This Month In The Garden - February

With all the rain we've been having fungi are popping up all over the garden.

The one above is especially eye catching.

Here's a bird's eye view of a banksia flower.

The autumn crocus is right on cue.

The flowering echinacea (above) and the flowering ginger (below) have been bathing the garden with the most glorious perfume.

The vegetable section of the garden has produced almost zilch this summer...3 cucumbers, 2 tomatoes, and I think that's it.

The herbs on the other hand are going beautifully.

My strawberry plants are looking very lush but alas, not flowers or fruit.

I think I need help with the vegetable patch.

I have asked for a consultation with a gardener but I'm not sure when this will be happening.

Day 231/366

When growing carrots in the garden, they need more potassium and less nitrogen for better growth.

Too much nitrogen induces forking while adding potassium promotes sweetness and solid growth.

Soil temperatures that are too low (below 5oC) will slow seed germination and temperatures that are too high may mean a wait of anything up to thirty five days for germination.
A soil temperature of around 10oC is best for germination.

Carrots are cool weather vegetables preferring sandy soils.

After our holiday, I think that a detox is in order.
So I made soup for tea tonight.
My carrot plot needed a further thinning out so I pulled the above tiny carrots to make a stock with some chicken carcasses I had in the freezer.
A nourishing stock was made by adding a bunch of fresh herbs from the garden, an onion, Celtic sea salt, filtered water and peppercorns which were all simmered for around two hours.
A light soup was made by straining the stock, adding two parsnips, the shredded chicken meat, the onion (chopped), two cakes of rice noodle,shavings of fresh ginger and  simmering again until the parsnip was cooked.
I served the soup with the addition of a dash of cream, freshly cracked pepper and slices of fresh lime (purchased yesterday from an op-shop in Bangalow).
Here is the result:

The soup was very satisfying and there's enough leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Day 41/366

Walking On Sunshine.

Last night was a nightmare.

Up to eight o'clock this morning over 64mm of rain had fallen in the past twenty four hours.

This morning I woke to sunshine.

Everything was dripping drops of rain.

The mist rose in the valley.

The lorikeets were so excited to see the sun they came for a visit.

By early afternoon, the rain was back, accompanied by thunder.

But I can happily tell you that as I write this, less than 30mm of rain has fallen in the past twenty four hours.

No Bowerbirds This Morning

But I did find these:

Wild Ginger

I have some wild ginger growing in my garden.  It grows there because the spikes of flowers enthrall me as does the delicious fragrance that emanates from them.

Wild ginger has a tendency to become a weed, overtaking the garden, so I have it growing in a pot.
It's not long off flowering now and I can't wait to see the two heads open up over the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the multicoloured whirly-gig placed into the same pot has to suffice.