Happy New Year!

pain master said:

Happy New Year!

Back at ya!

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Happy New Year!

Back at ya!

And you :)

Happy Potter said:

bluegreen said:

pain master said:

Happy New Year!

Back at ya!

And you :)

and you and you and you.

My hydrangeas are in particularly fine form this summer.

bluegreen said:

My hydrangeas are in particularly fine form this summer.

Lovely blue that.

Our wet season finally arrived this week, so far 117mm has fallen, new shoots have appeared on many shrubs and trees and some nasty weeds have popped up their nasty heads. Am manually removing said weed whilst the soil is nice and moist.

The frogs are happy.

pain master said:

Our wet season finally arrived this week, so far 117mm has fallen, new shoots have appeared on many shrubs and trees and some nasty weeds have popped up their nasty heads. Am manually removing said weed whilst the soil is nice and moist.

The frogs are happy.

It is definitely easier on the back and the mind when weeds pull free from moist healthy soil.

I too have frogs all over my yard at the moment. I believe they are all banjo frogs of all sizes. I’d probably need to catch them all to see but they look similar enough for me to venture a guess that that are.

roughbarked said:

pain master said:

Our wet season finally arrived this week, so far 117mm has fallen, new shoots have appeared on many shrubs and trees and some nasty weeds have popped up their nasty heads. Am manually removing said weed whilst the soil is nice and moist.

The frogs are happy.

It is definitely easier on the back and the mind when weeds pull free from moist healthy soil.

I too have frogs all over my yard at the moment. I believe they are all banjo frogs of all sizes. I’d probably need to catch them all to see but they look similar enough for me to venture a guess that that are.

Ours are a few different varieties of tree frog, but there is a rocket frog amongst ‘em…. plus the toads.

I noticed a few days ago that my quince tree has dropped all its fruit. It’s been getting watered. I wonder what its problem is.

buffy said:

I noticed a few days ago that my quince tree has dropped all its fruit. It’s been getting watered. I wonder what its problem is.

Look for fruit fly.

buffy said:

I noticed a few days ago that my quince tree has dropped all its fruit. It’s been getting watered. I wonder what its problem is.

Has there been any sudden change in temperature?

bluegreen said:

buffy said:

I noticed a few days ago that my quince tree has dropped all its fruit. It’s been getting watered. I wonder what its problem is.

Has there been any sudden change in temperature?

It’s a bit of a weird Summer. We had a light frost in early December. It was late warming up this season. And the temperature has been up and down. We haven’t had a 40 degree day yet, but we’ve done mid thirties. And recent nights have dipped under 10. Perhaps it’s the variability.

The lack of fruit on the pomes and stones in Casterton is easily attributable to the beautiful ornamental lorikeets I seem to be keeping over there. Along with cockatoos, galahs and little corellas.

buffy said:

bluegreen said:

buffy said:

I noticed a few days ago that my quince tree has dropped all its fruit. It’s been getting watered. I wonder what its problem is.

Has there been any sudden change in temperature?

It’s a bit of a weird Summer. We had a light frost in early December. It was late warming up this season. And the temperature has been up and down. We haven’t had a 40 degree day yet, but we’ve done mid thirties. And recent nights have dipped under 10. Perhaps it’s the variability.

The lack of fruit on the pomes and stones in Casterton is easily attributable to the beautiful ornamental lorikeets I seem to be keeping over there. Along with cockatoos, galahs and little corellas.

Galahs don’t really attack fruit trees for the fruit but they can be damaging to any tree if that tree is all there is.
Lorikeets and rignecks like the fruit when it is green.

This season is doing lots of damage everywhere in fruit trees. Too much rain when it isn’t needed then not enough when it is needed.

roughbarked said:

buffy said:

bluegreen said:

Has there been any sudden change in temperature?

It’s a bit of a weird Summer. We had a light frost in early December. It was late warming up this season. And the temperature has been up and down. We haven’t had a 40 degree day yet, but we’ve done mid thirties. And recent nights have dipped under 10. Perhaps it’s the variability.

The lack of fruit on the pomes and stones in Casterton is easily attributable to the beautiful ornamental lorikeets I seem to be keeping over there. Along with cockatoos, galahs and little corellas.

Galahs don’t really attack fruit trees for the fruit but they can be damaging to any tree if that tree is all there is.
Lorikeets and rignecks like the fruit when it is green.

This season is doing lots of damage everywhere in fruit trees. Too much rain when it isn’t needed then not enough when it is needed.

The Sulphur Cresteds will always take the last of my mangoes and the Pale Headed Rosellas don’t mind the occasional mango.

I don’t get any almonds. The mallee ringnecks and the Major Mitchells clean them up. They try the same with my walnuts but there are too many walnuts for them to eat. The rats try the same but the sparrowhawks are ever vigilant. The ringnecks eat nectarines, peaches apples etc while they are green but also pig out on the persimmons when they are ripe. Even the butcherbirds do that though.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are my problem. I reckon they are after the seed when they take the fruit.

bluegreen said:

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are my problem. I reckon they are after the seed when they take the fruit.

Yep.

Once I had a stray sulphur crested here with the Major Mitchells. I told him not to tell his mates where I live.

Same as I get the odd corella mixed with the galahs.

the sulphur cresteds get into the cherry plums on the ground and crack out the seeds.

And they seem to have mistaken my bloodplums for cherry plums…

buffy said:

the sulphur cresteds get into the cherry plums on the ground and crack out the seeds.

And they seem to have mistaken my bloodplums for cherry plums…

It is all a smorgasbord for them.

G’day :) My ten year Aust. garden forum anniversary this month.

Birds are attacking my apples apricots and figs. I haven’t netted because I left them the top fruit but I bagged the lower with small bags made from sheer curtains. I haven’t photos because p’bucket seems to have a grudge against me and wont let me sign back in.

All is good with myself, family and GS. And dog.

I’ve been canning veges, soups and whatever else I can get my hands on. Today I canned home made baked beans, thirty three 8 oz jars. I have been so busy. I traded eggs for bags of unsterilized mushroom compost and got loads of fruit! Dried, marinated, pressure canned, there’s jars of them everywhere. They’ve stopped producing now with the heat but I have plenty to last. The mushie compost will go into a closed raised bed, an ibc half, for growing raspberries. At least they wont take over this time.
Picking lots of green beans too, that’ll be another double stacked load for the canner. I don’t know how I ever lived without that pressure canner! Nowadays I only need to shop for things I haven’t room to grow, and meats.
Chickens are getting zucchinis and any too large cucumbers. Silkie Lin Lin is now 11.5 yo, still lays the occasional egg. There’s a couple hamburgs now around 5 yo that aren’t laying, but they are good at keeping law and order in the henhouse and are just part of the household. :)

Happy Potter said:

G’day :) My ten year Aust. garden forum anniversary this month.

Birds are attacking my apples apricots and figs. I haven’t netted because I left them the top fruit but I bagged the lower with small bags made from sheer curtains. I haven’t photos because p’bucket seems to have a grudge against me and wont let me sign back in.

All is good with myself, family and GS. And dog.

I’ve been canning veges, soups and whatever else I can get my hands on. Today I canned home made baked beans, thirty three 8 oz jars. I have been so busy. I traded eggs for bags of unsterilized mushroom compost and got loads of fruit! Dried, marinated, pressure canned, there’s jars of them everywhere. They’ve stopped producing now with the heat but I have plenty to last. The mushie compost will go into a closed raised bed, an ibc half, for growing raspberries. At least they wont take over this time.
Picking lots of green beans too, that’ll be another double stacked load for the canner. I don’t know how I ever lived without that pressure canner! Nowadays I only need to shop for things I haven’t room to grow, and meats.
Chickens are getting zucchinis and any too large cucumbers. Silkie Lin Lin is now 11.5 yo, still lays the occasional egg. There’s a couple hamburgs now around 5 yo that aren’t laying, but they are good at keeping law and order in the henhouse and are just part of the household. :)

Awesome Happy Potter! Living the dream! Dreaming is about the closest I get to gardening these days but I live in hope that one day I will be able to grow my own veges again. I had a lovely weekend with family. My son is over from living in America for 2 1/2 years and I had all three of my children, the two partners and the two grandchildren here. I figured it must be about 8 years since they have been all together with me as my son was in Sydney for 5 years before that.

The birds have been consuming fruit here too. In Casterton where I am not there all the time, I don’t think I’ll get many fruit for me at all… maybe a few Bramley apples. Between the lorikeets, sulphur cresteds, corellas and galahs…..feasting has been avian.

I also made a note to myself today. I’m not going to put the mulch of sheep poo and old straw on the veggie garden any more as it just encourages the blackbirds to scratch it around. And they don’t respect my plants. So I’ll leave the dirt uncovered in the beds that aren’t completely baked every day. The baking ones will still need some mulch though, so the old stick garden will have to prevail.

buffy said:

The birds have been consuming fruit here too. In Casterton where I am not there all the time, I don’t think I’ll get many fruit for me at all… maybe a few Bramley apples. Between the lorikeets, sulphur cresteds, corellas and galahs…..feasting has been avian.

I also made a note to myself today. I’m not going to put the mulch of sheep poo and old straw on the veggie garden any more as it just encourages the blackbirds to scratch it around. And they don’t respect my plants. So I’ll leave the dirt uncovered in the beds that aren’t completely baked every day. The baking ones will still need some mulch though, so the old stick garden will have to prevail.

Rat traps with either black or red fruit on them.