In times of stress ...

I get my best gardening done when I'm stressed! Our wheat crop is due to be harvested any day, and it is my job to deal with contractors, organise trucks and generally make it happen. To say I find it stressful is an understatement! There is significant (for us) income at stake and every decision can be the difference between making a profit and not. And so, one of the things I do to calm myself is to pop outside into the garden and pull a few weeds. The upside of this is that the farm garden is looking a picture!

There are new plants to enjoy. Leucospermum glabrum x tottum 'Carnival Red' is a particular show-off.

Some plants are flowering for the first time, like Iris sibirica 'Sapphire'. 

Parts of the garden that seem to have been struggling for years are finally coming into their own. I planted this bank of roses years ago now, and underplanted them with ox eye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare). Many times, I've almost pulled these daisies out, but I'm glad I didn't. They are giving this part of the garden a pleasingly ethereal and dainty look this year. They can stay.

The daisies are mixing quite prettily in with Rosa 'Granny's Bonnet'.

Just behind these roses is a brand new garden and I'm looking forward to watching it evolve.

The roses, as usual, don't disappoint.  This is the lovely David Austin, Rosa 'Jubilee Celebration'.

 I took some garden photos just recently, and managed to catch some of the roses in the early morning dew.

Rosa 'La Reine de Victoria'

I've read somewhere recently that the prime time for taking photos is in the early morning and late afternoon. I had sort of worked this out over the years, but in photographic terms, these times are called the 'golden hours', and are defined as the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset during which daylight is redder and softer compared to when the sun is higher in the sky. 

Rosa 'Reine des Violettes'

There is even an app called GoldenLight which can help you to determine the perfect time for taking photographs in your location in the world. It really can make a difference to the quality of your photos.

Rosa 'Double Delight'

Rosa 'Pat Austin'

We've had barely any aphids this year, presumably because it has been so dry, at least until recently.

Rosa 'France Libre'

Having said that, we have had 5 inches of rain in the last few weeks which has not been good for anyone trying to get crops harvested. Rain late in the season can mean that crops fall over, or grain can shoot while it's still on the stalk, causing harvest to be slow and expensive, grain to be downgraded in quality and prices to be lower.  This is our wheat before the rain. It remains to be seen how badly the rain has affected it.

And so for now, I'm waiting patiently for the harvesting contractor to arrive.

Rosa 'New Dawn'

And enjoying to solace of the garden in the meantime!

Ducks on the pond

I was home at the farm on the weekend to see our canola crop come in. 

Harvest is always a frenetic time, with machinery and trucks thundering every which way, keen to get the grain in before any rain can gather.

I spend the time anxiously pacing, trying to distract myself in the garden, my heart in my mouth as I wait in anticipation for the first indication of yield to come in ...

... waiting for an indication of whether we've done our money, broken even or perhaps even cracked a profit!

I climbed up into the header cab and did a few runs with the contractor. This is always an education! The header driver divided his time between talking to me, with very careful politeness, about the subtleties and nuances of controlling a GPS driven harvester, and raucously yarning to his mates over the 2-way as they fly past in their trucks, laden with grain on the way to the silos in town.

At one point, he uttered nervously to his mate on the 2-way, "Ducks on the pond, mate, I gotta a duck on the pond"! Now most Aussie farm girls will know exactly what that means. This is code among country men that there is a woman present and that all foul language should be moderated immediately! It is a particularly common warning when women walk onto the board of a shearing shed. Funny! I'd love to know if this is a habit peculiar to Australia, or whether there are similar expressions in other rural communities around the world. I suspect it is unique to foul-mouthed Aussies!

The verdict on the crop? It yielded better than expected, but we won't be retiring to Noosa on it!

 

In other news, being at the farm allowed me to spread a new quilt out and take some photos.

I had serious fun making this up, and have a second one to put together using girly flannels from Marally Craft.

More details to come when it returns from 'she-who-works-quilting-miracles', Belinda :)

Holiday roundup continued ...

Christmas for us was spent on the South Coast of New South Wales with my husband's family, always a fun & noisy time as his family grows larger each year! And always an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful beaches around Jervis Bay.

We saw the New Year in back at the farm, catching up with lots of friends & reacquainting ourselves with our garden:

Many hours were spent knocking (I mean caressing!) the garden back into shape after weeks of neglect.

And there was just the smallest amount of quilting crammed in amongst the busy-ness.

The first days of January heralded the start of our annual swimming lessons ...

... which came in handy when the newly installed stock troughs required testing!

We couldn't have squeezed any more into our holidays if we'd tried! Now, onto preparing the family for a new school year, and perhaps organising some serious stitching time for me!

Cheerful pink amidst the winter gloom

Back to the farm for the weekend for the baptism of a nephew, so an opportunity to check on my garden. We managed to catch the Taiwan flowering cherry (Prunus campanulata) in full & glorious bloom. It only flowers for a week so we were fortunate to be there just at the right time.The remainder of the garden is still in it's dull winter dormancy, but will transform in just a few weeks as the warmer weather approaches. The wheat crop is looking alright considering we've had so little rain, but needs moisture soon. And of course, I couldn't miss the opportunity to bring a big bunch of cheerful daffodils back to town. Little progress to report on the bright idea from my last post. I have done a tiny bit of embroidery, but am hoping to get back to it tonight. Have a great week. Best wishes, Bloom.

Just one reason for my crazy week

You may remember I posted about our newly purchased town 'garden' a while ago? Well today is a milestone in its creation. We are drilling for water in our back yard! I know, seems insane, but the water restrictions are so severe here that a bore appears to be a necessity to maintain a garden. The drillers have arrived & I am playing 'foreman' for the day (a job that I hate). They claim they should strike water by this afternoon. I hope they are right. I have my reservations. Perhaps this caution is in my blood - my Dad sunk many irrigation bores in his time, & I have learned from him to never get your hopes up when it comes to looking for water underground! Will nervously wait & see what the afternoon brings!

A question of weed control

One of my three brothers dared me to share what I was doing today, just so that you don't think my life is all roses! Here is a clue:I know all you Aussie farm girls will recognise the scene immediately! Here is a closer view of the task at hand:I have been back to our little farm to assess the Bathurst burr population. Bathurst burr is a common weed on Australian farms, causing contamination of wool & crops. We have had a wet summer, which is wonderful, but with it comes Bathurst burr infestation. When we were kids, Dad paid my brothers & I one dollar an hour to hoe these spiny plants out by hand - we thought we were so 'in the money', potentially able to make $10 a day! This summer, the population is so thick, we resort to chemical means of control, either using a quad bike, or boom spray. So no gardening or stitching today!

Harvesting at last

Harvest started here today. We only have a tiny farm by Australian standards, and our main income is off-farm, but we planted our whole place down to wheat & barley this year. The crops are terrible because of the drought, but we at least have something to harvest. Many families have no harvest at all. This is taken from our front verandah this morning. Gotta love a nice, big, new header with a wide comb when there is rain coming!