Party on the feeder

Up in the sky, little eyes are watching. At the first sign of movement the cry goes up - peep peep peep!

The second the coast is clear they swoop in, fluttering, hopping, pecking and diving. The party has started!

They party in the rain

and they party in the sun.

We mostly see waxeyes and the occasional sparrow. But yesterday these bright birdies showed up.

They have a yellow stripe along the wing. I'm no expert on birds... does anybody know what they are?

This is what they were noshing on... birdseed cakes made from dripping and wild bird seed mix. We also put out crusts of bread and the odd kitchen scrap.

In your dreams, little cat...

Midwinter

I'm so glad that we've now passed the shortest day. That means the countdown to summer can begin! I can't wait for daylight in the evenings and above all, warmer weather...

I'm still working on the potager when I can. I've got one quarter of the round circle path laid. It's the quarter where I plan to plant the garlic, so at least I'll be able to get that in soon, weather permitting of course.

Harvest-wise, things are still looking good! Last week I picked carrots, spring onions, rhubarb, pak choi, peas, lettuce, sorrel, silver beet, lemons and parsley. I've been making regular sowings of spring onions and lettuces, not that they are growing fast but the important thing is that they are still growing! In the glasshouse I have little seedlings of broccoli and pak choi that are about ready to be transplanted. I might keep them in the glasshouse so they grow faster. Unfortunately my tomatoes didn't make it through the frost, even with frost cloth. The green fruits dropped off and the plants shrivelled up. Well, that answers the question: No, Arctic tomatoes can't survive mildly arctic conditions. They do set fruit early in a cold summer, though.

I also picked some lovely wintersweet. We have a bush of it out the front and the gorgeous spicy smell is just divine when you're walking to the gate. I put bunches of it all through the house and a special one right by my bed. Sweet dreams guaranteed....

Garden tour

This is how my potager is looking. Last week it rained almost nonstop from Monday through to Sunday, so all work is currently halted, but e v e n t u a l l y I will get round to laying that curved path properly. Quite possibly not until spring though. I've also laid a few bricks out to see how the central circle path will look - I think I'm going to have just enough.

I'm working out a planting plan on paper. The front right corner will be spuds, because half of that used to be grass and they are meant to be good at breaking up hard ground. The back right corner will be garlic and also beans, but the beans won't go in till it's warmer. They aren't good companions so I'll make sure they aren't right up next to each other.

Standing at the shed doorway and looking west towards the glasshouse. I love how those bricks are looking weathered and worn already.

These calendulas will brighten up the winter landscape a bit.

The pak choi is growing well, almost ready for harvest.

Annnd... in the glasshouse, I have tomatoes! These are Arctic tomatoes which were sown in January, to see if they will continue to set fruit over winter. This is the biggest green fruit. I had another truss that were doing well, but when I inspected them closely one day I found them to be full of caterpillars, little buggers.