24
Today I could feel summer. Hot dry winds and everything browning off before my eyes. A day when you could feel the threat of bushfire – thank goodness the paddocks are still green.
There has been a lot of attention lately on the threat of grass fires this summer. A good season last year has meant lots of long grass everywhere. Long grass that is drying off rapidly. We have spent the past few weeks cleaning up around the place in preparation for the bushfire season. Slashing paddocks, mowing mowing and mowing, cleaning gutters, clearing up around the house and of course thankfully this year we don’t have trees with lots of dead bits hanging over the house. The threat of fires was one of the main reasons the trees had to go. We were incredibly vulnerable with them so close.
Not all the trees have come out. We have left some further away from the house and will deal with these in a few years when we have some cover from the new ones.
Here’s what happens to drought effected trees in a high wind.
This branch honestly, truly fell in exactly this spot today...
I try to keep the grass around the house green, it will provide protection should a fire come through. In the past, the lawn hasn’t needed any additional watering, it stays green just from the water the garden beds receive. I’ve got a feeling this year may be different. We have lost our micro-climate and there is all the new lawn to worry about. So far, so good.
See that patch of dirt at the fore, it's waiting for grass to grow...
The reward at the end of a hot day like today is hopefully some rain. I am running late feeding the garden beds this season. I don’t know where the time has gone…I’m all prepared should it rain to feed the gardens with my favourite commercial fertilizer, Sudden Impact for Roses. I use this once a year and supplement it with my own cow manure, nettle, comfrey and yarrow tea throughout the season.
I use this everywhere, including the fruit trees. Purchase in bulk and on special it makes a huge difference. No affiliation to Neutrog, it just works for me.
The most exciting bit of my preparation for the coming season is that I have dug up the area I intend to use as winter vegetable beds. The new vegetable garden will still be a little while as we wait for time and money to become available. With a bit of temporary fencing I will at least have somewhere to grow tomatoes this year – not perfect but it will do. No photos sorry so here are some photos of today’s garden arrivals.
Chive and parsley seeds are scattered throughout the flower beds. They keep down weeds and help prevent pests - and of course the bees love them. Great for the flowers.
Kathryn Morley is just starting to bloom, if only her thorns weren't so robust.
And tonight a yummy herb pie shared with a friend.
Herbs from the garden, tomatoes from the farmers market. Won't be long and they'll be mine. Yumm
And I have to leave you with this pretty little bouquet. Full of scent and perfect as a little posy for a shy bride.
Straight from the garden, tied with a satin ribbon. Not showy but perfect.
Hi Alison, some lovely (and yummy) photos there. Just wondering, is the Sudden Impact a blood and bone sort of thing? I’ve had to resort to slow release and liquid fertiliser for our roses because unfortunately our dog finds manure and/or blood and bone preparations too tasty to resist.
Sudden Impact has a similar smell to Dynamic Lifter. My dogs haven’t ever been attracted to it although they do like blood and bone! Neutrog also have a new product called Rocket Fuel, I haven’t tried it yet…
I had to laugh at “Our Old House” – dynamic lifter and dogs! Our cavoodles, Lucy and Simon ADORE dynamic lifter – Lucy is especially funny ’cause she’s blonde and after Mum has sprinkled it around the garden, before the rain comes, Lucy appears at the back door with a black muzzle, reeking of DL. Ugh! She cannot resist. That bouquet is beautiful – so simple and elegant – better than showy any day. And that branch is alarming! We see so many of those trees (what are they?) on our country drives, lining properties and driveways and over the last decade they have turned from awesome specimens to macabre corpses. So sad – and so dangerous!
Smelly dogs, eek! The trees are cypresses. You see lots of different varieties and also the old radiata pines. Our were between 100-50 years and the drought just wreaked havoc with them. I used to lie in bed at night and hear them creaking – needless to say when it was windy I wouldn’t get a lot of sleep. I don’t miss them at all.
HI Alison. Thanks for the tip on using the Sudden Impact for your roses. I have never saw it before but will be looking for it now for mine. I got some manure put on them this Fall but I am always looking for those good tips.
In dry areas I know you have to watch having trees to close to buildings.I guess us northerners take our wet days for granted and never think about trees right up to the house, Well until a storm blows one over on the house.LOL!
Your roses are beautiful and the bouquet is just the prettiest.
I hope you don’t have to worry about the fires for much longer. It must be a scary thought to worry about something like that coming down the path.
Having been through fires before, it is scary. And this is just the start of the season here, generally the risks lesson around March!