Things to do this week.

This week I need to get some stuff planted. 
I have beetroot seeds soaking as I type. 
Zucchini, carrots, lettuce, sweet corn are also on the list.  Sunflowers are there too.

I need to go out and see if I have any empty half 44gal drums...I have.  I will put beetroot in one, carrots in one.  The lettuce will go out the back in a small tank garden but seeds of everything will also be sprinkled around different areas.  I have silverbeet seedlings to go out the back as well.  Thanks M for those.  Much appreciated.

We have a half dozen or so seedling Apricot trees coming up an different areas.  Hubby wants them out of where they are so I am going to pot 1 up and put it in the chicken pen to give them a bit more shade and shelter.  I'm hoping that by keeping it in a pot it will help keep it smaller and I will dig a hole and plant that potted tree.  I think this will insulate the pot and give the tree a better chance.  The others will be transplanted into the big chook pens but I will do that after Summer.

I want to get some more mowing done.  I have done the front and the side but need to get the back done before the front needs doing again.  I have a few days...And as usual I need to clean up all my cra stuff before I can mow.

So this weeks list.
Plant seeds.
Pot up Apricot tree. 
Mow backyard. 

Hmmm, that doesn't look like much of a list.  I'm giving myself until next Friday.  The 13th. 
We are out one day this weekend, next week I work 2 days, I have inside stuff to do and I really need to make a start on the garden shed.  I also want to get a gate on the rooster shed somehow...My car needs a really good cleanout and I have windows that I hate looking through as they are so dirty.  I have a foxtrap that needs washing to get the people smell off. 

Better get out there and make a start.

Front Yard. Beginning of May 2011.

Looking in from the driveway.

We are changing our frontyard and because I am slack I am writing about it here so I will be more likely to work on it and get it finished within a reasonable time.  We have taken down a fence and I now need to dig up and move or get rid of a pile of plants.



 I did take a vidio of this whole area saying what I want to do but I cannot get the thing to upload on to here so I will do it the old fashioned way and will write it down instead.

I have given myself a month, so the end of May, which is plenty of time, especially as it's cooler now and I can be outside longer but I still think I'll need a reminder now and then.  Though walking out the front do will be a constant reminder so I'm thinking this is one job that will be finished ahead of time.
I know the 2 Bougainvilleas will be kept and put out along the front fence.  I like the yellow Cannas but Hubby doesn't and I don't look after them so they are always scraggly looking.  I think I will get rid of them altogether...or plant them out the back paddock and see how they fare.

In my head I can see exactly how I want it to look and if I can get it out and set up for real I will be very pleased with myself.

A few things might hold me back, them being, I don't want to spend any money, I'm not very strong, I'm lazy, I don't want to spend any money...

Nothing insurmountable though.  And I have a month...



Here I am standing on the front verandah, looking East.  Those plants in front all need to go, stuff needs to be put away, those 2 posts need to be dug up and moved back for the new gate.  That's where the gate used to be.

Looking back towards the driveway.  There is an Orange tree to the left, that's staying there.  The logs on the ground to the right is the edging from the old garden.  All those plants along there have to come out and the area needs to be leveled so the grass can grow over.

This is the second Bougainvillea, cut back.  I need to dig a hole near the front fence then dig this up and replant it.

All the plants that you can see here are going to be cut back and replanted somewhere.  Yellow daisy things on the left and the massive pepino on the right.

My original idea for the front area of the house was some pretty flowers that kept replacing themselves, kind of a cottage garden thing.  I am too lazy to keep it under control though and the things that grow there are not what I wanted.  It also gives snakes and other *creatures* a place to hide.   I will go back to grass in front of the house and if it is clear of plants and crap it will be easy enough to just run the mower over it every couple of weeks.  I will still have plants that give some colour, they will be in different areas and I will plant Nasturtiums under the fruit trees.  Hubby will love that!!

ByeBye Bougainvillea

I have/had 2 Bougainvillea, planted as cuttings a few years ago but expected to die.  

They didn't, they grew and flowered and were beautiful

 

I really liked them but Hubby...not so much.  Mainly because of the spines on them I think.  And that in itself might not have been a problem if I didn't leave bits on the ground where he could tread on them.  But anyway, I loved them, he didn't, they were kinda getting out of hand and were too close to the door of the chookhouse.   And they had broken the fence that they were up against and the chooks were getting out and digging up my gardens.
So, great idea, cut them back and fix the fence, maybe in a few weeks when it is cooler I could dig them up and shift them to the front fence, out of the way.

You can see where they have broken the fence.

So last Monday I started.  What a bleedin' job.  I cut and pruned and ditched half of these plants and was working on getting the fence tied back together.   I was  ready to finish the job on Friday and Hubby offered to help.  Good, at least the job would get finished.

But, Change Of Plan!    We decided to get rid of the fence altogether, dig up all the ratty plants I had out there and open up the area in front of the house...which means that if I wanted to keep these 2 plants then now was the time to dig them up and transplant them.   I have done 1 and the other will be done tomorrow.

They may survive, I hope they do.  They added some much needed colour to the place.

More On Pineapples.

Well we have finished eating our one and only Pineapple and it was good.  Not too sweet and though it smelled really pineappleally it wasn't too strong a flavour.  I'm not sure what *picked fresh from the plant* Pineapple are supposed to taste like but we really enjoyed ours.  In a few years time we might get some more.  We now have 7 tops or pups in the ground so here's hoping anyway.

But wait, there's more...
I month or so ago I asked the son if he could get me some Pineapple tops from his work.  He says no as they buy them in without the tops on them. ???  Why would anyone buy a Pineapple without the top?  OK, I know not everyone plants the tops and getting them without would take up less room and not be as prickly.  But still.

However not long after I asked he did say that he had saved a few whole pineapple from the rubbish for me and they had the tops on them still. 
Cool, so where are they Boy?

It has been ages since he said he had them and though I keep asking he kept forgetting to bring them out for me and I never thought to go into his place and get them myself.  Sad, I know.

But after some loving nagging from his mummy he brought them out.  Four of them,  in a box, full of ants and the fruit was maggoty.  But the tops are OK and I have it on my list to get them planted this week. 
That will give us 11 Pineapple plants. 

I think that's pretty cool.