Last week we ate all our meals at home, using ingredients we already had or freezer meals, and just lately I've been even more conscious of making sure to use everything up. The poor worms in the worm farm aren't getting the variety they used to!
I added worm compost to some garden soil and a little leftover potting mix to make seed raising trays. Yes, it's time to start the winter veggies. Garden soil on it's own is too heavy for seeds, and I think that potting mix alone just doesn't have the nutrients to start strong, healthy seedlings, so I MOOed some. It is lovely - nice and fine, and a lovely rich colour. In went some cabbage and cauliflower seeds, they'll be ready just as we get back from our holiday later in the year. I also planted some parsnip seeds into buckets of this same mix. I always try to plant root veggies direct; root veggies don't like being transplanted so if you want to grow carrots or turnips or parsnips or other root veggies, try sowing direct and see how much better they grow. I'm the only one that likes roasted parsnip, but I put it in soup and stew and casserole mix so I put three rows of 12 in. If they all come up that will be more than enough for the next year for us.
Yesterday was the most glorious day for the last day of summer. It was warm and sunny, about 34C by mid afternoon.
I slept in until 9:04am! That's almost 10 hours straight, something I haven't done for so long. That meant I woke up feeling full of beans, so three loads of laundry (to get ahead on sheets and towels as this week is meant to be wet). Then we worked on tidying the back garden - pruning back tomatoes, pulling out things that weren't producing, feeding the fruit trees (I feed our fruit trees every week with worm tea and once a month with powdered feed). I swiped the cobwebs and swept the verandah while Wayne did the lawn edges and chopped up everything to go into the compost. Then I washed the outside windows with the broom and he squirted them with the pressure washer thingy - they are so shiny now.
Next was the decking and paving - I swept and he power washed. Those old pavers only look 20 years old now instead of 40! We dragged the furniture off the verandah and Wayne power washed it while I vacuumed then washed the cushions (waterproof but boy they get dusty).
While the vacuum was out I vacuumed the timber decking (my neighbours just smile now, they used to think I was a complete nut) then because the steam mop was already out I used it to steam mop them. They came up a treat.
Made sandwiches for lunch (late - it was about 2pm) and sat down for a few minutes.
Then the rest of the afternoon was odd jobs - putting things away, putting two boxes of Fowlers Vacola jars I was given through the dishwasher and then packing them away ready to use, marinating chicken for tea, in between planning a backyard makeover with Wayne and holding the tape measure and the ladder.
By the time we'd cleaned up after dinner I was zonked. But it was one of those absolutely lovely days where the work was constant, but the end result makes you smile.
Now I'm researching prices on the materials to do the backyard, and ringing to get quotes on some of the bigger jobs like moving gas and electricity (the rest we can do ourselves).
Were you able to gather any fragments this past week?
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