The shower party was lovely. To welcome the new as yet unborn baby.
Lots of Mums with kids. (In fact so many kids that it was hard to find a shot without one – and without permissions from parents I don’t put kids on the internet). So only a few photos for you.
TimTam was incredibly well behaved – usually she shakes with fear around strangers but was not bothered by an all-women and children gathering.
Daylight saving has arrived. (You know how I feel about hauling our clock time about so I won’t get into it).
I walked down to Bunnings yesterday to find a few cauliflower seedlings and came home with cauliflowers, pansies and hollyhocks! Hollyhocks like I have never seen before!
I feel like I am relearning how to garden after years of dreadfully cold winters in Illinois where we wait until spring to plant. And I planted so few flowers in the short seasons out in the Midwest. Here in Melbourne we can plant in autumn for spring flowering. And most of the plants will last years.
Plus the garden centers are open all year round! Joy!
It is delightful!
So today I will pop a few more plants into the pots and gardens then walk into town to check out a yoga studio. That might be a nice way to meet people.
All the anti-dog sticks are back in place – now that the party is over.
In that orange pot – do you see it? – I sowed some really pretty poppies. And they have already struck. I hope this winter is kind. I am told that Sunbury on the hill has a temperate micro climate. Very few if any frosts so the old gardeners on our street say.
Can you imagine!!
I planted out brocolli. And dug in a tray of worm compost. I scooped out a few worms too and put them in with the vegetables – to help with the soil in the big beds. The soil is still taking a lot of wetting – it has a very sandy structure. And will need a good deal of conditioning.
It was deeply satisfying to put out the worm compost. Made from our own kitchen scraps.
We are already eating greens at every meal.
We had a lovely afternoon on Saturday but the mornings are cooler. Time to get out the cardi.
Here is the TKG newsletter from yesterday.
For some reason I wandered down a rabbit hole of typewriters. I need more discipline in my writing. 😂
I have started a Frugal Kitchen section in the Sunday TKG Newsletter.
Today is my meatloaf. Do you remember Thing Two? I used pictures from an old meatloaf recipe and have written up the latest version with even more veggies. If these tariffs do hit then a lot of cooks in a lot of kitchens all over the world will be looking for ways to feed the family frugally with local ingredients and ingredients from their own gardens, I hope.
I spent the pandemic teaching people how to bake bread.
I am already fielding heaps of questions about putting in a garden cheaply.
What would your first tip be? (Other than basil in pots).
Here is the updated BedTime Stories series. Don’t forget to leave a like ❤️ when you pop in – it helps with exposure. And tell me which chapters you like so far! Each of the readings is around 30 minutes. Just enough time to make dinner or tidy the bedroom or do your yoga. Take sometime out from the madness.
I particularly like listening when I am doing dishes. Or walking.
We need to start thinking about a new book soon. Or short story. I have a list of your last suggestions.
Have a great day!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
14 responses to “rain-free showers”
I must clean out the vegie bed from the wet summer wreckage. I tend to leave it covered to protect the soil from the worst of the hot sun and heavy rain, but now we’re finally coming out the other side of one of the worst wet seasons I can remember. Time to get out my seeds and decide what to put in the ground and what to start in pots. Beans and peas and lettuce and zucchini and pumpkin, just to start with. I’m so glad the baby shower was a success; the food looked amazing so if that’s an indicator of what a good time was had by all, it will have been wonderful.
It looks like you are slug free there too! I have to get plants quite large, before planting out, to survive the onslaught here!
I think everyone should be growing locally – buying food from thousands of miles away is wrong! Successive governments all over the world have got it wrong!
So true Mad! Just doesn’t make sense to be buying and shipping from everywhere else!
It is a lovely garden, and we all would be healthier if we focused on local.
Local economies need bolstering up for sure. And local is great. As long as we are on an area that can grow veges all year round locally: – which is not the case in Illinois. Plus a household would need one person in the house solely to garden, cook and put up excess food. That is pretty hard for a working mum to achieve.
The whole thing is a bit backwards – we need to think hard on how to achieve our goals of growing at least some of our food.
The garden looks amazing! Green fingers plus loving intention plus benevolent climate — a magic combination.
Best wishes, Juliet
>
My favorite combo!
Ha…..Mint in pots..but you probably already knew that! Living in AZ I have always attempted to garden frugally…..one thing I often do is propagate any plant when I can. Although I do not grow food in our garden I do have many wonderful green friends that I have had for over 40 years and they have made every move with us..which has been many.
Thanks for sharing the party pics….the food you made looked yummy. Your daughter is lucky to have you sweet lady.
Jo
I propagate everything that comes into the house too. In fact some baby’s breath was in a flower arrangement so I nipped a bit off to try and strike it. Generally I am successful!
Baby shower – check! And no doubt it was wonderful! I do hope the yoga studio offers classes for you. I feel yoga is the best all around exercise for the body that can be continued over time. We have all our spring veggies in and will wait a bit longer to plant the summer garden. All of those plants are waiting in the greenhouse. We had to cover a few more delicate plants last night though. Spring has definitely sprung in this neck of the woods! 🙂
A lovely celebration. When I first visited the States in 1966…(and found that I was pregnant) someone held a surprise baby shower for me…..It was a huge surprise because in England/Europe at that time no one had ever heard of baby showers.:). Yoga is a fantastic form of exercise -something I have been doing for 50 years…can’t recommend enough…..:)
I love yoga too. Though I have not been to a class in years. I hope I have not been doing it all wrong all this time! 😀
Veggie garden, cup cakes and good company – lovely! And thankfully the end of day light saving has reduced those dark mornings – for a time. 😊
The gardens are coming along so well!