Dolittle: well here it is Monday morning and believe it or not it is raining again :(

This is definately NOT out weather. The lawnmower man should have been here today but thats puts paid to that...oh well

Dolittle: we have just had 2 days of rain and that is very unusual...it never rains in the winter here:)

but the lawns and gardens are looking real healthy and green :)

Foxy Lady: well the herbs are just great, grapes are starting to set, no banana as yet...pawpaw (papaya) are ripening, tomatoes are going fair, as are capsicums, silver beet (chard) etc. I have sone sort of pumpkin coming up...dont know where it come from. APple cucumbers are just starting to pick up...
.putting up 2 new fences on each side of the house to keep Bear (dog) in the back yard. He has a bad habit of chasing people walking dogs, and the horses along the fence line . that will put a halt to him LOL

Foxy Lady: no, the only thing I have done is to mortar and pestle (sp) them with sea salt and a little olive oil.

in my garden I have a birds eye chilli tree that is absolutely laden in chilli....can someone tell me how to, or what to do with them. Is there some way I can preserve them?

skipinnz: I have cymbidiams growing and all I do is tie/attach them to a tree trunk in the back yard and they eventually "root" and stay there on their own. You can buy a special potting mix for orchids, and that would be the best way to go, but of course Im talking australia...tropical australia where orchids grow wild.

Dolittle: rofl.......my garden is flourishing and we are getting a "eetsy"bit of rain, which help things sort of grow in my climate. we had 6mm last month instead of over 200mm so things are really dry but..........good times are ahead hopefully :)

the bogs are darking and the chirds are burping....wails are tagging, and heople are pappy.

hehehe

and Autumn is here LOL....

it is only about 32degC today here = 90degF...humidity about 70% and damned unpleasant LOL

Foxy Lady: well the rain HAD subsided, but.....
about 3 hours sth of us got 25 inches of rain in 12 hours...because of the southerly prevailing winds it has turned tail and we are expected to get it over the next 12-18 hours....the floods just go down and up they come again....we have had so much rain that instead of it all soaking away, the water just keeps rising....no kitchen on monday the man said if this rain keeps up :(....oh well no work either so will be able to just sit and relax hahaha

Lisa G: yes it is the wet season and the first real wet season we have had in years LOL

well for the 2nd time in a week we are flooded out....I have never seen rain like it.

My new kitchen goes in this coming monday so I hope it isnt too wet....dont need muddy boots thru my home :(

Foxy Lady: Yes the water has gone down thankfully, but now we are inundated with darned mosquitos....they are so big you could put a saddle on them and ride them in the Kentuckey Derby HAHAHA......but we had a vicious storm here last night :(

Eriisa: thanks Eriisa :)

can someone please tell what color is "American Beauty" frangipani
I have searched everywhere and cant find anything on it???

Foxy Lady: we have been declared "natural disaster area" and the govt. has offered money to people who are in need of help...Im not, but am unable to go to work, and even tho the rain has stopped for the moment, they have told us we are to expect more torrential rain. all very unnerving :(

Foxy Lady:well it has stopped raining for the moment but (the street not the house) the place is under 2 foot of water...no work for me tomorrow, so will have to just sit around and do nothing I guess.

we are under water here......it has been raining for 4 days solid and there doesnt appear to be anylet up ROFL....we are flooded in...here is a link for you...this is ex tropical cyclone "Helen" venting her spleen at us ROFL....sorry bout the link , if someone can fix it for me.....
http://mirror.bom.gov.au/products/IDR203.loop.shtml?looping=0&reloaded=0&topography=true&locations=true&range=true#skip

Dolittle: and opposite to you all our stuff burnt :( with the extreme sun.

I have a herb garden that is over grown with weeds and Im too frightened to weed it in case I lose everything, which is sad because I cant see where any of the herb are LOL

Foxy Lady: grapes have had it and the tomatoes are suffering :( it is too hot for anything except bananas and paw paw....they are doing real well but the rest is nearly finished :(

Foxy Lady: 36degC here and humidity of 89%....so damned hot have been in the spa earlier on......

Foxy Lady: yep LOL....spent $50 the other day on shade cloth to put over the grape vines so the birds dont get them....the bunches are really coming along great. Pulled the capsicum out because they had finished. Made 1/2 dozen jars of rosella jam the other day, but they appear to fruit continuously, this is only the 2nd season I have had them but they are great. Bananas are coming along great, and New Guinea paw paw are really good...they are a BIG long paw paw with red flesh....so much sweeter than the golden ones.
Tomatoes are really going well, and have just planted another dozen or so plants but dont know what they are as they are seedlings that just grew from where I have tossed garden waste :) I dont care what they are....love tomatoes of any kind.

skipinnz: it is a Meyer Lemon...it is only about 8-9 months old

skipinnz: yes i think so as well..........but have you ever seen anything like it before.......I know I havent LOL

A while ago I mentioned the fact that my lemon tree had literally hundred of lemons on it and the tree would have been barely 6 foot tall...here is a pic I took today...it takes a wee while to load.

This is only one of about a dozen bunches exactly the same...They all appear to have set fairly well....what is the general consensus of opinion as to how many will survive.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13843860@N05/1411408852/

Foxy Lady: very much so in the growing season here LOL....everything is going beserk...unusual seasons we are having...it has been showering/raining which it never does in the late winter (it is starting to heat up again) and all is beautifully green and growing rapidly...most unusual weather, but good for the garden :)

We have about another 6-8 weeks of growing time and then it will be far too hot again up until about late Feb or early March.

☼ajtgirl☼: yes i think you could be right, :(..a pity as the fruit is all starting to set..apart from the ones (about a dozen) that are well and truly growing.

Anybody want tomato plants ROFL...I buried dozens of tomatoes that had gone soft about 6-8 weeks ago....3 different kinds of them and now I have more tomato plants than I need ROFL.......I already have plenty of fruit ripening, and dont really need any more plants LOLOL

all mine is planted :) being in the tropics you have to plant early or it will all get burned :(

I have Zucchini, Rosellas, Grapes, Cucumbers, PawPaws (2 types), Bananas, Tomatoes (4 types), capsicums, and sweet potatoes, silverbeet, and heaps and heaps of herbs.

The grapes are going to be terrific this year if I can keep the birds away from them...best crop yet for me.

***edit*** I forgot about the Meyer Lemon tree...it isnt 8 months old and Ive already had 1 ripe lemon off it....There are about a dozen small ones coming on and the flowers are there by the hundred....no kidding....some of them have set and if they all stay on Im going to have to support the branches...the tree itself is only about 6 foot tall.

Jim Dandy: hahahaha silly thing....but then I might have to keep an eye on it ROFLMBO :)

well if it isnt raisins Im thinking of is it sultanas? I know it is one of them......

Has anybody heard of Mellow Yellow tomatoes....I bought one plant about 3-4 months ago... it has gotten so large at the moment I have it staked with 6 stakes to hold it up....it is laden with tomatoes (none ripe yet) but it isnt the tomatoes that is forcing me to stake it....the bush is absolutely huge.

skipinnz: thanks for that also LOLOL.....it might be a good thing to explain what raisins are...I sent recipes to people in USA and they always ask what raisins are...Im not saying everybody but it does seem strange that they ask.

Andersp: they are lovely....can they be trained.....you could have yourself a beetle circus and create your own "Beetle Mania" hahahaha
seriously tho they look to be a terrible pest.....

Andersp: boxing gloves????? sorry couldnt resist that one LOL
I dont even know twhat they are

I always start my tomatoes in sandy soil or sandy loam as we call it....it enables a great strong root system :) then transplant into hevier soil and not too much compost at the start as they can be inclined to burn if it is put too close to stalks/stem

skipinnz: Requires minimal pruning. Remove any broken, diseased or crossing branches in late autumn or winter. When planting incorporate lots of well-rotted garden compost in the planting hole and stake firmly....and be careful around children skipinnz....extremely poisonous :(

BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR............
it is so darn cold here....still raining and it looksa as tho June is going to be our wettest month on record....
Gosh only a couple months ago we were in the middle of our longest drought and now there are floods right down the east coast of australia...(except for Brisbane) I think.
shocking weather, but at least my garden is just loving it, especially the tomatoes...Zucchini arent doing at all well, hoping they will chirp up or out they go LOL.

Rose: that is cold for us...we dont get down too far in the winter and if it does it only lasts for a couple days....the sun is out today but the winds are cutting and darn cold :(
Im freezing my butt here LOLOL

3-4 days ago it was 30-34 degC here (about 90degF) and the weather was beautiful....now in the last few days we have had some much needed rain and yesterday it never got above 20degC (70degF)...im freezing my fingers off LOL

Eriisa: keep the water away from the leaves.....sounds like black spot to me...pick all the diseased leaves off and burn them or take them away from your garden.....DO NOT leave them lying around.

Foxy Lady: when I loaded up my new freezer yesterday I didnt realize that I also had 10 trays of mangos, which I had sliced the cheeks off and frozen them...
A nice way of eating them is as follows.

take a square of puff pastry and lay a mango cheek on it and place on a tray and bake at 200degC until pastry is all puffy....about 15-20 minutes...serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream or even both ROFLMBO......

Foxy Lady: hahahaha....I wouldnt take the glory away from ------- HAHAHAHA....I hope he gets stuck with it LOLOL

just freeze them. (in their skins)...they are only good for cooking once frozen as they go a bit mushy....but great for muffins or banana cake :)

edited to add "skins"

well all rosellas have gone and also she picked up 2 paw paw plants...total of $20... Im feeling like a primary producer hahahaha...that is what we call gardeners (in bulk quantities) over here hahahaha

Today went and bought myself an upright freezer for downstairs....I have so much fruit and similar to freeze like mango and bananas that it is worth it to buy a freezer. The freezer I have is called a chest freezer and with noshelves or dividers etc everything gets all mixed up....so a new one is here ...or will be tomorrow.....LOL

Foxy Lady: I have had such an abundance of rosella fruit that I advertised them for $8 per kilo = 2.2lbs and in the last 3 days have made just under $200....I have a lady down the garden now picking the last of the fruit and I have about 200 rosella plants growning which I will sell for $2.50 each. I also have about 30-40 pawpaw (papaya) plants which Im selling....also for $2.50 each.

Im putting the money earned from my little venture into a money box for Bear my dog...that will pay for his grooming and vetinary injections etc... LOLOL

check this out....Im growing 4 kinds....

Father Tom
Green Zebra
Tigerella and Tommy Toe....and no the tigerella dont look like Tigger hahahaha

http://www.tomato.com.au/pages/varieties.html

I have just put in 2xsingle plants of a really big tomatoe...they arent on that web page :(

Oceans Apart: hehehe

Oceans Apart: and here I am turning the aircon on and fans going everywhere...ROFL

coan.net: it is even better if you hold down your mouse and drag it around....you get a wonderful garden :)