Summer

It looks like Summer is here. The sunflowers are out, the crickets are clicking away in the veggie garden ..... and Puggle is up by 5.15am every morning!

Fairy Mushrooms

I recently saw this post at Irresistable Ideas and knew exactly what we were going to do with that big bag of corks I had been saving for "something".

I would like to have planted our freshly painted fairy mushrooms in a lovely miniature garden but we haven't planted one up yet this year, so Junior suggested we put them in our new veggie garden instead.

Our Gnome hasn't got a new home this year but at least he has some little friends to keep him company. What garden play have you and your kids been doing this week? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101We Play link up”

We play in the garden

Last weekend was almost spring-like here in Perth so we had a chance to do a little gardening. Aussie Dad recently replace our side fence and ripped out most of the side garden in the process so we have a big bare patch to play in until we get around to landscaping it properly. After digging in a tray of our worm compost this was a perfect place to plant out some sugar-snap peas seedlings we started off in a seedling tray a few weeks back.
I really wanted to make a nice tee-pee for the peas to climb up like this lovely bean-pole tee-pee I saw at the Artful Parent a while back, but we didn't have big enough stacks so we have made a new Gnome home rather than something the boys can play in.
We have also been admiring Junior's beautiful daffodils which he planted back in April - an Easter present from his favourite Aunt.
Have you been playing in the garden lately? “Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”

Gardening in the bag

The boys and I have been doing a little gardening each weekend for the last few weeks - planting some basil and coriander seed, fertilizing the citrus trees, and potting-on some mint from our over-grown herb garden for our local day-care centre. This week however has been the easiest by far - thanks to a friend of ours who gave us a Living Fundraisers herb kit. The kits are being used to raise funds to start a community garden, which I think is a great cause, and they couldn't be simpler - open the packet, take out a couple of spoonfuls of soil, scatter the seeds, cover with soil and water! Now we just have to pop it on the kitchen window sill, water it occasionally and wait a few weeks for the seedlings to come up.

Junior Gardening

Recently Junior's favourite Aunt came to visit and she gave him a few Daffodil bulbs. Easter is the time to plant Daffodil bulbs in WA apparently.
We have been meaning to plant the daffodils for a while and the weather has been so nice that this morning Junior and I decided it was time for a spot of gardening.
We potted the bulbs and then made up a couple of pots of colour (one for Junior and one for Bub). I saw this idea over at Childhood 101 a while back and Junior loved this project.
He even decorate his pot with some toy animals to make a little farm yard. I also thought this was a great little project for Children and Nature Awareness Month.

Eden

This morning while Junior and Hubby were out and about, Bub and I went for a little wander around my sister-in-laws' permaculture garden.
What a wonderful thing for a toddler to explore - we spent about an hour pottering about, looking at sunflowers, butterflies and bugs and sampling the delights on offer.
Strawberries, cherry tomatoes, blackberries and blueberries were all ripe for the picking and, being chemical free they could be enjoyed straight from the bush. Bub, who is the King of finger food, was in heaven (or should I say Eden?). A reminder that I really should make more effort in our little garden - perhaps there is a New Years resolution in the making?

Weekending

After my negative rant in the last post I though I had better share some of the good things from our weekend ..... Friday was a perfect day for a picnic lunch by the river (our first for the season).

Saturday morning I took my usual visit to the farmers market where I bought all sorts of lovely things...
... including flowers for my kitchen (flowers in the house reminds me of home and always makes me smile).
We did a little bit of gardening (fingers crossed the snails leave some for us)
and much to Juniors excitement we are fish-sitting for the neighbours this week.

Spring is for sunflowers

The sun is shining, the birds are nest building and spring is here so Junior and I have been reading this book "Sam Plants a Sunflower" which we picked up at the markets some time ago. Our copy is second hand and no longer has any seeds in it but Juniors Aunt has been visiting and she bought him some sunflower seeds which they planted earlier this week.
Junior and I have been watering them each day and he likes to go and check on them each morning to see if anything is happening. I think he may have given up by the time they actually sprout but hopefully this summer we will have some nice big yellow sunflowers in the front garden (fingers crossed).