Spring in the garden...must pace myself!!

Picked a bunch of flowers as they've self-seeded everywhere out the back - and I LOVE flowers... inside the house and out.

Finally got the rest of the soil and finished off my terraced veggie garden. Probably not the most fun part of gardening - but well worth all the effort (and got a couple of young strong lads to help out - thanks guys...)

...short break won't hurt.

Lots of different tomato plants are in. Grosse Lisse, Roma, can't remember the others! I read somewhere that if you put a cup full of milk powder in the planting hole you get a much bigger and healthier crop. The old guy who wrote the article did not know why this works - I don't really care either; in it went.

These are those flowers that have self-seeded everywhere in the back garden - love the colour. Its impossible to grow much else down there due to the poor soil, and the fact that the wallabies & kangaroo's just come straight out of the bush and eat everything! Thats my 'toadstool' on the left - an old tree stump with Zac's old t-shirt folded on it.
This bed is reserved especially for pumpkins. I have butternut variety in there - mounded up my compost and planted seedlings in the top, then watered well with my special brew of liquid fertiliser. Got an old wine making container from a garage sale, with a tap on the bottom and lid. Threw in heaps of comfrey, chamomile and heaps of other herbs that all needed a good trim. Added seaweed and carp fertiliser (half a cup each), sulphate of potash and epsom salts (fistful). Also added lots of liquid from my worm farm. Left it to brew for a couple of weeks - then use it heavily diluted on the garden. Wicked stuff - smells wonderful... Here the pumpkins will have plenty of room to trail over the rest of the garden without getting in the way. Planted some bush beans around the edges (as I got too many and had no more room anywhere else!)

I just couldn't resist this plant - love poppies. Have some seeds coming, but for now, I can sit and enjoy this beauty.

Lots of seeds popping up all over. This is the mesclun. The first to appear was the Bok Choy. Guess I'll have to do some thinning soon though...

At the very bottom of the terraced veggie garden, I found this old gate from our renovations, and manouevred it into place to trail zucchini's and cucumbers up. Opposite, against the wall of the house, is my little greenhouse. Haven't had much success with growing seeds in there yet though - still trying to get it right. Have much more success with direct-sowing. I hope to plant potatoes and sweet potatoes in this bed. Above the stone wall is another large bed, which now contains leeks and red onion plants. (How many do you get in a punnet... never dug so many holes)! Still some room left for chives and shallots.

The herb patch right near the front door now has sweet basil (YES...its back) lots of parsley, tarragon, rocket and lettuce varieties aswell as some capsicum plants and strawberries newly planted, along with all the stuff that has survived over Winter.

Looking down the terraced veggie patch at the side of the house. It gets the sun for most of the day - the tomatoes, beans, sweetcorn, onions & stuff should do really well - but the asian veg & lettuce - after this first crop, will probably have to go into a cooler part of the garden. There's also some broccoli, beetroot, silverbeet and more capsicum in various beds. And more parsley and basil, of which you can't have too much of.

Ahhh...the deckchair..gardening books and seed catalogues...bliss.

The frame all ready for the beans. There's climbing beans, sugar-snap and snowpea, and cherokee wax bush beans on the other side, which did really well last year.

This tomato plants off to a good start. It's a 'tiny tim' or something, and more of a bush type. Have seeds of 'tommy toe' coming soon, as it again, it did so well last year. If something works well - stick with it.

...so much for a relaxing weekend!! Might just have gone a little overboard on the seedlings me thinks!!