Sunday, 11 September 2011

Pond in progress



Neil finally persuaded me to put a pond in our rather tropical jungle looking garden at the side of our house. Here are a couple of pics of the area before we started. 




Neil got a bit carried away while I was out and built the biggest monstrosity you have ever seen. It was that big I could have done laps in it!



After a little gentle persuasion Neil made it ever so slightly smaller, but still huge! The liner had to be done with 2 pieces sealed together with joiner tape as we couldn't find any liner big enough to do it in one piece. 



We intend to put bench type seating a each end too. Neil started to build up the rocks to make a waterfall into the pond. I just gave direction as I hurt my back this week and was not going to go through that pain again. 




The moral to this post is never build a pond that is sooooo big that you have to join 2 pieces of liner cos it.......you guessed it .... LEAKS!

Now we have to empty the pond and get some more liner tape, which takes 4 weeks to get in as nobody has it in stock. Now who's bright idea was this pond!




Saturday, 10 September 2011

Mish Mash Quiche


Far too many take away's, I say! 

We were doing so well with our healthy eating until our prodigal son, Luke, returned. Neil had lost around 10kgs and I had lost 2kgs. But it all seemed to go out the window....the fat came back! Fatty food that is and the kgs! 

Now Luke has gone back to Hamilton Island to work we can't blame him anymore. So we need to nuckle down and get back on track. We needed some fresh produce and my veggie garden only had bok choy ready for harvest. We decided to head to the Suncoast Growers Market in Woombye on Saturday morning. Had a lovely morning wandering around the market and picked up some lovely veggies and plants.   


Suncoast Growers Market - Woombye

Silverbeet

Roasting fresh beetroot


Come Friday I was at a loss of what to cook. Not wanting to throw good food away I decided to make a rather unusual quiche with the left overs we had in the fridge. Chicken, silverbeet, onions, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and beetroot, yes beetroot!




Mish Mash Quiche


Yes I know you're thinking it looks a bit weird, that's why I called it a Mish Mash Quiche! It was yummy, very yummy in fact. I can't wait until the beetroot in our garden is ready and I can make some more weird and wonderful creations. 





Sunday, 4 September 2011

Our first harvest

Our veggie garden project is progressing well. After spending time looking at the layout and design we were going to use the first of our veggies are ready for harvest.

Bok Choy



I have picked the ones ready for harvest




We are not great lovers of bok choy but have blanched and frozen some for future stir fries. We have given the neighbours some and the rest I will take to work tomorrow to give to the staff. Bok Choy to go!




 The lettuce in the wall pots is doing well





Beetroot is come along nicely 




Cauliflower is growing well but still no curds showing 




Zucchini is looking good  




Tomatoes are slowly but surely heading skywards  




Cucumbers are, well, not doing much really




Waiting for strawberries to do something ....anything???





Random tooth I found when digging, and no, it's not mine!



All in all very happy with the progress so far. Wish I had started it years ago!