red_swirl

And yes, I've finally succumbed to the minimalist white craft blog look (do a little survey of major craft bloggers - most use white or another assertively neutral background). Interestingly, L doesn't like the white look, he prefers brooklyntweed's greens ... is it a guy thing? I say "succumbed" because in real life, I'm much more maximalist ... but I do appreciate that websites need different colour schemes compared to, say homes ... or clothes ... or toys. At least a minimal surround can show of brightly coloured photos...

I really like mulberries. I know they grow like weeds here, I know they're really messy (particularly the black sort, the white is better). But I like their taste. We had a spell of dry weather as the fruits were forming, I was reluctant to water due to the restrictions, so the first ones were rather bitter. I froze them and hopefully with a bit of apple and sugar, they'll make a nice pie. I watered, now the newly ripened ones in the photo taste great ;)

There's a little neighbourhood wattle in the photo and an Uzbek bag, too.

Posted by red swirl at 16:22 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The clivias, I almost left them behind at the last house, but L's Mum convinced me otherwise. They'd not flowered for 2 years at that stage, but wow, look at them now!!! And they're shaded by a brick wall on 2 sides, a tree above. And they live on rain water. And their soil is poor ... gotta admire their flowers then;)

Posted by red swirl at 23:36 | Permalink | Comments (0)

I also realised that every Spring, I want to trash my blog and start again. Sorta like Spring cleaning, only more brutal. It's one of the reasons for the interesting gaps in my blog archives - no, I haven't been deleting posts ... yet;)

As you can see from the funny little figlets on the fig tree, it's Spring again ... so this year, I've decided to make some changes. Some you've already seen (more drawings), some I haven't started yet (a photo day; a regular knitted swatch and more regular updates). Above all, I'm going to remember what Tricia from bits and bobbins says about wardrobe remix: "be nice to yourself! no negative stuff [...] post ONLY what you LOVE." Although I think this still allows for the odd critique or two?

Posted by red swirl at 00:15 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why? It's mid-semester exam time. See you guys later, I'm off to study more ;)

Posted by red swirl at 18:02 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by red swirl at 13:06 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not that I'm blaming the seed company, it's more likely my growing techniques that are at fault. And I guess that's exactly the type of thing I'm trying to learn, so that one day I'll be confident & experienced in growing my own vegetables.

I gave the tops to Lilika, the house rabbit, and then I ate the rest ... yep, tasted like carrots, just a bit small ; )

Posted by red swirl at 15:28 | Permalink | Comments (0)

What have I been doing? Umm, the normal stuff - Uni, chasing Squiggle (who can pretty much run now).

And, ever since I changed this blog to focus on craft, not gardens, I've been finding all sorts of forums about fruit and vegetable growing, sorta self-sufficiency and aquaponics (which I didn't know about before, but I'll try one day). And I've done no craft. So, here's what I've been thinking about:
Aussies Living Simply (yay, lots of info for my climate and some discussion of Australian politics);
Self Sufficient-ish (gotta love the Good Life references, and the laid-back attitude);
Backyard Aquaponics (a bit blokey perhaps, but an amazing concept).

I guess the fact we actually got 10-15 mandarins this year has inspired me (I started eating before counting).

Mood: Squiggle likes talking! ;) When she was 1 she could say about 20 words, lots more now. And she's progressed from smiling at people in the bus to waving & last night telling them "phone" (she was playing with my mobile); " jacket" "hot" (what she was wearing) and "shampoo" "hair" (no idea why she likes shampoo and showers so much, but she often talks about them)!!!

Posted by red swirl at 15:17 | Permalink | Comments (1)

The cucumbers like me enough to put out little flowers. Or is it that they think they better reproduce now, before they get shaded out? Either way, there's little flowers in amongst the cucumber leaves, and 1 zucchini flower too. I think they're all male flowers, so nothing to eat yet. A promising sign, nonetheless. ;D

Yes, yes, I know there's a little mildew on a few leaves, but I don't think it's doing them any harm. I might water a little less or give them some seaweed solution - if I get time. Otherwise, well it's meant to be an organic garden!! And my long term aim is to find out which heritage vegetables are most productive in my conditions, including my lack of interest in spraying them with anything, even an organic home-brewed anti-fungicide!!

Mood: Madly rushing to tidy our house before Uni starts next week.

Posted by red swirl at 20:08 | Permalink | Comments (0)

The little courtyard garden is going surprisingly well, I think the watering restrictions are suiting it. The mandarin, for instance, used to only be watered when its leaves looked r..e..a..l..l..y droopy (about 10 times per year). But now I can't just water it whenever, the mandarin gets watered at least once a week, usually twice. And it's loving it! Heaps of new growth, at least 30cm I reckon, and lots of green mandarins waiting for winter. The lemonade tree's also going well - it's new this year from Digger's.

In the middle is my experiment with growing cucumbers and popcorn (and, yes, for those of you with well-trained eyes - at least 1 zucchini). Seed from my favourite sources - Eden, Digger's (again) and New Gippsland. I'm not sure whether they'll keep growing well in pots, but at the moment they're looking good. The idea is the cucumbers climb the popcorn, although really, I should have planted the popcorn first - so I might need a few stakes later. Sort of rushed putting them in because I decided I just couldn't waste the summer, and I read that sweet corn viability drops quickly after a year. The pots are intended for some trees (olives and hazelnut I'm thinking) once the weather cools, but there's no harm in a summer experiment!?!

Mood: Very proud Squiggle's combat crawling isn't a fluke, she's been escaping the livingroom again this morning!

Posted by red swirl at 10:36 | Permalink | Comments (2)