Garden Update - May 2014

What a difference a few weeks can make! Since we had the rain at the very end of March (about 100 mm) and then a top up of 30 mm in mid-April, suddenly everything is BRIGHT GREEN again and growing vigorously. Its not going to last long though, the nights are getting cool and the grass will die off as soon as we have the first frost, along with the frost-sensitive veges like tomatoes, potatoes and curcubits.

harvest basket in May 2014

In April I continued to harvest chillies, kale, tromboncino, various asian greens and herbs. And a few rosellas. I'm hoping I can harvest some more before they die off over winter. With the rain and cooler temperatures, lots of seedlings sprouted up around the garden, so I sprinkled out a few more seeds. I also planted carrots, turnips and radishes. The radishes should be ready to harvest soon.

A massive patch of parsley (which I have had to start thinning out!)
and behind that is self-seeded onions that I have been spreading out in this garden bed

I moved the herbs out of the shade and back into the middle of the garden
so they could get some sun

here's all the seedlings sprouting and the tromboncino taking over the garden

I planted some peas too, not sure how they will tolerate the frost though

There are lots of tiny chokos on the vine, here's a double choko!

Another rosella flower, they are so pretty!

And some rosellas nearly ready to pick

Last month I was asked a couple of questions:
What do I do with tromboncinos? They are like zuchinnis and I used them in everything when we are picking so many. I have recently read that they can also be allowed to mature and used a bit like pumpkin, so I am leaving some on the vine. I would like to save seed, but last year none of the seeds had developed enough. I wrote more about trombos here.

What are rosellas? The rosella plant (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of Hibiscus native to the west Africa, I wrote more about rosella's here. The part of the plant most commonly used is the calyx (the bits around the flower), which I dry and use for tea, but can also be made into jam. The leaves are also edible. I'll write more about them in my herb series in a few months.

The eternal tug of war game...

This month I am going to see what happens with the weather. As it gets colder I need to move some of the pots of fruit trees seedlings up out of the frost (onto my seed-raising table under the car port), and pull out the garden plants that die off. I'll keep planting seeds and thinning out my seedlings. I have some more mulch out in the paddock, so I'll pick that up and spread it around a few bare patches. Winter is also a good time to pick up cow manure for the compost as the dung beetles are less active in the cold (and don't get to all the poo before I do!).

How is your garden growing? What are you planning for May?

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The new Eight Acres website is live!

Very soon this blogspot address will automatically redirect to the new Eight Acres site, but in the meantime, you can check it out here . You will find all my soaps, ebooks and beeswax/honey products there, as well as the blog (needs a tidy up, but its all there!). I will be gradually updating all my social media links and updating and sharing blog posts over the next few months. I'm very excited to share this new website with you!

Chicken tractor guest post

Sign up for my weekly email updates here , you will find out more about chickens, soap and our farmlife, straight to your inbox, never miss a post! New soap website and shop opening soon.... Tanya from Lovely Greens invited me to write a guest post on chicken tractors for her blog. I can't believe how many page views I get for chicken tractors, they seem to be a real area of interest and I hope that the information on my blog has helped people. I find that when I use something everyday, I forget the details that other people may not be aware of, so in this post for Tanya, I tried to just write everything I could think of that I haven't covered in previous posts. I tried to explain everything we do and why, so that people in other locations and situations can figure out how best to use chicken tractors with their own chickens. The dogs like to hang out behind the chicken tractors and eat chicken poo. Dogs are gross! If you want to read more about chicken tractor

How to make soap with beer (and tallow)

I may have mentioned this before.... soap making is addictive! Once you start, you just want to keep making more soap. And not the same soap, you want to try all sorts of different soaps. I made the mistake of joining a facebook group called Saponification Nation and now my facebook newsfeed is full of glorious soaps, in all colours and shapes, which makes it even harder to resist the urge to experiment. One soap that kept popping up a few weeks ago was soap made with beer. I generally prefer not to use ingredients just for the sake of it, I like to know that they are adding something to the properties of the finished soap. As you know, I don't like to use artificial ingredients either (colours or fragrances). When I read about beer in soap I found out that beer adds sugar to the mixture, which increases lather. I use tallow in my soap, which has limited lather, so anything that adds lather could improve the soap. It also contributes a tan or brown colour to

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