Day 70...

AM
Today I'm having salad for lunch from our own garden...pity tomatoes are not big in winter...or cucumbers...hmmm...

I also planted some multiflora sweetpeas today which I received with the gardener magazine...In time I'll have to build a trellis, as these guys can apparently climb to up to 2 meters!

While watching The Edible Garden series I heard that one should be ruthless...sometimes you have to take out some established plants in order to make room for new ones...Hmmm...That will be my mission for today, except instead of just making room, taking out the ones that doesn't seem to do well...

PM
9 days ago I planted some cucumber seeds I bought at the Crazy store...Cucumis Sativus it's named, and can be sown all year round...From my Googling I presumed that cucumbers are only summer plants and should be sown in the spring...but holding thumbs I planted them in a small pot instead of the growing pack and covered it with a ziploc bag...I left it on the windowsill for a few days, but was afraid it's too hot in the direct sun and moved it to the GREENhouse instead...

During my trying-to-be-ruthless mission today, it seemed that nothing was going on in that container, and as I started pouring out the growing medium I saw that all 3 seeds sprouted...With a handful of seedling soil and  a heart filled with a apologies I planted them back just below the soil...Wow! Cucumbers in Autumn! Fantastic! :)

Day 68...

But not all is bad in Winter Wonderland...I think I've finally found out what the seedling box we bought at the coast contained...The obvious ones - the chard, cabbage, peppers, onions and beetroot are doing extremely well next to the fish pond...and some of the mystery plants started to flower...

If my matching up with Google images are correct, then ladies and gentleman, we have an eggplant! :)

I found an upside down tomato planter from way back when and cut some holes into it, now serving as a hanging strawberry planter, without having to build or buy another one...More stuff for the GREENhouse! Woohoooo!!! :)

Day 64...

The opening above the door, seems too inviting to those white cabbage butterflies...

So I got a piece of wood from our neighbour and painted it black...but it still needed something more exciting....Armed with a screwdriver I carved the name on the board and while I'm catching up on some very neglected Leverage episodes, Quinni coloured it...On went the butterflies...maybe these will scare the cabbage ones away...and I lined the lettering with the glow-in-the-dark paint....

Meanwhile I'm taking leaf by leaf off the Broccoli and Cabbage plants...the one cabbage plant right at the back is about a quarter of the size of the rest...the hair on my neck rose as I turned over the leaf...hundreds maybe thousands of aphids...Took it out completely and discarded of it. I then sprayed the rest with the garlic/oil/water/peppers mix...I also found a few green worms presuming they're Cabbage white larvae...caught in the act while scrumptiously munching away on the succulent leaves...Ughhh I wish summer would come back....I loooove growing summer vegetables....

Day 60...

Ok so the other side and bottom were netted today...Just about finished...complete with rolling windows and all :) I bet you wish you had such a handy Quinni with fantastic ideas, hahahaha :)

Bought some cucumber seeds in a Grow-your-own-kit today...The instructions included suggest that it can be sown all year round...I guess that's if you keep it on the windowsill...I thought cucumbers should only be sown in spring...but I guess I have nothing to lose...Let's try it...

Meanwhile we're very excited about the new GREENhouse...And the kids seem very happy as well....

Day 58...

AM


An early start today...While Quinni drilled and secured the frame of the roof, I removed the grow tunnel covers and tried to save all the teenagers from the wrath of stepladders and booted feet....It's hot, and they will have to get some serious comfort after suffering full direct sun today...

PM


Lunchtime...woohoooo...Attaching wire over the top to create a sturdy structure for the netting...

This is where the fun part begins....the 40% green netting goes over the top :)

While I'm preparing lunch and is carrying juice hence and forth, these 2 are having their own fun attaching a latched gate...

It's late afternoon....and time to call it a day...Wow!! It's really starting to take shape...

  

Day 54...Building the real thing

After Dave left, Quinni, my partner in crime - and in all other ways :) - came back home with the most fantastic idea on building a real greenhouse/cold frame...She found some steel pipes that would fit neatly together...These were laid out according to plan, then lightly sanded to remove the most of the rust and finally painted by our ever loyal garden boy Amos...After a few leveling attempts the structure were secured at the ends with cement...next step...wait for the cement to dry...then...the roof... woooohooooo!!!!!

Day 48...

The Bright lights chard surely brightened my my...they seem slower to establish that the other Swiss Chard, but nothing can beat the beautiful colours...and were surely worth the wait...

Day 45... 

So today I'm starting to suffer the effects of empty nest syndrome... Dave is gone...interesting how he would choose to go find a girlfriend instead of staying with his nurturing mother...Ahhh I guess they grow up too soon... :)

The 6-day old Baby Leaf Spinach is starting to show some real potential...They're kept in the grow tunnel and seems to cope very well...

 Meanwhile the sweet bell peppers ended up being roasted with other yummy veggies...hey I think I'm starting to get the hang of it...Plant the seeds...wait...wait some more...wait just a little while longer...and then...when you reap the benefits...you chop it all up and enjoy it because it's something...a real edible veg that only came from a seed...Wow!!

 ...and there's more to come...yeah!!!!!

Day 42...

Baby Dave became a man! Wooohoooo!!  I found this as I was cutting off the broken leaves off the plants that suffered during the hail storm the other night...I took a picture of him, and when I came back later I had to make myself comfortable on the grass waiting for the process to finish...Thanks to the Nikon camera which captured this very special moment :)

                                                          This is Baby Dave at 16h30...

16h52...It took me a while to see what was happening here...you do remember that baby Dave is only 1cm long :) 

The old Dave is left behind...

      17h10...The new and improved Dave...so colourful...our little boy, just became a man...