Vege and garden pics.

The dying tomatoes first. I trimmed a lot off yesterday then took the photos, but today there’s more dying off. I think these ones have to be pulled out. I’ve managed to pick 6 ripe fruit. They are burnley beauties, or something like that.

Red pear doing slightly better but no fruit yet.

Other side of the red pear.

2 female carica pubescens

..and one poor male

Eggplant bed with cucumber climbing mesh and some concrete pavers being recycled for herb pots.

Small fig with plenty of small green fruits is going to be espaliered on that fence. The cacti pots will be moved.

Pumpkin growing up reo mesh.. with some photo bombing chooks.

Watermelon(?) climbing a lemon. Great shady area for chickens. (under the green rectangle planter is a worm farm, the pot helps to shade it)

Marionberry, aka ‘Velcro berry’ is gunna get ripped out. Had enough of the man screaming ‘get this prickly thing off me’, when he’s trying to get a ladder out of the storage area behind the shed.

Lucy, formally Lettucehead, and her 6 silver spangled hamburg chicks. So far, 4 females and 2 males. Yay.

Scarlet runner beans are dotted here and there between fruit trees and any bare fences.

Beetroot along fruit tree borders.

Lime tree, comfrey and small mandarine. Thornless blackberry on the back fence. Silverbeet, spinach and herbs in the netted raised bed to the right.

Netted bed.

Zotty, falling asleep. I watched her fall right over asleep and woke her with my loud laughing.

Lemons almonds, apples and other edibles.

Apart from the tomatoes it looks pretty good. Looks like wilt. If you cut into the stem and there are black streaks in the vascular system then definitely. Wilt is soil borne and there are bacterial, viral and fungal versions.

bluegreen said:

Apart from the tomatoes it looks pretty good. Looks like wilt. If you cut into the stem and there are black streaks in the vascular system then definitely. Wilt is soil borne and there are bacterial, viral and fungal versions.

Yes I read about wilt. It’s so annoying trying to work out where to plant to avoid it.

Hooray, photos from HP…enjoyed with my coffee…

Dinetta said:

Hooray, photos from HP…enjoyed with my coffee…

:D

As a slightly relevent aside, so far my tomatoes seem to be loving having carrot/marigold/basil seed sprinkled around their bases. Goodness knows if I’ll actually get carrots to eat, and the basil seed has been tardy about its germination. But I also reckon it’s going to look cheerful when the flowers happen too.

They would love the marigold and basil, however there was a book called Carrots love Tomatoes (one of the first companion planting books I ever encountered) so you’re onto something there…

The zucchini under the corn is also apparently happy. And apparently basil goes with blueberries, so as I had several packets of seed, I’ve scattered some there too. But I only did that a couple of days ago.

Looks good HP. You put my garden to shame.

Happy Potter said:

Vege and garden pics.

The dying tomatoes first. I trimmed a lot off yesterday then took the photos, but today there’s more dying off. I think these ones have to be pulled out. I’ve managed to pick 6 ripe fruit. They are

Zotty, falling asleep. I watched her fall right over asleep and woke her with my loud laughing.

haha – what a beaut shot of a slowly dropping chook. must be the heat – ?

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

pepe said:

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

Surprising the basil isn’t doing so well if the tomatoes are?

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

Surprising the basil isn’t doing so well if the tomatoes are?

I’ve given up explaining – but the bluddy bunnies ate one lot of basil seedlings and set the whole season back two months
- so now they are all beneath shadecloth .

pepe said:

I’ve given up explaining – but the bluddy bunnies ate one lot of basil seedlings and set the whole season back two months
- so now they are all beneath shadecloth .

Gawd, you’d think basil would be a strong taste for the bunnies…that explains a lot…thanks…

pepe said:

Happy Potter said:

Vege and garden pics.

The dying tomatoes first. I trimmed a lot off yesterday then took the photos, but today there’s more dying off. I think these ones have to be pulled out. I’ve managed to pick 6 ripe fruit. They are

Zotty, falling asleep. I watched her fall right over asleep and woke her with my loud laughing.

haha – what a beaut shot of a slowly dropping chook. must be the heat – ?

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

What a pretty hen :)

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

I’ve given up explaining – but the bluddy bunnies ate one lot of basil seedlings and set the whole season back two months
- so now they are all beneath shadecloth .

Gawd, you’d think basil would be a strong taste for the bunnies…that explains a lot…thanks…

My bunnies used to love fresh basil.

pepe said:

Happy Potter said:

Vege and garden pics.

The dying tomatoes first. I trimmed a lot off yesterday then took the photos, but today there’s more dying off. I think these ones have to be pulled out. I’ve managed to pick 6 ripe fruit. They are

Zotty, falling asleep. I watched her fall right over asleep and woke her with my loud laughing.

haha – what a beaut shot of a slowly dropping chook. must be the heat – ?

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

I’m getting sick of basil. I do like it, but…. I have it growing in spots behind raised beds where there’s arvo shade to shelter it from hot winds. I get so much I’ve given up even drying it, I merely pick the leaves and roll up into a log shape, wrap and freeze. I’ve got bags of ‘logs’ lol.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

I’ve given up explaining – but the bluddy bunnies ate one lot of basil seedlings and set the whole season back two months
- so now they are all beneath shadecloth .

Gawd, you’d think basil would be a strong taste for the bunnies…that explains a lot…thanks…

My bunnies used to love fresh basil.

Maybe bunnies have a more sophisticate palate than I used to believe…

Dinetta said:

Maybe bunnies have a more sophisticate palate than I used to believe…

*sophisticateD

Happy Potter said:

I’m getting sick of basil. I do like it, but…. I have it growing in spots behind raised beds where there’s arvo shade to shelter it from hot winds. I get so much I’ve given up even drying it, I merely pick the leaves and roll up into a log shape, wrap and freeze. I’ve got bags of ‘logs’ lol.

I loved Pepe’s storage of basil, with olyve oyl and rock salt, in layers…

I’ve forgotten which area pepe is in? Sounds like our weather. It is expected that our relative humidity will go down around 10% today. And it’s already into the thirties. Fortunately no wind so far.

buffy said:

I’ve forgotten which area pepe is in? Sounds like our weather. It is expected that our relative humidity will go down around 10% today. And it’s already into the thirties. Fortunately no wind so far.

North of Adelaide, I can’t recall precisely either…

Ta, so actually a bit hotter than me.

Lucky1 said:

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

I’ve given up explaining – but the bluddy bunnies ate one lot of basil seedlings and set the whole season back two months
- so now they are all beneath shadecloth .

Gawd, you’d think basil would be a strong taste for the bunnies…that explains a lot…thanks…

My bunnies used to love fresh basil.

they have very good taste those bunnies – both the bunnies and I can recommend fresh young sweet potato leaves – yum yum bun bun.

Happy Potter said:

pepe said:

Happy Potter said:

Vege and garden pics.

The dying tomatoes first. I trimmed a lot off yesterday then took the photos, but today there’s more dying off. I think these ones have to be pulled out. I’ve managed to pick 6 ripe fruit. They are

Zotty, falling asleep. I watched her fall right over asleep and woke her with my loud laughing.

haha – what a beaut shot of a slowly dropping chook. must be the heat – ?

great garden as always HP – we are having a good year for toms but the rest aren’t good. even the basil is barely enough for a pesto.

I’m getting sick of basil. I do like it, but…. I have it growing in spots behind raised beds where there’s arvo shade to shelter it from hot winds. I get so much I’ve given up even drying it, I merely pick the leaves and roll up into a log shape, wrap and freeze. I’ve got bags of ‘logs’ lol.

we have two plants and last years frozen lot (with salt and olive oil).
but hey! – that smell !!! – like summer captured in a leaf.

buffy said:

I’ve forgotten which area pepe is in? Sounds like our weather. It is expected that our relative humidity will go down around 10% today. And it’s already into the thirties. Fortunately no wind so far.

g’day buffy – I have planted some of your recommended plants – like rattlesnake beans and brandywine toms but I’m not in your area – altho’ my wife originates from close to your stomping ground – so I known Australia felix well.

pepe said:

they have very good taste those bunnies – both the bunnies and I can recommend fresh young sweet potato leaves – yum yum bun bun.

drat! (re the bunnies)…

What do you do with the young sweet potato leaves?

pepe said:

we have two plants and last years frozen lot (with salt and olive oil).
but hey! – that smell !!! – like summer captured in a leaf.

Absolutely, you’ve expressed what I couldn’t capture in words…

Dinetta said:

pepe said:

they have very good taste those bunnies – both the bunnies and I can recommend fresh young sweet potato leaves – yum yum bun bun.

drat! (re the bunnies)…What do you do with the young sweet potato leaves?

in your previous question – the birds don’t bother the toms much at all. when the ripe fruit is touching the ground a skink will eat some of it.
we harvest the toms just as they change colour from green to yellow – they ripen to red on the window sill – this avoids most problems and they still taste like vine ripened.

the sweet potato leaves are just another spinach substitute but tastier like young leaves often are.

I can no longer see the lemon tree for the watermelon invasion. I think it’s time I freed the lemon, but I have very stiff opposition.. the man. He loves watermelon and wants me to leave it growing- there’s quite a few long fruits forming. So far the tree looks ok and the lemons are ripening. What lemons we can reach that is.

But I don’t know what’s worse, losing the meyer lemon tree, or eejit, as I am calling him at the moment, throwing a tantrum. I pointed out that they are the really big long melons and the weight will be too much for the tree, and the melons themselves. So he has said he will build a structure to support the melons. Right.

As I said, eejit.

My little azolla weed pond, a high protein free chook food factory. When it starts to ‘bunch up’ and becomes inches thick, about every third day, I drag it out with my chook catcher net. I can barely lift the net when it’s full and the handle bends. The chooks get really excited watching me doing this and come running and eat every last bit. I need a better net with an aluminum handle.

I’m fairly sure they aren’t watermelons. I’d say a pumpkin or a gramma.

roughbarked said:

I’m fairly sure they aren’t watermelons. I’d say a pumpkin or a gramma.

Right ok. I hope you’re right. I will have to take a closer pick of the little fruits.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

I’m fairly sure they aren’t watermelons. I’d say a pumpkin or a gramma.

Right ok. I hope you’re right. I will have to take a closer pick of the little fruits.

Even the droughtmaster watermelon which has the thickest leaves are still deeply lobed.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

I’m fairly sure they aren’t watermelons. I’d say a pumpkin or a gramma.

Right ok. I hope you’re right. I will have to take a closer pick of the little fruits.

Even the droughtmaster watermelon which has the thickest leaves are still deeply lobed.

Ok! I will go searching images. If it’s a feral it’s coming out today.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Right ok. I hope you’re right. I will have to take a closer pick of the little fruits.

Even the droughtmaster watermelon which has the thickest leaves are still deeply lobed.

Ok! I will go searching images. If it’s a feral it’s coming out today.

You don’t like gramma pie?

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Even the droughtmaster watermelon which has the thickest leaves are still deeply lobed.

Ok! I will go searching images. If it’s a feral it’s coming out today.

You don’t like gramma pie?

I don’t even know what that is. I may well have eaten it in my childhood.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Ok! I will go searching images. If it’s a feral it’s coming out today.

You don’t like gramma pie?

I don’t even know what that is. I may well have eaten it in my childhood.

Was my father in law’s fave. Sweet pumpkin pie.

Happy Potter said:

My little azolla weed pond, a high protein free chook food factory. When it starts to ‘bunch up’ and becomes inches thick, about every third day, I drag it out with my chook catcher net. I can barely lift the net when it’s full and the handle bends. The chooks get really excited watching me doing this and come running and eat every last bit. I need a better net with an aluminum handle.

That looks good, and so productive, too!

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

You don’t like gramma pie?

I don’t even know what that is. I may well have eaten it in my childhood.

Maybe Happy Potter should compromise…one fruit for the seeds and out it comes…the “sweet pumpkin” sounds mouthwatering…

Was my father in law’s fave. Sweet pumpkin pie.

Some more pics of the mystery melon. I don’t remember if I ever ate pumpkin pie, but I would like to find out. I have butternuts I can do that with anyway.

Holding tendrils with itself, I couldn’t resist taking this pic, bad quality as it is, it’s cute lol.

Female flower. The flowers are white.

Happy Potter said:

Some more pics of the mystery melon. I don’t remember if I ever ate pumpkin pie, but I would like to find out. I have butternuts I can do that with anyway.

Holding tendrils with itself, I couldn’t resist taking this pic, bad quality as it is, it’s cute lol.

Female flower. The flowers are white.

If these fruit bend to make a C shape as they mature, then you have a gramma.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Some more pics of the mystery melon. I don’t remember if I ever ate pumpkin pie, but I would like to find out. I have butternuts I can do that with anyway.

Holding tendrils with itself, I couldn’t resist taking this pic, bad quality as it is, it’s cute lol.

Female flower. The flowers are white.

If these fruit bend to make a C shape as they mature, then you have a gramma.

I would also expect the fruit part of the flower to be rounder if it were a watermelon of sorts.

The mystery melon also has a smell that I couldn’t detect earlier because all I could smell was lemons. I chopped some leaves back overhanging the path and it’s not a pleasant smell, it’s quite peppery.

Happy Potter said:

The mystery melon also has a smell that I couldn’t detect earlier because all I could smell was lemons. I chopped some leaves back overhanging the path and it’s not a pleasant smell, it’s quite peppery.

The thing is, It is possible that this is a crossed plant a hybrid as all the cucurbits have the propensity to hybridize easily. It is why you don ‘t grow pumpkins and watermelons together.
In my time I managed to make some interesting hybrids like a Queensland blue x with a golden nugget. The result was not a bush like the golden nugget but a very large spreading plant which had small blocky(squarish but still round) pumpkins that had orange and dark green colouring. The fruit were great as nopne were huge. The fruit also was not as hard as a rock like Queensland Blues can get. Was one of the most flavoursome pumpkins I’ve ever grown. Sadly one year the frosts came early and destroyed all the seed by killing the fruits before they set seed. So after having grown it for several years from my own seed, it vanished. Similarly I had a spaghetti squash that just appeared in m,y garden. Wasn’t from any seed I had ever planted but somehow it arrived. A chance hybrid no doubt. It did not resemble any known spaghetti squash and was quite tasty. I move3d house about 30 k and took it with me. Again after several years of cultivating it and keeping the seed It simply disappeared one year when I didn’t get any seed due to hot dry weather stopping fruiting.
The moral of that story, never plant all your seed in any one season. Save some for next year.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

The mystery melon also has a smell that I couldn’t detect earlier because all I could smell was lemons. I chopped some leaves back overhanging the path and it’s not a pleasant smell, it’s quite peppery.

The thing is, It is possible that this is a crossed plant a hybrid as all the cucurbits have the propensity to hybridize easily. It is why you don ‘t grow pumpkins and watermelons together.
In my time I managed to make some interesting hybrids like a Queensland blue x with a golden nugget. The result was not a bush like the golden nugget but a very large spreading plant which had small blocky(squarish but still round) pumpkins that had orange and dark green colouring. The fruit were great as nopne were huge. The fruit also was not as hard as a rock like Queensland Blues can get. Was one of the most flavoursome pumpkins I’ve ever grown. Sadly one year the frosts came early and destroyed all the seed by killing the fruits before they set seed. So after having grown it for several years from my own seed, it vanished. Similarly I had a spaghetti squash that just appeared in m,y garden. Wasn’t from any seed I had ever planted but somehow it arrived. A chance hybrid no doubt. It did not resemble any known spaghetti squash and was quite tasty. I move3d house about 30 k and took it with me. Again after several years of cultivating it and keeping the seed It simply disappeared one year when I didn’t get any seed due to hot dry weather stopping fruiting.
The moral of that story, never plant all your seed in any one season. Save some for next year.

I never thought of seed-saving like that…what a bummer, tho’…

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

The mystery melon also has a smell that I couldn’t detect earlier because all I could smell was lemons. I chopped some leaves back overhanging the path and it’s not a pleasant smell, it’s quite peppery.

The thing is, It is possible that this is a crossed plant a hybrid as all the cucurbits have the propensity to hybridize easily. It is why you don ‘t grow pumpkins and watermelons together.
In my time I managed to make some interesting hybrids like a Queensland blue x with a golden nugget. The result was not a bush like the golden nugget but a very large spreading plant which had small blocky(squarish but still round) pumpkins that had orange and dark green colouring. The fruit were great as nopne were huge. The fruit also was not as hard as a rock like Queensland Blues can get. Was one of the most flavoursome pumpkins I’ve ever grown. Sadly one year the frosts came early and destroyed all the seed by killing the fruits before they set seed. So after having grown it for several years from my own seed, it vanished. Similarly I had a spaghetti squash that just appeared in m,y garden. Wasn’t from any seed I had ever planted but somehow it arrived. A chance hybrid no doubt. It did not resemble any known spaghetti squash and was quite tasty. I move3d house about 30 k and took it with me. Again after several years of cultivating it and keeping the seed It simply disappeared one year when I didn’t get any seed due to hot dry weather stopping fruiting.
The moral of that story, never plant all your seed in any one season. Save some for next year.

I knew cross pollinating can happen and wonder if it has crossed with the butternut growing nearby. Then there’s the cucumbers too. The bees have been busy.

But I was always told that the seeds from the cross aren’t going to give you the same fruit. I saved the seeds from a big round zucchini I was given at the swap, made a lovely filled meal, but when they dried there was no substance to them, paper thin and empty. No embryo in any.

Another strange thing about this vine, the flowers only open at night.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

The mystery melon also has a smell that I couldn’t detect earlier because all I could smell was lemons. I chopped some leaves back overhanging the path and it’s not a pleasant smell, it’s quite peppery.

The thing is, It is possible that this is a crossed plant a hybrid as all the cucurbits have the propensity to hybridize easily. It is why you don’t grow pumpkins and watermelons together.
In my time I managed to make some interesting hybrids like a Queensland blue x with a golden nugget. The result was not a bush like the golden nugget but a very large spreading plant which had small blocky(squarish but still round) pumpkins that had orange and dark green colouring. The fruit were great as none were huge. The fruit also was not as hard as a rock like Queensland Blues can get. Was one of the most flavoursome pumpkins I’ve ever grown. Sadly one year the frosts came early and destroyed all the seed by killing the fruits before they set seed. So after having grown it for several years from my own seed, it vanished. Similarly I had a spaghetti squash that just appeared in m,y garden. Wasn’t from any seed I had ever planted but somehow it arrived. A chance hybrid no doubt. It did not resemble any known spaghetti squash and was quite tasty. I moved house about 30 k and took it with me. Again after several years of cultivating it and keeping the seed It simply disappeared one year when I didn’t get any seed due to hot dry weather stopping fruiting.
The moral of that story, never plant all your seed in any one season. Save some for next year.

I knew cross pollinating can happen and wonder if it has crossed with the butternut growing nearby. Then there’s the cucumbers too. The bees have been busy.

But I was always told that the seeds from the cross aren’t going to give you the same fruit. I saved the seeds from a big round zucchini I was given at the swap, made a lovely filled meal, but when they dried there was no substance to them, paper thin and empty. No embryo in any.

Another strange thing about this vine, the flowers only open at night.

Butternut is likely but with chance hybrids there is no real control over results. The fruit of the round zucchini needs to be left until it changes colour to a deep yellow/orange and is the size of a small round football before the seeds are mature. The round zucchini(ronde) is the tastiest of the zucchini types. The cucurbits tend to flower early in the day but yours could be appearing to flower at night because the daily temperatures are not to its liking.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

The thing is, It is possible that this is a crossed plant a hybrid as all the cucurbits have the propensity to hybridize easily. It is why you don’t grow pumpkins and watermelons together.
In my time I managed to make some interesting hybrids like a Queensland blue x with a golden nugget. The result was not a bush like the golden nugget but a very large spreading plant which had small blocky(squarish but still round) pumpkins that had orange and dark green colouring. The fruit were great as none were huge. The fruit also was not as hard as a rock like Queensland Blues can get. Was one of the most flavoursome pumpkins I’ve ever grown. Sadly one year the frosts came early and destroyed all the seed by killing the fruits before they set seed. So after having grown it for several years from my own seed, it vanished. Similarly I had a spaghetti squash that just appeared in m,y garden. Wasn’t from any seed I had ever planted but somehow it arrived. A chance hybrid no doubt. It did not resemble any known spaghetti squash and was quite tasty. I moved house about 30 k and took it with me. Again after several years of cultivating it and keeping the seed It simply disappeared one year when I didn’t get any seed due to hot dry weather stopping fruiting.
The moral of that story, never plant all your seed in any one season. Save some for next year.

I knew cross pollinating can happen and wonder if it has crossed with the butternut growing nearby. Then there’s the cucumbers too. The bees have been busy.

But I was always told that the seeds from the cross aren’t going to give you the same fruit. I saved the seeds from a big round zucchini I was given at the swap, made a lovely filled meal, but when they dried there was no substance to them, paper thin and empty. No embryo in any.

Another strange thing about this vine, the flowers only open at night.

Butternut is likely but with chance hybrids there is no real control over results. The fruit of the round zucchini needs to be left until it changes colour to a deep yellow/orange and is the size of a small round football before the seeds are mature. The round zucchini(ronde) is the tastiest of the zucchini types. The cucurbits tend to flower early in the day but yours could be appearing to flower at night because the daily temperatures are not to its liking.

Noted. Leave the fruit to mature. Of course, silly me. I will do that. Thank you for your help, once again, RB.

Happy Potter said:

Noted. Leave the fruit to mature. Of course, silly me. I will do that. Thank you for your help, once again, RB.

I tend to plant any different cucurbits quite a ways apart and also tend to manually pollinate them early in each day.. ie; I won’t grow two or more different zucchinis at the same time and watermelons are hidden down the other end of the yard. Pumpkins I’d normally leave until as late as I can in the season to avoid crossing and also because they will otherwise grow rampant all over the rest of the garden. If seeking seed it is best to have one plant that isn’t harvested for food but allowed to set seed. Once a zucchini fruit is on its way towards seeding, it will be unlikely to produce many more fruits.

The round zucchini that I grow.

Similar to the one I was given. Sliced it in half and scooped out the seeds, filled with a meat and rice mixture, topped with cheese and baked. It was beautiful.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/109+Whorouly-Bowmans+Rd/@-36.487772,146.629702,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0×6b26beb7c5245841:0×82d259511f21b254

Happy Potter said:

Similar to the one I was given. Sliced it in half and scooped out the seeds, filled with a meat and rice mixture, topped with cheese and baked. It was beautiful.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/109+Whorouly-Bowmans+Rd/@-36.487772,146.629702,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0×6b26beb7c5245841:0×82d259511f21b254

Happy Potter said:

Similar to the one I was given. Sliced it in half and scooped out the seeds, filled with a meat and rice mixture, topped with cheese and baked. It was beautiful.

https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/109+Whorouly-Bowmans+Rd/@-36.487772,146.629702,13z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0×6b26beb7c5245841:0×82d259511f21b254

a map? don’t ask me lol

roughbarked said:

The round zucchini that I grow.

Whoah!

Pics of my geranium maderense in flower :) It’s teeming with hoverflies!

Right lower quarter of the photo, hoverfly hovering :)

beautiful HP. I grew one of those at the old house. Can’t remember if it got to flower before I moved or not.

Wow can’t believe that’s a geranium, looks lovely and healthy…can’t see the hover fly but I think my monitor might be on the way out…

Ah, so I should really put the sorry one out of the pot and into the garden, shouldn’t I. Are hoverflies desirable? The main insect here at the moment is mosquitoes. Many more than I care to have. And a bit odd, because it’s not even warm yet.

buffy said:

Ah, so I should really put the sorry one out of the pot and into the garden, shouldn’t I. Are hoverflies desirable? The main insect here at the moment is mosquitoes. Many more than I care to have. And a bit odd, because it’s not even warm yet.

I don’t know a lot about hoverflies but I do know they are a good insect to have in your garden. They eat thrip and aphids. I didn’t see a single aphid on my one rose with tiny buds and lots of new growth.

Looks like they could be quite useful:

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Hover-flies

Although I don’t usually have much of an aphid problem. And all the rose bushes have gorgeous lush red leaves coming along now.

Here’s the hoverfly. Blew the photo up cropped and saved it.
There’s many hundreds in my garden at the moment. I expect to see the ladybirds and the black flower wasps and other wasps soon, all manner of other insects over spring/summer, lizards big and small as well. I don’t disturb anything out there except the very middle bit where I planted garlic last year, this year spuds. Snails are on the shoots but then there’s everything that eats snails too. Love my front garden and seeing what it attracts.

Happy Potter said:

Here’s the hoverfly. Blew the photo up cropped and saved it.
There’s many hundreds in my garden at the moment. I expect to see the ladybirds and the black flower wasps and other wasps soon, all manner of other insects over spring/summer, lizards big and small as well. I don’t disturb anything out there except the very middle bit where I planted garlic last year, this year spuds. Snails are on the shoots but then there’s everything that eats snails too. Love my front garden and seeing what it attracts.

Ah! So there it is! Must admit to my monitor de-pixelating (if that’s a word) with old age…

I just love it when the garden attracts it’s own Pest Patrol…and other goodies…

Still working (planning) my front garden…decided to keep the roses in their bed, give them another year..besides it’s somewher to bury the chooks…

I will put up a photo of the streetscape next time P is home with the camera…I am in two minds, two Rockhampton’s floral emblem (a bauhinia) along the fence, another frangipanni to match the classic already there, and then turn the eastern half into local native gardens iff possible…

Having said that I am wishful of bauhinia blakenii (F7) as shrubs, along with Leichhardt’s Bean, along the fence…

Originally the fence was hedged with Cook Trees…‘twas all that would grow pretty much before reticulated water came in…but Mum got rid of it for some reason…

There was also a timber frame that was trellised with some south american creeper, had bubbly triangular leaves, pink flowers like bunches of grapes and very woody… attracted the paper wasps like nobody’s business…Mum got rid of that too, but it was protection from the sun as one walked from the front gate to the front steps…

Happy Potter said:

Pics of my geranium maderense in flower :) It’s teeming with hoverflies!

Right lower quarter of the photo, hoverfly hovering :)

gotta get me one of those

Pretty plant and photos, HP

Some pics.
The anti chook fence is up. The area is still a big mess, there’s so much more still to do, but we’re getting there.

Before.

After. It looks like a school fence, but hey it was free and it does the job :)

My honey.
It is unlike any honey I’ve had before. Of course different area/foliage produces a different honey taste but this one has a distinct citrus aftertaste. Almost bitter orange but sweet and a gorgeous citrus blossom scent. It’s a lot darker too. I’ve turned into a honey sniffer. I could just sniff it all day.

Weird, my pics paste all over the shop.

Seedling fence hubby made atop the fence. Used up the offcuts.

The gate, featuring some of the mans cable tie art. That’s gotta go. Critter will fix it..chippy son in law.

Happy Potter said:

Some pics.
The anti chook fence is up. The area is still a big mess, there’s so much more still to do, but we’re getting there.

Before.

After. It looks like a school fence, but hey it was free and it does the job :)

My honey.
It is unlike any honey I’ve had before. Of course different area/foliage produces a different honey taste but this one has a distinct citrus aftertaste. Almost bitter orange but sweet and a gorgeous citrus blossom scent. It’s a lot darker too. I’ve turned into a honey sniffer. I could just sniff it all day.

Great work. :) um, honey; The bees will frequent the most abundant source first. This could well mean that the bees have been frequenting flowering citrus. Though the colour of your honey immediately tells me it is either not the normal citrus honey or that it is a blend that may contain a citrus scent. ie: it could be a native citrus honey or from another source that is lemon scented. Citrus honey from orchards should be clear in colour and relatively tasteless. It is used mainly for blending honeys by apiarists.

The sacrificial fig. Hoping I can keep it in a pot and it doesn’t escape and take over the planet. I’ll cover the fruit with stocking socks before the animals get them. I’m not sharing these with anything. I imagine there wont be the amount of fruit that I got last year,after savagely pruning it.

Happy Potter said:

My honey.
It is unlike any honey I’ve had before. Of course different area/foliage produces a different honey taste but this one has a distinct citrus aftertaste. Almost bitter orange but sweet and a gorgeous citrus blossom scent. It’s a lot darker too. I’ve turned into a honey sniffer. I could just sniff it all day.

Can’;t beat raw, organic honey. Fence is looking good too.

Ergh. Wrong pics..

Here’s the fig

Great work. :) um, honey; The bees will frequent the most abundant source first. This could well mean that the bees have been frequenting flowering citrus. Though the colour of your honey immediately tells me it is either not the normal citrus honey or that it is a blend that may contain a citrus scent. ie: it could be a native citrus honey or from another source that is lemon scented. Citrus honey from orchards should be clear in colour and relatively tasteless. It is used mainly for blending honeys by apiarists.’
—————————————————————

Right! Interesting.
And thankyou.

What is it dark from then? Around me gardens are green lawns and brown wastelands. This is quite strong honey. The hive was small and under populated, they tended to stay here. After removing the pond, where they’d be often seen sitting on the azolla weed, I gave them a mini pond with the weed in just for them. I wish I could hand you a spoonful to taste.

My next son in law loves it more than us even. He’s eaten honey daily almost his whole life. He has it on yoghurt each night, so I’ve been making yoghurt for him, and us, and buying raw honey from b’rat. His words were ‘omg you need your own hives, stat!’.
If the chippy son in law hasn’t time to make a couple bee boxes, this boy will buy a kit one.

Happy Potter said:

Great work. :) um, honey; The bees will frequent the most abundant source first. This could well mean that the bees have been frequenting flowering citrus. Though the colour of your honey immediately tells me it is either not the normal citrus honey or that it is a blend that may contain a citrus scent. ie: it could be a native citrus honey or from another source that is lemon scented. Citrus honey from orchards should be clear in colour and relatively tasteless. It is used mainly for blending honeys by apiarists.’
—————————————————————

Right! Interesting.
And thankyou.

What is it dark from then? Around me gardens are green lawns and brown wastelands. This is quite strong honey. The hive was small and under populated, they tended to stay here. After removing the pond, where they’d be often seen sitting on the azolla weed, I gave them a mini pond with the weed in just for them. I wish I could hand you a spoonful to taste.

My next son in law loves it more than us even. He’s eaten honey daily almost his whole life. He has it on yoghurt each night, so I’ve been making yoghurt for him, and us, and buying raw honey from b’rat. His words were ‘omg you need your own hives, stat!’.
If the chippy son in law hasn’t time to make a couple bee boxes, this boy will buy a kit one.

Gosh it is a long time since I bought bee gear. Having trouble with instant recall of the major suppliers name. Anyway the plants they sourced the honey from will be within a small area from the hive. Think everything within a maximum of four Km radius. Normally less but if the hive is static then the bees may have to range further than they’d like during harder times. They’d prefer to stay within one Km. It could be lemon myrtle or lemon scented bottlebrush or a number of natives that have a strong citrus scent.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Great work. :) um, honey; The bees will frequent the most abundant source first. This could well mean that the bees have been frequenting flowering citrus. Though the colour of your honey immediately tells me it is either not the normal citrus honey or that it is a blend that may contain a citrus scent. ie: it could be a native citrus honey or from another source that is lemon scented. Citrus honey from orchards should be clear in colour and relatively tasteless. It is used mainly for blending honeys by apiarists.’
—————————————————————

Right! Interesting.
And thankyou.

What is it dark from then? Around me gardens are green lawns and brown wastelands. This is quite strong honey. The hive was small and under populated, they tended to stay here. After removing the pond, where they’d be often seen sitting on the azolla weed, I gave them a mini pond with the weed in just for them. I wish I could hand you a spoonful to taste.

My next son in law loves it more than us even. He’s eaten honey daily almost his whole life. He has it on yoghurt each night, so I’ve been making yoghurt for him, and us, and buying raw honey from b’rat. His words were ‘omg you need your own hives, stat!’.
If the chippy son in law hasn’t time to make a couple bee boxes, this boy will buy a kit one.

Gosh it is a long time since I bought bee gear. Having trouble with instant recall of the major suppliers name. Anyway the plants they sourced the honey from will be within a small area from the hive. Think everything within a maximum of four Km radius. Normally less but if the hive is static then the bees may have to range further than they’d like during harder times. They’d prefer to stay within one Km. It could be lemon myrtle or lemon scented bottlebrush or a number of natives that have a strong citrus scent.

Hmm..not many flowering trees about. The tall gums out on the big nature strip maybe. Next doors have a now dead olive tree, dying apricot, dwarf genista and a pittosporum. Other flowers in my garden were passionfruit, daisy’s, magnolia, pig faces, couple conifers etc.
Oh just had a funny thought. the young blokes on the corner grow pot. Not that we care. Easy to smell that stuff, but.. hahaha, potted honey? hahaha.

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

Great work. :) um, honey; The bees will frequent the most abundant source first. This could well mean that the bees have been frequenting flowering citrus. Though the colour of your honey immediately tells me it is either not the normal citrus honey or that it is a blend that may contain a citrus scent. ie: it could be a native citrus honey or from another source that is lemon scented. Citrus honey from orchards should be clear in colour and relatively tasteless. It is used mainly for blending honeys by apiarists.’
—————————————————————

Right! Interesting.
And thankyou.

What is it dark from then? Around me gardens are green lawns and brown wastelands. This is quite strong honey. The hive was small and under populated, they tended to stay here. After removing the pond, where they’d be often seen sitting on the azolla weed, I gave them a mini pond with the weed in just for them. I wish I could hand you a spoonful to taste.

My next son in law loves it more than us even. He’s eaten honey daily almost his whole life. He has it on yoghurt each night, so I’ve been making yoghurt for him, and us, and buying raw honey from b’rat. His words were ‘omg you need your own hives, stat!’.
If the chippy son in law hasn’t time to make a couple bee boxes, this boy will buy a kit one.

Gosh it is a long time since I bought bee gear. Having trouble with instant recall of the major suppliers name. Anyway the plants they sourced the honey from will be within a small area from the hive. Think everything within a maximum of four Km radius. Normally less but if the hive is static then the bees may have to range further than they’d like during harder times. They’d prefer to stay within one Km. It could be lemon myrtle or lemon scented bottlebrush or a number of natives that have a strong citrus scent.

Hmm..not many flowering trees about. The tall gums out on the big nature strip maybe. Next doors have a now dead olive tree, dying apricot, dwarf genista and a pittosporum. Other flowers in my garden were passionfruit, daisy’s, magnolia, pig faces, couple conifers etc.
Oh just had a funny thought. the young blokes on the corner grow pot. Not that we care. Easy to smell that stuff, but.. hahaha, potted honey? hahaha.

Cannabis doesn’t provide much of interest to bees in the way of pollen or nectar but indeed they do seem interested enough to occasionally visit the flowering females. Doubt they get anything from it other than perhaps some sticky resin.

The most remarkable of all Australian honeys is that from Eucalyptus melliodora or Yellow Box. the name melliodora suggests loved by bees and smells of honey.

roughbarked said:

Happy Potter said:

roughbarked said:

Gosh it is a long time since I bought bee gear. Having trouble with instant recall of the major suppliers name. Anyway the plants they sourced the honey from will be within a small area from the hive. Think everything within a maximum of four Km radius. Normally less but if the hive is static then the bees may have to range further than they’d like during harder times. They’d prefer to stay within one Km. It could be lemon myrtle or lemon scented bottlebrush or a number of natives that have a strong citrus scent.

Hmm..not many flowering trees about. The tall gums out on the big nature strip maybe. Next doors have a now dead olive tree, dying apricot, dwarf genista and a pittosporum. Other flowers in my garden were passionfruit, daisy’s, magnolia, pig faces, couple conifers etc.
Oh just had a funny thought. the young blokes on the corner grow pot. Not that we care. Easy to smell that stuff, but.. hahaha, potted honey? hahaha.

Cannabis doesn’t provide much of interest to bees in the way of pollen or nectar but indeed they do seem interested enough to occasionally visit the flowering females. Doubt they get anything from it other than perhaps some sticky resin.

The most remarkable of all Australian honeys is that from Eucalyptus melliodora or Yellow Box. the name melliodora suggests loved by bees and smells of honey.

Right. This has been very informative, thanks RB. I will have to take note of trees in my walking area, about 3 klms. My walks are a much slower, more of a wobbly gailt these days, so I have more time to have a closer look :)

I remember now. It is Pender Beekeeping supplies

roughbarked said:

I remember now. It is Pender Beekeeping supplies

Thankyou. Their prices are good. Looking now and creating a login :)

Happy Potter said:

Ergh. Wrong pics..

Here’s the fig

Drool…

Happy Potter said:

Oh just had a funny thought. the young blokes on the corner grow pot. Not that we care. Easy to smell that stuff, but.. hahaha, potted honey? hahaha.

Heh heh!

roughbarked said:

The most remarkable of all Australian honeys is that from Eucalyptus melliodora or Yellow Box. the name melliodora suggests loved by bees and smells of honey.

There’s Yellow Box up around here, on the way to Charlie’s Trowsers…In fact the family bit of dirt had a dam called Yellow Box Dam…

(2 yo Tia, miss independent, very tired after getting up too early)

I can dress myself and do my own hair!

I can brush my own teeth too.

Happy Potter said:

(2 yo Tia, miss independent, very tired after getting up too early)

I can dress myself and do my own hair!

She does look tired…I suppose a daytime nap is not a suggestion?