Glad Bag!

We haven't done any camping this year but I haven't given up hope of going in the near future! I have a lovely pair of purple paisley cases that I use for more civilised travel but they aren't really the thing for camper trailer trips. (I tried them for our Nambucca holiday).

Drifta has released a premium range of leather-trimmed canvas weekender bags.  They are nearly $400 each (where similar from the standard range is $149.00).  A lot more than I intend to spend!

Nick and I were poking about in an antique shop today when I spotted this Gladstone bag. It was priced at $48 and seemed in great condition.  Nick wasn't keen but I was - and after some quick online price checking, I took the bag to the counter.

I'd thought that if I was prepared to haggle, I'd offer $40 but as it happened the seller gave the discount without my asking.  How good is that?!

Once home I set about cleaning my "new" purchase.  I vacuumed some small leaves from inside (praps herbs, not sure).

I then sprayed the outside lightly with Koh, before reading that mild soapy water was best for cleaning old leather.  Whoops - call me too gung-ho!  There was wool detergent downstairs and I used that in a bucket of just warm water to gently wash the leather.  The inside of the bag had a musty smell, so I cleaned that also and propped the bag open to dry in the fresh air.

I couldn't find my magic sponge, so used a tiny sprinkle of Ajax and a damp cloth to remove a couple of small scuff marks.  Next step was a generous application of Leather Dressing (purchased at the Ipswich Show a couple of years ago and regularly used for cleaning my Blundstone boots).  The leather drank that in!

The musty smell had lessened after cleaning but was still evident.  I've put a liberal dose of carb soda in the bag and shut it up.  I'll leave for a day or so before vacuuming out.  Fingers crossed that does the trick!

There is some light tarnish to the clasps and metal trim.  I might use some extra-fine steel wool on those but don't have any on-hand at the moment.

Bloomin' success!

It's a bit over a week since my last gardening update - and a lot has happened in that short space of time! I'm quite amazed by how quickly everything is coming along.  Of course, I'm also rather chuffed with so much success!

Lettuce seeds sprouted in just 4 days, not one or two weeks as noted on the packet. My cherry tomato plants and baby capsicum bush all have flowers.  I now have 14 bean seedlings, all growing wonderfully.

My peas and snowpeas are holding onto their intended sticks, their neighbours' sticks - and their neighbours!  It's really neat to watch them stretching out in search of support.

A few of the compost heap sunflowers have sprouted.  I'm not sure whether the pansies are doing anything at this stage.  I can see specks of green in sort-of the right area but they might just be grass!

I found the lid for the worm tower and have dropped a few vegie scraps down.  No worms yet but I remain hopeful.

There's more progress on the verandah. Yep, it's all happening!

My oregano is taking over it's terracotta pot.  I planted thyme seeds in the spare area and they sprouted several weeks ago but remain tiny.  I'm thinking they may need a pot of their own to really thrive.

Some bonus chilli seedlings are also in line for larger living quarters. The coriander seedlings are starting to develop their proper leaves- and the spring onions are looking good, too.

Happy to report that we're using some of our fresh herbs.  Erin's bearded dragon lizard has enjoyed a couple of basil leaves.  Good to have his vote of confidence!  Non-lizard family members have sampled the oregano and Italian parsley.  Even better, I trimmed the sage plant trying to encourage bushier growth.  Those cut leaves were so yum, crisp-fried in butter as a garnish on Saturday night's pasta!

And then there were two (or four)!

Yesterday, we bought a second Holman modular bed from Bunnings. Nick assembled it when we came home - after I cleared grass from the intended position. 

I already had a bag of garden soil as well as a generous half bag of mushroom compost leftover from the first bed(s), so we used those as filling.

Although I subscribe to (and read) Gardenate's email planting reminders for my climate zone I started my first garden bed in late April, so had missed opportunities to plant some vegetables I would regularly use. 

It occurred to me last night that those varieties may still be available as seedlings. Today was a local public holiday but our nearest Bunnings was open.  After careful consideration I chose a capsicum plant, some broccoli and zucchini seedlings and a pack of lettuce seeds.

I planted my new acquisitions into the second bed(s) this afternoon.  The soil was damp due to rain throughout the day.

When planting the seedlings, it became obvious I hadn't read the broccoli plant label properly.  From the picture, I thought they were broccolini seedlings - der!  Not to worry.  I found some broccoli seeds (a different variety) and have planted some of them as well. I'm a bit concerned about spacing for the zucchini but have planted them close to the side of the bed, hoping they'll spill over to the ground if necessary.

I really like how these beds look and enjoy seeing all the growing progress - up close or from our upstairs back verandah.  At this stage I'm not planning to buy any more beds though have thoughts of upcycling a couple of old pots with a can of spray paint.  They may become flower pots.  I did have some pansy seeds in my stash.  They were scattered just outside the first modular bed.  The site of the old "compost" heap has received some sunflower seeds.  I'm not sure either variety will sprout but they have a better chance in the ground than stored in a box! 

Peas and beans!

It's about two weeks since my last gardening post - and I now have plant babies, which is quite exciting!  It has become part of my morning routine to go downstairs and check on my gardening beds, with cup of tea in hand.

I'm recording progress every so often on my spreadsheet.  Radishes were first to break through the soil in the modular garden beds, closely followed by peas and snow peas.  All 12 peas sprouted but only two of 10 snow peas have emerged.   (The snow pea seeds had a best before date of August 2017, so I wasn't sure how successful they'd be).

The pea seedlings are now almost a week old and are growing quite quickly.  I gave the back row some satay skewer supports this evening, to guide them toward the chain-mesh fence.  I'm hoping that plan works.  I was going to rig some heavy string-lines for the front row but Nick suggested longer sticks as an easier method.  Fingers crossed peas are easily trained!

Given so many of the snow peas didn't make it I was losing hope for my beans, which were planted a day earlier and had the same expected germination range.  Yep, call me impatient!  I slept in on Mothers Day and hadn't done my usual morning rounds. I was surprised when Erin commented about the bean plants.  Where there had been nothing the previous day, six tall seedlings had grown overnight.  It was quite amazing!

A few more beans have surfaced since then.  I planted two dwarf varieties - butter and brown beauties.

There isn't any advice on the packets about height or whether they'll need support, so I'll do some more research.  It may be that they don't require any assistance - and that's OK, less effort for me!

In other progress - as well as the radishes, a few other tiny seedlings are poking through in the modular beds. I planted coriander and spring onion seeds in pots on the verandah and they have also sprouted.  My tomato seedlings are growing nicely, too.  There are even a few buds on one plant.  How good is that?!

I'm trying to propagate some succulent leaves.  They are in the blue bowl, which sits on our kitchen bench so I remember to mist them every so often.  That project started on 6 May.  It seems it may be another few weeks before I see any signs of success.  I remain hopeful!

The white PVC pipe near the tomato pot is a worm tower. Nick made it for me last year after watching some YouTube clips.  The theory is that food scraps are dropped down the pipe, which is open at the bottom.  (There is a lid for the top of the pipe, which I haven't yet fitted).  Worms access food via holes in the pipe, below ground level. I'll have to mound some more soil around the base cos one of the access holes is exposed - and I wasn't able to set the pipe any deeper.

Mulling over mulberries!

One of the things I really enjoyed about our time in Victoria, was making jams and preserves from either our home-grown fruit, or foraged local treasure. 

We are not so lucky here in terms of an established orchard but next door's modest mulberry tree spreads over the fence to us.

Last year the birds beat us to the limited crop but Vaughan and I picked a small bowl of little berries on Tuesday afternoon.  Usually when I make jam, it's a bulk batch but I made just one jar today.  There wasn't quite two cups of mulberries, so I added an apple to aid the volume - and then cooked the mix in our microwave, rather than on the stovetop.  I'm super chuffed with the end result. It's so pretty!

If at first you don't succeed ...

Over the past few weeks I've watched a lot of YouTube, learning how to divide and re-pot various plants as part of my back verandah revamp.  We sit out there often, particularly during autumn and winter, so I wanted to reclaim the area (which had become a bit of a dumping ground).

More appropriate furniture was sourced via the FaceBook marketplace and my dried out herb garden re-instated. The rear deck is once again a very pleasant place to sit, watching our bird visitors and generally relaxing.

I had limited success with my vegie gardening efforts last year - and obviously didn't bother documenting those failures!  (Trust me, you didn't miss much)!

Our local library runs "learning for life" events though and the most recent one I attended was presented by a well respected gardener.

He stressed to us the importance of not giving up - so I'm trying again, now that the weather is less hot and my motivation is re-kindled.

Two varieties of beans were planted in the corrugated metal raised bed.  Cherry tomatoes are in the large, black plastic pot. 

Bunnings had a promotional sale on the modular garden bed, which seemed a good idea.  It's been placed over last year's longer bed, then filled with a mix of garden soil improver and mushroom compost.  I was sure I'd calculated the volume of the beds accurately but have enough soil and compost to do another one, perhaps down the track when I see some evidence of sprouting seeds.

I started a spreadsheet last year to record what had been planted, when and where.  I wanted to track germination times and harvesting notes.  I've noted my recent plantings and have fingers crossed for positive outcomes!

In just about every rental property we've lived in, we have inherited gardening challenges from the previous tenants.  "Compost" bins or heaps have regularly included large and small rubbish, plastics and other non-organic matter.  This house had a number of overgrown, old and deteriorated pots.  Erin re-potted some plants soon after our arrival.  More recently (after a lot of YouTube instruction) I've divided and re-potted a flowering snake plant, some aloe vera and an orange lily (perhaps clivia).  I'm hoping they all appreciate my efforts!