Basket Planter

I love Pinterest, what a time wasting app that is full of amazing ideas. Today’s inspired project, upcycling a chair and basket into a planter. 

I gathered an old chair and an unused basket and painted them white. 

After they dried I spread a garbage bag in the basket as a liner and poked a few holes in it for drainage. I put a layer of bark chips in the bottom before topping with a sand and potting mix combo. 

The finishing touch was to plant flowers - dahlia, fuchsia and a geranium. 

Daisy and pansy pot under the chair

Enjoy :)

Ann

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Making Olive Oil

We have 4 olive trees, I don't eat olives, so what do we do with all the fruit?

A number of years ago we decided to pick our olives and take them to a friends farm for pressing into olive oil.  We have not bought olive oil since and the best thing is we know exactly what has gone into our oil and where it has come from.


It is a laborious job picking the olives, but time passes quickly when you pick with friends.  We now have a small community who we pick with and then pool our olives into one big batch for pressing.

I bought this wonderful apron a few years ago from a market and it has made picking the olives a lot easier.  I have both hands free for picking and can just load the apron up to be emptied into our picking crates.

After pressing we decant our oil into upcycled bottles (my husband eagerly helps with emptying the wine bottles :))

We use our oil for almost all our cooking and it is delicious as a dip with some bread and dukkah.

My helper

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What to do with all the carrots we have harvested?

It was all hands on deck when our daughter walked in with a big armful of carrots.  She was so proud that she had harvested all the carrots in the vegie patch.  

I was suffering with Ross River Virus and my husband was busy harvesting the wheat crop.

Needless to say we found time to prepare all the lovingly harvested carrots for the freezer.

Little Miss was put on carrot topping and washing duty, then Hubby and I diced the carrots into the saucepan.

The carrots were blanched in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then put into freezer bags and straight into the freezer.  

We can now enjoy eating our harvest at our leisure.

Enjoy

Ann

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Homegrown vegies

Eating something you've grown yourself is definitely rewarding.  

The time spent watering, weeding and nurturing the plant is well worth it when it is dished up on your plate.  You know there are no hidden pesticides or chemicals and I think the food tastes even more delicious knowing that you did it all yourself.

The carrots were a purple heirloom variety from the "Diggers Garden Club". 

I have let the vegie patch get over-run during the Summer months.  But after looking back at this photo I am determined to get out and pull the weeds out and put the seeds in.

Enjoy

Ann

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I was going to make Mulberry jam - honestly I was

Back in November our mulberry tree started fruiting.  It is a lot of fun to go outside and pick our breakfast straight from the tree.  The mulberries and apricots ripened about the same time, the peaches are ripening now and soon we will have pears, quinces, grapes and figs.  Sadly the citrus are almost finished for the season.

Anyway, back to the mulberries, I managed to actually pick a bowl full of mulberries, it was one for the bowl, one for me.  I did manage to get them inside before they were devoured, they are so delicious.  I had every good intention of turning them into mulberry jam, but well you know, they sort of all hopped into my mouth.   

There's always next year.

Enjoy life

Ann

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My Spring Garden

I love Spring time.

I love the weather at this time of year. It's not too hot and the cold is slowly disappearing.  Although this year has been a bit cooler than normal, I can't wait for the weather to warm up.

I love the garden in Spring, all the flowers that bloom are inviting me to get outdoors and enjoy the scent and beauty of them.

Banksia Rose (Rosa Banksiae)

This is the very stunning Banksia rose, it has bloomed spectacularly this year and thrives on being ignored, only requiring an occasional light pruning.  I am training it to grow over my path so it will form an archway.

 

 

 

 
 Just some of the beautiful blooms in my garden.

The vegie garden is also thriving at this time of year after a bit of neglect over Winter, but I'll leave that for another post.

Things are beginning to get hectic here with harvest almost upon us.  Here's hoping for a bountiful harvest and enough rain next year.


Enjoy

Ann
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