In the Veg Patch on a Dark Winter’s Day

calendula plant

The clouds have been promising rain, but so far we haven’t had a drop. I am enjoying this dark, cozy day though. It’s wonderfully quiet.

The last couple of days have been full on as Bear and I tackled the next phase of building our chook palace. We moved an entire shed from one side of the farm to the other via tractor and trolley and ropes and brute strength, complete with much hilarity and almost dropping and almost tripping and shouts of STOP and OK, GO and getting stuck on a tree and in a gate and beside a dog house, but we made it!! Soon we’ll fill it with feed bins, incubator, worming kits, and gardening tools for the orchard we’ve planted and the garden we will plant.

calendula plant

We also hauled trimmed tree branches into wood piles to be either burned for campfires or cut into usable shapes for my wood-burning projects.

This morning was a bit of Spring Cleaning in the middle of Winter, and it feels so good to look around the house and see bare surfaces and organized desks where once there were stacks and tottering piles.

After all that work it is good to rest this afternoon, to wrap up in a sweater and wander the gardens to see how they’re doing.

The artichoke bed has recovered from transplanting and is thriving under its thick bed of mulch.

artichoke plant

The red cabbages and red Brussels sprouts are coming along beautifully, and I can’t wait to see the heads begin to form.

red cabbage plants

The new fennel bed is also doing well, tiny seedlings growing into sturdy stalks with fragrant, delicate fronds.

fennel plants

The root veggies are coming along as well: beet roots, radishes, turnips, and hopefully carrots soon.

beetroot seedlings

Now it’s definitely time for a cuppa and a piece of shortbread, and perhaps an episode of Rosemary and Thyme before I start designing another set of cutting boards for my Etsy shoppe.

What is your garden up to in your part of the world? XO

Autumn at Citadel Kalahari

Autumn leaves

It’s been a glorious Autumn here at Citadel Kalahari in Queensland.

Autumn leaves

Mornings start off cool and foggy but soon the sun breaks through and it is nothing but blue skies and glorious sunshine.

Our ducks, geese and chooks are molting, leaving feathers and fluff all over the yard.

white feather

The local markets have been loaded with capsicum and tomatoes lately, so I’ve been roasting them for soups, sandwiches and quiches.

The new baby kalahari goats – Flopsy and Lindt – are doing marvelously! They’re getting stout and strong and tall and make us laugh as they leap and cavort about the paddock.

baby kalahari red goats

Now I must get a loaf of bread in the oven.

What is the weather like where you are?