Happy Birthday Kate.

About this time last year Kate was adding a counter to this blog , so she started with 1.
Today as I glance at the bottom of the page there have been 23, 721 hits.
I was going to do a summary of the year past but with 337 posts it would take me far to long.
Now we have many blog friends in many countries, we share stories and gardening tales and Kate is going to travel and meet some of you and garden with you.
SO A GREAT BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU KATE !
You do a great job keeping the blog alive.
And if you as a reader have time slip back and have a look at some July, August last year and see what we were all up to.
Enjoy last years Willow pruning day at Deb's then our KGI day at Deb's as well as her Fairy mulch of camellias and her most popular post about the value of wood ash.
Andrew was talking about the Murray River.
Chook was waiting for Peter's arrival and posted an article about how gardening relieves depression.
Kate was talking about everything and I had discovered silvanberries.
Keep warm or cool depending where you are.

THE STUBBIES AS AN UNUSUAL CURE FOR FEELING COLD

Lately it has been cold enough to freeze various parts of the body, here in Adelaide, but to those of you used to snow and ice our temperatures will make you roll around on the floor laughing. Our coldest day was probably a max of 10C, with most of the daylight part hovering around 8C. Now that is mighty cold here and I have heard people from Scotland saying they have never been so cold as when they were in Adelaide. Let me give you some examples of why this might be so....

Some of you will have read 'The Aussie Summer gardener' and know about the quintessential piece of Australian clothing for summer...the Stubbies Shorts. They are still available after decades of catering to the workmen and women who grace the local streets, leaning on their spades having a smoke, while their 25km/hour signs cripple the traffic flow and increase blood pressure amongst the motorists. Others who wear them are the lawn mowers and the builders, visible in every deli at midday as they buy their 600ml of Farmers Union Iced Coffee and a pie with sauce.

But, in Adelaide, such rugged types sport these stylish garments year round, giving no heed to the icy wind blowing off the Antarctic nor to the splash of cold mud sent up the legs by passing trucks and vans in winter. Moreover, the houses of Adelaide are sometimes devoid of any sort of heating because the occupants rely entirely on the warmth generated by pint after pint of cold beer providing a layer of fat known as the beer-pot to keep them warm.

We Adelaideans think nothing of running through the rain in winter without an umbrella or jacket and some under-25's like to show their midriff at the same time. Loving the sea as I do I always, every week, walk defiantly in the shallows there with my jeans rolled, my feet numb after the first few minutes. We all agree that 10C is not that cold so we will not accept that actually, when it is raining and the wind is truly coming off the south pole, it is bloody freezing here.

My winter heating consists of firewood which we grow ourselves and use when dry, so long as we get the timing right for the cutting of the trees, which is rare lately. Anyway I arrive home from somewhere, and by the time I say hello to the chooks, pull out a couple of weeds in the vegie garden and look over to the sea from my special spot, I am chilled to the bone and race inside to get by the fire.....only to find I forgot to stoke it up before I left home and it is nearly out. I know that if I dump my stuff in the front hall, grab the wheelbarrow from near the front door and hurry to the wood heap I might just get a load of wood inside before it rains again or I freeze to death!

I lift the barrow up a couple of steps to shorten the route to the wood heap, hurry along the long and winding path, lift up the tarp, throw into the wheelbarrow a range of sizes of wood which usually requires me to stumble up over a pile of the smaller wood because just out of reach I can see a few pieces that would be perfect. Back to the front door and into the tiled front hall with the full wheelbarrow I go. Then I transfer half the wood into an indoor trolley and roll it through the house, down 3 steps and to the fireplace where it is unloaded next to the fireplace. Then the second load is brought in, the wheelbarrow taken back outside, the trolley put away....

...And guess what? I am so hot I have to take off my jumper! Sometimes I don't even light the fire then at all! Instead of a cup of tea by a raging fire I settle for a glass of water in the kitchen and go right ahead with something else. The answer to keeping warm in winter is activity and lots of it.....and the experts say that wood is not an efficient way of heating...well it sure is if you have to cut it, stack it, collect it and bring it in yourself and if you do, you can be sure that you will be just as happy in your stubbies whether it be summer or winter, in Adelaide!

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW

One may well wonder what on earth I am going to write about my mother-in-law, seeing as how they seem to have a bad name, but I have another story to tell all together which will shed a much softer light on the species!

Every week Roger's mother comes to dinner and has done so since we moved here in 1990. The first thing she does as she gets out of her car is check on the vegetable garden, along side of which she parks. She always notices things and always says lovely things, never commenting on the odd spade she may have had to drive around or the overgrown weeds that need removing. As she walks, now with her stick, to the front door she is always the first to notice the scent of something flowering or the bright colour of a flower off to one side of the garden which wasn't out last week.

We all sit around before dinner and talk about the week and I show her things I have picked that she may not have eaten before and she will always try anything and nearly always enjoys the new tastes, such as the Chinese Seashells or a carob pod, or sweet potato leaves in a salad or yacon bulbs sliced up to have with cheese.

At this time she asks me for this week's homework! By this she means that she wants me to print out a few things that I have written for the blog during the preceding week that she then takes home and reads at her leisure. And read them she does and she likes also to read the comments people make and then we talk about it all the next week. Sometimes I don't give them to her until just before she leaves because otherwise she can't keep her eyes off them and starts reading them while I am trying to talk to her, avid as she is to see what's been happening in my mind and in the world of blog since last week!

She always knows what's the latest in world politics and news, recently published books, new restaurants, and latest trends in all sorts of things. Even our boys are amazed at what Granma knows about new venues or visiting bands. And the best thing of all is that she thinks she is lucky to have a daughter-in-law like me..... funny because really I don't do nearly enough for her. But what she likes is the chance to discuss things, knowing that all of us will say what we think, that we all have opinions and no-one ever minds how robust the debate gets, because at the end of the day we are all friends and can laugh at ourselves.

When I was a child I don't remember discussing world news or views much and I now feel very lucky to have a mother-in-law who brought up her children to know about the world around them and that we can now pass this on to our own children. She is 80 now but her thinking is more up to date than most people half her age. Lots of women these days aren't as lucky as I am to have a mother-in-law like mine and when I grow up (??) I want to be just like her in many ways.

I asked her about writing this last week and she said "Fine, but don't give me that one to read, give me something interesting." But maybe I will sneak a copy of it into her basket and let her bask in her own glory a little.....

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FRIDAY......ALWAYS A GREAT DAY

When the day starts with a trip to the market you can be sure it has the greatest chance of turning up something to write about and today was no exception. Lately we have had a few people join our seedsavers group after enjoying reading stuff on the blog and this morning I set off for the market ready to have coffee with Tina, who I had never met. In our brief exchange of details I said "Just look for the lady with the blue trolley, at Zuma's at 10.30." So along she came, heading straight for my trolley and by the smile on her face I knew we were going to have a lovely chat. Anyway, she was coming to the market specifically because of my ravings about it on the blog so she couldn't be all bad!

We were still there nearly 2 hours later and I was horrendously late for helping prune Deb's willow house. The funny thing was that we just seemed like reflections in a time warp, she being quite a bit younger than me and with a young child, and I felt very comfortable talking with her about everything from seeds and growing food to bringing up children and making the most of your life. In two hours I swear we covered more ground than a lot of people do after years of knowing each other. She is right into the wicking bed system that Scarecrow writes about and is lucky enough to have a dad who has helped her get a vegetable garden going. I am sure that Tina is going to fit right in with the rest of us and I am looking forward to introducing her to everyone on KGI day August 24th at Deb's.

After racing home and getting changed I went to Deb's for the annual pruning of the willow house. When I arrived they were all finishing lunch - hot soup on the campfire and one of Deb's fabulous bread rolls so of course, being always hungry, I headed straight for the food! Maggie, Bob, Jill, Ting and Chris were there helping Deb and a lot of progress had already been made. Mary had been there earlier and I was sorry to have missed her.

Chris was amazing at taking to the roof like a bird, pruning and weaving the long canes into position.

Maggie was tying some of the prunings into bundles because Deb uses them to weave into baskets and fences and all sorts of lovely things like Ian from A Kitchen Garden in France wrote about recently.

There are lots more photos here.

And here is a link to an idea for using living structures for children to play in at The National Botanic garden in Wales, as recommended by Chaise Longue in the comments below.

I think as a group we should set aside a day next year to get this job completely done for Deb because it is a really lovely way to spend some time together doing something so satisfying and for people so generous as Deb and Quentin.....and I promise I won't be late!

While I was sitting having a cup of tea in front of the fire and uploading the photos from the camera, Roger brought in a huge load of firewood and heated up the dinner....very nice.

Fridays are good. Get them fast and then take them slow....

Peter Cundall's last Gardening Australia

GARDENING AUSTRALIA HIGHLIGHTS

A special Gardening Australia program celebrating the glorious career of Peter Cundall as he presents his last ever episode of this enduring program.

Pete’s Patch Principles
In his final Pete’s Patch, Peter explains the principles behind his organic gardening philosophy and talks about how his crop rotation system works.

National Memorial Walk
Pete returns to visit his old regiment at the Ennogarrah Army base in Brisbane which has been planted with 1000 native trees as a memorial to the soldiers of the Royal Australian Regiment who died in combat overseas. Pete meets the group of volunteers from the regiment’s Queensland branch calling themselves Dad’s Army who are dedicated to maintaining this memorial park. He meets some new friends and visits the ghosts of some old ones.

Tributes to Pete
The Gardening Australia presenters pay tribute to Pete.

Ask It Solve It
Pete solves viewers’ gardening problems.

ABC1 Sat 6:30pm, Sun 1:00pm ABC2 Mon 4:00pm

Willow House Pruning

Pruning the Willow House

It’s time to prune the willow house ready for the next season and have it looking good by Kitchen Garden Day.
So weather permitting on Friday 25th July from 11am to 3pm I’ll be hosting a working bee to get the process underway. Seedsavers are welcome to come and help.
Park at house and we can go from there.
If the weather is bad(actually rain is good) we can reschedule it to Saturday.
For more details phone Deb 8339 2519

THE BLOSSOMING OF LIVES

Sometimes we can just get too caught up in everyday life and forget to step back and review how things are going. Now that both our boys live away from home you would think I would use more of my time to think about a range of different things but, like most others, I just seem to get stuck on thinking about the same old things. This last weekend both Alex and Hugh came home for a visit, overlapping for a couple of hours but mostly we spent time with them separately. And one of the wonderful things about having a visit from an adult 'child' is that they bring a whole fresh outlook on your life and theirs. They keep you young.

(Alex....long, long ago!)


One of the first things on their lips is.... "have you got some of that cheese / bread / dip / olives / etc/ etc that I like?" Of course we have because we know they are coming and it is there just where they expect it to be even if it hasn't been there ever since their last visit. Sometimes they are only home for 5 minutes and say they have to go out soon with friends and can we open a bottle of red wine to have with the cheeses before they go?......3 hours later they are still here and have stayed for dinner and their girlfriend has come and everything is lovely. They are happy to be with us again.

At 5am on Monday Alex had to leave in a taxi for the airport and I was in the kitchen for a last minute word or two. : "It's been good to be home, Mum." he said and I know he meant it because I could see it in his face. Then he was gone...but later there was an SMS as he got on the plane.....thanks Alex, you're one hell of a son.

Hugh looked in the fridge and asked if he could take all the salad stuff home. Of course he could, and when he said he could eat all that in 2 days I went out into the garden and picked another 3 tons of all the various leaves and salad herbs I could find and gave them all to him.....he will be back next week for more, I hope the garden grows fast this week! And the most amazing thing is that Hugh thanked me for making him wash the dishes for years as a teenager, and for showing him how to cook and iron and do ordinary things that kids these days don't seem to learn from their mothers. Now he can use all the things he has hidden away in his head, to help him succeed where his peers sometimes are struggling just to look after themselves. He thanked me for just being there, for every one of those 20 years. Now that is all a mother could ever want to hear!


They both read the blog just about every day and will no doubt read this and I hope they do because no matter what amazing things they do in their lives, I want them to know that, whenever they come home, I will be there and I will give them my undivided attention for as long as they want it...or until I can't stay awake any longer!!

(Hugh, with Alex's girlfriend Jing Jing on Christmas day)

What has this to do with a seedsavers' blog? Everything. It is about giving time to living, about slowing down and seeing wonderful things like seeds germinating and watching those tiny children's hands grow into the strong and loving hands of wonderful young men. It is about sharing your bounty and caring about the earth and passing on that nurturing spirit to those around you, even when they often don't seem to be noticing, as teenagers, because it all dissolves into them and becomes a core part of them and one day it blossoms before your eyes.

I stayed home and spent my energy and enthusiasm on our children and I think it was the best investment I ever made. Even when most women were out working and couldn't understand why I wasn't too, I knew what I was doing...always the one living outside the square. They always wore second hand clothes and we drove old cars and went on camping holidays but we did it together...all of it...and it has paid off a millionfold, for all of us.

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