Arguments

 

Can't we all just say 'infinity' and let it go?

Continually feeding these pointless conversations is drowning the ng in
fresh, steaming, *unrotted* manure.

Y'know, you don't *have* to respond when someone posts something that
disagrees with you. Just let it go and we'll all feel better.

My garden is drooping at the moment. Well, we're watering, but the lawn
is overgrown and the beds need a bit of weeding and extra mulch. It's
been so hot and humid, no one feels like getting out and doing the usual
maintenance. We keep telling each other 'Tomorrow, when it's cooler...',
but it never seems to be cool enough!

The beans and peas have got mildew because I (mistakenly) planted too
many plants too close together. The watermelon has covered everything
and we have a glut of melons which is getting more and more worrying.
The family and neighbours are heartily sick of me asking 'Would you like
another melon?' Not only that, but the butternut pumpkin has met up with
and conjoined itself to the melon vine. There are umpteen little yellow
pear-shaped pumpkins growing among the many melons and I'm visualising
pots and pots of pumpkin soup and a plethora of pumpkin pies - oh dear!

LOL! And to think I nearly planted several watermelon and pumpkin
seedlings! One of each is quite enough, thank you.

Inside, I've put a Venus Fly Trap and a Pitcher Plant on my kitchen
windowsill (only for decoration, you understand). In the first week, the
Pitcher Plant entrapped a European Wasp that managed to make its way
inside, so I'm chuffed about that. Venus Fly Trap is a bit languid at
the moment, but I feel she'll come good when her traps have enlarged a
bit. It never occurred to me that my carnivorous plants might actually
carnivorate, but they did! Lucky me! ;->

For the first time in memory, all our African Violets have carked it! My
DS is in charge of those, as he has quite a way with Afro Violets.
Nevertheless, the Great Heat this year has dried them out phenomenally
and despite DS' best efforts, they've all turned up their sepals and
gone to meet the Great Gardener. Shame, that.

One extremely nice thing about our garden is that, since we removed all
the feelthy steenking palm trees, we no longer get liberally sprinkled
with ripe, steaming bat-shit. This is a blessing and I do smile to
myself as I listen to the bubble of bats in the tree four doors down.
They're lovely to watch from a distance, but you really don't want bats
flying over your clothesline. Or, indeed, your white dog!

Finally, a Blue-Tongue has had babies somewhere in our yard and there's
all these little baby Blueys pottering about. I think I mentioned a
while back that one turned up underneath my bed! This means I have to be
vigilant about the foul and disgusting Indian Mynas, who seem to enjoy
crown-roast of baby Bluey very much. If anyone's got any clever ideas
about scaring them away (the mynas, not the blueys) - aside from rushing
outdoors, waving a fly swatter or wooden spoon and screeching like a
madwoman...

!!!

... I'd love to hear of it.

And that's my little garden at the moment.

How about everyone else?

--
Trish Brown

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

 

Trish Brown wrote:

Hear hear

My tomatoes are finally ripening - but this year, for the first time, the
possums are having a go at them so I
am having to pick them half-ripe and let them ripen indoors.  There are lots of
apples the possums could have
with my blessing but they seem to have changed their eating habits :(

At least I've finally got them out of the roof and all the entrances blocked off
- but did they like the brand
new house I put up in a tree for them (as required by the Dept.of Environment
who rented me the possum trap;
one can no longer remove them from the property even if said property is only a
one & a half acre block)?  -
of course not, they have now burrowed into the woodpile.

--
Anne Chambers
SE South Australia

anne dot chambers at bigpond dot com

 

Anne Chambers wrote:

For some reason I cannot see posts from Trish (no you are not sinbinned) so
I will have to tag on here.

The season has been kind to us with good rain and despite continued high
humidity not much in the way of fungus and mould.

The pasture is looking great, we could run twice as many horses at the
moment as they are all fat and cannot keep up with it.  All except one old
dear who is wasting away from a mystery illness.  She has been on
supplementary feeding for three months and eats grass with the rest all day.
She ought to be spherical with what she is eating but instead just skin and
bones.  I am checking out sites for a big hole.  She has taken a liking to
mulberry leaves so I replaced the net to keep her out.  Running late to go
out the other day I glanced at the orchard to find her inside the net.  It
was like one of those weird performance artists who wrap up common objects
or paint large animals in living rooms.  Just standing there patiently, no
fuss, waiting for me to get her out.  I have no idea how she got in there.
The mulberrys will recover.

Mootilda the cow is settling in well.  She and the horses have reached a
negotiated settlement.  I can now get up to her and touch her without any
problem, I know it is just cupboard love because as soon as it is clear that
I have no food for her she wanders off but it is s good sign that she is not
totally afaid of getting near people.  I now have to build some yards and
bails so that she can have a visit from the lady with the syringe.

The vege garden is looking like a picture book.  Herbs and cutting greens
have self-seeded all over the place and the cucurbits are plotting world
domination.  The asparagus is way over my head and next spring looks like
being a good cut.  The stone fruit did very well and the pear trees are
loaded to breaking point , now if I can just remember when to pull them ....

I have found a new cultivar of beans which is very impressive in my
environment.  Not from any of the recognised sources nor from a crazy old
aunt.  So many of those, including Diggers so-called lazy houswife
(stringless my foot) have drawbacks.  This one is a bush bean that is robust
and produces loads of genuinely stringless pods.  Found everywhere and
disparaged by some - Mrs Fothergills.  Also I grew yellow pear tomatoes for
the first time.  They are very good; a small sweet salad tom that looks like
a yellow pear about 4cm long.

We took kilos of tomatoes and cucmbers to the new Gloucester farmers market
last Saturday, I am still waiting to see how much sold but it was looking
good.  If anybody is interested as either buyer or seller I will post
details.

There have been a few disappointments.  The second round of corn didn't get
fertilised correcly and the ears are very underweight.  I cannot get in
front of the snails.  I slay them in their hundreds, clean up all their
hiding places etc etc but still they come.  But sun is shining and all is
right with world.

David

 

David Hare-Scott wrote:


Ooo, I hope not! I do try to be good, y'know.


I'm assuming you've wormed everyone in your paddock? If this mare's
carrying a heavy worm-load, it would explain her doing so poorly on good
feed. A vet would find out for sure (although you'll pay for it... try
offering him some tomatoes instead!)

Three quarters fill a bucket with rolled oats (NOT seed oats, mind, but
rolled ones: you can get 'em from most feed merchants). Top up with
boiling water, stir and let it stand until it's mostly cooled. You can
add a number of taste-tempters, from a handful of salt to a dipper of
bran (only if the horse is used to it, though) to a splodge of treacle
or molasses. Most horses will knock you down for treacle/molasses, so
I'd recommend it for this poor old mare.

The reasoning behind the rolled oats is that the husks can irritate an
inflamed gut, as can bran or pollard. Nice, mushy rolled oats seems to
work quite well. It's good for skinny dogs too.


Killjoy! Poor Mootilda!

Ever made tomato jam? It's *delicious*!

Yeah, my corn was a disappointment too: little shrivelly ears with gaps
in the cobs.

My Great Hope for the future is a wall-full of sweet peas. Wish me luck!!!

--
Trish Brown

Newcastle, NSW, Australia

 



You asked some time ago about keeping Mootilda healthy and at the time
although I answered, I wasn't really focussed.  I've thought about it since
and I'd advise 5 in 1 for a few years (unless you know her status, in which
case, if she's had a few years of shots don't bother overly - all her calves
religiously), lice control and if you get liver fluke in your area, once a
year application of flukacide.