*Yawn*

A few new teeth and a bunch of infections and time passes oh so quickly. Or slowly. It really depends on how much sleep you get in a given period of time, whether or not you have a stock of childrens Nurofen in your medicine cabinet, and if you have access to coffee when it is required (I have to go buy mine as instant coffee with oat milk from home is oh so gross). Either way the garden has not had a huge look-in of late. Which is more than I can say for the pile of dishes which, no matter how hard I try, will NOT GO AWAY! Ugh.

A midst the chaos however, perusing the garden provided the perfect distraction for Mr S when nothing else would calm him down from his misery filled tantrums (the poor little man has had a ridiculously crappy time lately, I can't blame him for needing to vent). So lots of thinking has been achieved, and just a little doing.

We have experienced an array of weather. There was even snow 20min further up the mountain which we of course HAD to go and check out! No gardening was achieved on that day ;)

Our strawberry plants have provided us with a handful of nice big strawbs lately, only some have been lucky to actually turn red before Mr S plucks them off their stalks (he sure loves his strawberries!) I picked up a few extra plants the other day and bundled them together in a pot with a pedestal they look more "in place" now than they did before. I also had another few potted strawberry plants of a different variety which have been reproducing so I separated them and sent a bunch off to their new home in a friends garden, along with some of my seedlings and seeds I have excess of. This has been my latest achievement. I had been trying to figure out how to get the most out of the pots I already own and so the pot that previously housed the strawberries will be used for a new tomato plant which will be coming from another friend. There's lots of sharing and caring done around these parts :)

We've planted a few new seeds, Alyssum and more Californian Poppies. I'd like to focus on raising some poppy seeds and transplanting them into a sloping garden bed near the street that was previously overrun with honeysuckle. I did try to sow seeds straight into the patch but all but 1 seemed to have washed away with the water run off. My older Cali Poppies are now shooting up flower buds, the first one opening a few days ago to reveal a beautiful, buttery, creamy coloured little flower. It personified (flowerfied?) the image I had had in my head of the flower named Acceptance With Joy from the book Hind Feet on High Places. Thats my favourite part of the book, the part that sticks in my mind and plays out in my life the most.

My membership to the Diggers Club arrived a couple of weeks ago. That was an exciting day! Since then, when I've found some time, I've been browsing the catalogues and highlighting the varieties of plants I want to grow. Did you know there is a variety of poppy that looks like a lady bug? Miss C was pretty chuffed to find that, and is keen to order the seeds for it eventually :)

Speaking of lady bugs, I have been noticing their presence in my garden. I have now spotted a lady bug on three different days so hopefully that means they (or that one at least) are here to stay!

And I ordered some soap nuts to use for my laundry. Apparently you're not allowed to grow them here though which is a shame. I would be great to grow my own but they're considered a weed. Oh well...

So this kind of brings us somewhat up to date I guess :) I'll leave you with a photo of our capsicum...

For future reference...

Just thinking about the plants I'd like to grow in the future, and thought I might make a list that I can add to as I come across specific varieties. Get it out of my head, and on to paper, so to speak. This will just be a wish list of our favourites for now, what is most practical might be a different story all together. Once we get established we might seek to be a bit more adventurous and try incorporating some new tastes into our kitchen garden.

Maybe it would be a good idea to start by breaking things up into groups too so I can have a crack at some sort of crop rotation for those that need it... *scurries off to find books of reference*

Root vegetables:
Potato (I want to try growing these in stacked tyres)
Carrot
Leek
Lettuce
Onion
Parsnip
Sweet potato

Legume and fruit vegetables:
Beans
Snow peas
Capsicum
Celery
Cucumber
Eggplant
Pumpkin
Corn
Squash
Watermelon
Tomatoes
Zucchini

Brassicas (not a huge fan of most but oh well!):
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Broccolini
Bok Choy
Kale

Fruiting plants/trees and vines (many to be stored in pots as is practical):
Passionfruit
Grapes seedless
Mulberries
Strawberries (check!)
Fig
Lemon (check!)
Gooseberries
Blueberries
Naval Oranges
Imperial Mandarins
Pink Lady Apples
Almond

Herbs and other edible plants:
Chamomile
Pansy (check!)
Camellia Sinensis (check!)
A rose specifically for tea making and hips
Sage (check!)
Continental parsley (check!)
Coriander (check!)
Mint (check!)
Nasturtium (check!)
Lemon thyme (check, check!)
Thyme (check!)
Echinacea
Lavender (check!)
Chives (check!)
Rosemary (check!)
Oregano (check!)

Other beneficial plants:
Alyssum (check! I hope it hangs in there!)
Marigold (check!)

Flowering favourites:Cherry blossom
Japanese maple
Port wine magnolia
Jasmine
Daphne (check!)
Honey suckle
Diascia
Paper daisies (check!)
Mr Lincoln rose
Violet (check!)
Crepe myrtle
Hydrangea

Bulbs and annuals:
Poppies, of course!
Freesias buried under a lawn

And for inside:
Sprouts on a kitchen windowsill
Theres a particular indoor plant I'd like who's name escapes me at the moment (living by a highway I am always concerned about air quality, and having some indoor plants would help to ease that for me)

Obviously a lot of these will have to wait a long time until we have our own place, but it doesn't hurt to plan it now :)