Update: End of May

By Scarecrow
We have been busy inside re-arranging the rooms in the house for winter so I nearly missed this little Hakea flowering. The Pincushion Hakea - Hakea laurina It's interesting to note that it has flowered over a month later than last year???
Temperatures:
Lowest Min 1.6C with ice!!
Highest Max 18.9C
35.5 mm Rain (as of 4:45pm on the 31st)
As it's raining while I type this anything that falls after 4:45pm will have to go on to next week/months total. We are welcoming the coming Winter with some "real winter" weather...cold and wet!!! Yipee! At last the water tanks are filling up.
Propagation:
Seeds:

Broad Beans Early Long Pod Vicia faba from DT Brown
Sown into loo roll holders in the greenhouse
Potting up:
Strawberry Guava Psidium littorale var. longipes
Rescued from a tank bed that is being moved.
Cuttings:
African Daisy Yellow Arctotis arctotis x hybrida
Planted out:
Alfalfa Medicago sativa seedlings planted out in the Orchard before the rain. As this is Lucerne I'll be able to cut it for mulch later...the chooks will no doubt have a nibble on it too!
Alexanders Smyrnium olusatrum Retrieved from their volunteer position in a pathway and planted into the new herb bed in the kitchen garden.

Celery Tendercrisp seedlings planted into Bed6 after it was cleared and topped up with compost.

I have been cleaning seeds that I am saving this year.
Two varieties of Cucumber - Suyo Long and Bushy.
I also saved some of my favorite little Ida Gold Tomatoes the same way.
  • I chose some good looking fruits and let them ripen fully...over ripen actually.
  • Then left them in the garden shed for a few weeks.
  • Last week I opened up the fruits and scraped out the seeds.
  • Soaked them in water for a few days, stirring daily, to let them ferment a bit.
  • Then drained and rinsed and left to dry out under the watchful eye of some tiny helpers that have recently arrived in the garden.
  • When the seeds are dry they will be stored away for use in spring.

The Snow Peas on the cornstalk TeePees have grown to the top of the stalks. They have been flowering for a while now and I am harvesting a few snow peas...it will be interesting to see how much the cold morning temps affects the flower set. The extra string was added when bad weather was forecast.