In the Garden

Spring-ready

We are heading into Spring here, so in preparation for our busy garden season Derek and I have started our night time patrols. It's actually quite pleasant once we get out there - usually not too cold, and we can hear the night birds and surf breaking in the distance. The patrols have been very productive so far, with the last one netting 400 slugs and snails, which we pop into a container of boiling water with a wee squirt of detergent. It is far more effective than trying beer traps or snail bait.

Time well spent slug and snail hunting

Hopefully by the time my seedlings are ready to go in, they will stand a chance.

I prefer to grow my plants from seed to save getting a pile of plastic containers, and it's way cheaper, plus there is more choice. I just love the sense of achievement too. I have a recycled sheet of plastic that I throw over them all like a tent to get them going.
This year I'm putting a reminder on my phone to tell me when to put in more lettuce and cucumber and bean seeds, because I find that I always forget to do it and have a big gap.

Maria's Balinese Courtyard

Because I haven't been up to too much else I thought I would put in a pic of the landscaping I am doing at my daughter's place.

Early stages of the tropical courtyard, with the bamboo solar lights.

The plants are all freebies -bromeliads, banana palms, philodendron, clivea, taro, strelitzia, to name a few, either from my place or my friend Di's (thanks Di). I am waiting for the rain to stop so I can lay bark around the plants, over a layer of soaked recycled cardboard, and a path of river stones up to the bamboo screen. (We had a couple of good strong landscape men to do the hard stuff.)
I'm thinking in 12 months we will probably need a machete to keep it under control.