  I have an old 1996 catalogue of theirs - that I have hung on to for the interesting information along with seed details.   I have been given and purchased seedlings that noone else would want - purely to work with them in my "Plant Hospital" and watch their growth whether facing north/south or east/west and other factors to see how I can bring out their best.

 Here is the start of the set-out for my Australian Rockery.  My darling yesterday dug up the abstract shape of Australia for me.  This week he had put in the posts at the end of the path-way for a Gateway. My bro-in-law has nicknamed through the gateway as the "Garden of Eden". 

Small part of the Backyard Tidy-up

Here is showing the backyard with a basic tidy up.  We have lifted poles and pieces of wood, bricks and pavers, as well as those "3 Corner Jacks" or Spiny Emex. So far we have resorted to digging them out but come summer collecting the burrs on thongs and rubbing them onto a bucket's rim to collect sounds like part of a good "organic" idea.  Apparently they can stay dormant in the soil for 7 years before seeding again. Well - some good hard constant battle against our unneeded foe are in order.  It seems it was first introduced from South Africa in the 1830s to W.A. as a vegetable called "Cape Spinach".  It originated from the Cape of Good Hope. The young leaves of Cape Spinach were eaten - I wonder how many people have tried that here in Australia? In W.A. where it was introuduced it is known as Double Gee which comes from an African word meaning Devil's Thorn.  Nasty getting it in one's foot or fingers I can say.  Bindii is another name that has come across to me in the past and even Bindii eye.  It even has a few other names .  In the front - left hand side of the picture you can see we have put a small raised garden plot - our first.  I have it raised purely to control the soil medium...I'm hoping great things from a small start! Around the garden plot I have put mulched tree branches that we cut from trees around the block.  My poor mulcher after half a day of work gave Tez a "blank" noise and lots of "no go" and he wasn't able to start it.  Well sometimes machinery can be short-lived in our modern age - but if anyone can get it going again my husband can.  So we have our first month's start of our new backyard's conversion into something of beauty and order.

Hmmm... New Home needing Tender Loving Care

Part of the backyard we find ourselves with in our New Home.  Fixing other people's homes seems to be a hobby with us...  Here shows the dryness even in May and there were 3 corner Jacks taking over everywhere... even out on the front lawn at the other end of our block.  Quiet a bit of digging later we have downed the first marching of the Army of this weed!  But we will keep at it - for no doubt where they came from are more seeds awaiting conditions to get growing again.  On the left side is a Melaleuca which is nearly the only green thing.

The Front Gate

The Entrance to our previous Home..saying Goodbye.... Flowers to greet us and greenery growing profusely over-head.  Nature is a graceful and wonderful thing.

Wagon Wheel

A lone wheel sits in our garden alongside a gum tree and the lavender that there are lots of bushes around smelling sweetly. So often we would work around the garden and forget to just enjoy the sights and smells.  I'm liking the idea of changing that.

Lots of Bloom

Love the amount of blooms on the Red Bottle Brush (How Australian!) and the sweet smelling Lavendar pictured here. Tez is here picking up a few small weeds showing their faces.  He is careful since he has a bad leg which gives him considerable pain.  It's great though how he tries never to complain too much about what he suffers.  My Strong man. He does little jobs here and there to take his mind off his troubles - I like to think of his example if I ever think of complaining. Bravo!

Sunset - a call to rest

Sunsets have always reminded me of peacefulness.  This one was over our front fence - golden and open... a treat to enjoy and remind us about having a sense of quietness. I am learning to be content wherever I am and whatever time of day.  So many things I'm learning to appreciate.