I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?

FarmI wrote:
I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?

Either I'm well ahead or hahahahahahaha(madness from the impossiblity).
I'm just waiting for the boss to get into planning for spring mode.
Although I did get a request for a barrow load soil mixture to be made up.

On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?


Spring starts on Thursday at my Sinney residence. That's my estimate as to when my prunus
blieriana will start flowering. ;-)

On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.

"terryc" wrote in message
...
FarmI wrote:
I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do
in the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?

Either I'm well ahead or hahahahahahaha(madness from the impossiblity).
I'm just waiting for the boss to get into planning for spring mode.
Although I did get a request for a barrow load soil mixture to be made up.

So what do you think the boss will expect you to do first?

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do
in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?


Spring starts on Thursday at my Sinney residence. That's my estimate as
to when my prunus
blieriana will start flowering. ;-)

For years I've checked up on a particular prunus on a road I travel
sometimes each winter. For about 30 years this particular tree has always
flowered at least 2 months before the warm weather arrives. I always look
out for it when I'm driving down that road and it never fails to cheer me up
when I see it in bloom.

Do you start planting when your prunus flowers or do you still ahve to wait
a few weeks?

Despite 1/9 supposedly being 'Spring',I know that there is no way I can
plant anything I please just because the date tells me it's spring - 1/10 is
more like the real time I can plant with any degree of certainty.

"Jeßus" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

I know just what you mean. I have a propogating area, but it's not quite as
I'd like ti to be - still some more improvements/refinements needed.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as a
cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest in
them too.

We ahd a fantastic year for pears this year and the chooks have only just
finished cleanign up the drop from under our last netted tree. Watching the
rooster 'telling' the girls about the where they could find the best bits of
pear was wonderful to watch. He's such a lovely rooster and worth every
penny of his high price tag.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.

That does sound early. I can't see any signs of budding yet, but I'll now
pay closer attention.

"FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message
u...
"Jeßus" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do
in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

I know just what you mean. I have a propogating area, but it's not quite
as I'd like ti to be - still some more improvements/refinements needed.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as
a cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest
in them too.

I would dearly love to grow Bramleys here in Perth but apparently we do not
get a cold enough winter for the trees to go dormant.
I had a Bramley in my last garden that I managed to half "prune" with a
particularly large bonfire. It wasn't as bad as I expected as the tree went
from producing every 2 years to producing every year but on separate halves.
If I left the apples on long enough they became about as round as a large
saucer, floury and sweet enough to eat. picked smaller they were/are the
best cooking apples around.

Mike

On Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:25:21 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do
in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?


Spring starts on Thursday at my Sinney residence. That's my estimate as
to when my prunus
blieriana will start flowering. ;-)

For years I've checked up on a particular prunus on a road I travel
sometimes each winter. For about 30 years this particular tree has always
flowered at least 2 months before the warm weather arrives. I always look
out for it when I'm driving down that road and it never fails to cheer me up
when I see it in bloom.

Do you start planting when your prunus flowers or do you still ahve to wait
a few weeks?

Despite 1/9 supposedly being 'Spring',I know that there is no way I can
plant anything I please just because the date tells me it's spring - 1/10 is
more like the real time I can plant with any degree of certainty.

I've already started planting the veges. Tomatoes and carrots are in, possums are being
hunted down before other things go in.

On 26/07/2011 7:09 PM, Jeßus wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI"ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.


I'm in Queensland and we have trees in bloom, passion fruiflowers on the
vines, baby snakes all over the place (hit three with the mower) and
birds nesting. It is weird - spring is two months early.

"Bloke Down The Pub" wrote in message
I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as
a cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest
in them too.

I would dearly love to grow Bramleys here in Perth but apparently we do
not get a cold enough winter for the trees to go dormant.
I had a Bramley in my last garden that I managed to half "prune" with a
particularly large bonfire. It wasn't as bad as I expected as the tree
went from producing every 2 years to producing every year but on separate
halves. If I left the apples on long enough they became about as round as
a large saucer, floury and sweet enough to eat. picked smaller they
were/are the best cooking apples around.

That's interesting about the change in bienneal bearing. We do get enough
chilling to grow good apples here, but I havent' yet got a Bramley.
Possibly too late to do so this year, but I might put in a request for one
or more with He Who Likes To Be Obeyed.

wrote in message

I've already started planting the veges. Tomatoes and carrots are in,
possums are being
hunted down before other things go in.

Wow. Here I can't plant toms until I know who won the Melbourne Cup.

On Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:34:07 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

"Jeßus" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track.
You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

I know just what you mean. I have a propogating area, but it's not quite as
I'd like ti to be - still some more improvements/refinements needed.

Snails, slugs and frost have taken a toll on many of my seed raising
attempts, best place I currently have is a mini-hothouse up on the
rear verandah. Does okay but not much good for large quantities.
So a dedicated propagation house is in order, I'll probably clad it in
laserlite and put it between the shade and hot houses.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as a
cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest in
them too.

LOL, one of my nearby neighbours refers to me a 'Hugh'. I pretty much
grow and cook the same things as he does. So now I have a Bramley and
two Granny Smiths - should take care of my cooking apples needs.

I'm also into cider making (hence the cider trees) , I quickly
realised any/all cider kits left much to be desired and that you can't
beat cider made from fresh, local apples. I've learnt that higher
alcohol by volume isn't necessarily such a good idea, my batches from
last year average 12% and any more than a couple of stubbies is
usually too much for me... I actually _don't_ enjoy getting ****ed
even though I do like to drink

I make beer and spirits also, and other stuff like cherry wine, ginger
beer and perry. Although this year I've been concentrating on making
mead, which is a much longer term proposition - and considerably more
expensive. My last 30L batch using local Leatherwood honey cost me
about $80... now I just have to wait a couple of years...

I'm going to need a pot still soon, as I especially want to make apple
cider brandy and cherry brandy. Also want to put through some
alcoholic ginger beer and see what happens. And of course, some spiced
mead liqueur once she's aged enough... yum.

Although I have a still, its a conventional type which means that
it'll strip any colour, smell and flavor from anything put through it,
a pot still doesn't do that, hence the need for a pot still.


We ahd a fantastic year for pears this year and the chooks have only just
finished cleanign up the drop from under our last netted tree. Watching the
rooster 'telling' the girls about the where they could find the best bits of
pear was wonderful to watch. He's such a lovely rooster and worth every
penny of his high price tag.

Lucky you - my oldest fruit trees are only about 3 years old, though
the cherries, prunes and quinces have fruited surprisingly well
already.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.

That does sound early. I can't see any signs of budding yet, but I'll now
pay closer attention.


We've had a mild winter really (by local standards), had a few -6's
with hard frost but nothing like 2008 and '09. I hope we don't have
another mild spring/summer/autumn again, nice weather for humans but
not so great for flowering and fruiting plants.

On Thu, 28 Jul 2011 10:30:21 +1000, Who_me?
wrote:

On 26/07/2011 7:09 PM, Jeßus wrote:
On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:53:49 +1000, "FarmI"ask@itshall be given
wrote:

I figured out how many weeks till Spring and how many tasks I had to do in
the garden before the wqrmer weather comes. I'm pretty much on track. You?

Reasonably... much more prepared this year than the previous couple
years as I have the hothouse, shade house and open veggie garden areas
all established. Still need a dedicated propagation area though, tired
of trying to raise seedlings on an ad-hoc basis.

Planted a few more fruit trees this week, all apples this time -
Bramley and three other cider apples (exact varieties escape me ATM).
That makes about 36 fruits trees in the orchard now.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.


I'm in Queensland and we have trees in bloom, passion fruiflowers on the
vines, baby snakes all over the place (hit three with the mower) and
birds nesting. It is weird - spring is two months early.

My quinces are quickly pushing out leaves now - way too soon for here.

The rhubarb is starting to flower as well, though I can't recall when
exactly they're supposed to flower... seems early to me though.

"Jeßus" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:34:07 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given

I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as
a
cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest in
them too.

LOL, one of my nearby neighbours refers to me a 'Hugh'.

:-))

I pretty much
grow and cook the same things as he does. So now I have a Bramley and
two Granny Smiths - should take care of my cooking apples needs.

I'm also into cider making (hence the cider trees) , I quickly
realised any/all cider kits left much to be desired and that you can't
beat cider made from fresh, local apples. I've learnt that higher
alcohol by volume isn't necessarily such a good idea, my batches from
last year average 12% and any more than a couple of stubbies is
usually too much for me... I actually _don't_ enjoy getting ****ed
even though I do like to drink

I can't see that attraction in getting ****ed either, but a good drink
(either alchoholic or non) is well worth doing.

I make beer and spirits also, and other stuff like cherry wine, ginger
beer and perry. Although this year I've been concentrating on making
mead, which is a much longer term proposition - and considerably more
expensive. My last 30L batch using local Leatherwood honey cost me
about $80... now I just have to wait a couple of years...

Well that's cheaper than the 10kg batch of salami I've just hung :-))


I'm going to need a pot still soon, as I especially want to make apple
cider brandy and cherry brandy. Also want to put through some
alcoholic ginger beer and see what happens. And of course, some spiced
mead liqueur once she's aged enough... yum.

Although I have a still, its a conventional type which means that
it'll strip any colour, smell and flavor from anything put through it,
a pot still doesn't do that, hence the need for a pot still.

Interesting. What is the difference between a conventional vs a pot and
where does one buy such a thing in Oz anyway? I have seen a very neat
little still in a brew shop in Mildura, but I wouldn't know it was a pot or
a conventional one.

We ahd a fantastic year for pears this year and the chooks have only just
finished cleanign up the drop from under our last netted tree. Watching
the
rooster 'telling' the girls about the where they could find the best bits
of
pear was wonderful to watch. He's such a lovely rooster and worth every
penny of his high price tag.

Lucky you - my oldest fruit trees are only about 3 years old, though
the cherries, prunes and quinces have fruited surprisingly well
already.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.

That does sound early. I can't see any signs of budding yet, but I'll now
pay closer attention.


We've had a mild winter really (by local standards), had a few -6's
with hard frost but nothing like 2008 and '09. I hope we don't have
another mild spring/summer/autumn again, nice weather for humans but
not so great for flowering and fruiting plants.

We've had quite few low temps and the mornings seen to be worse this year
than we've had for a while, but perhaps that is just me getting older and
feeling it more. I think I'm becoming more like a lizard as I get older - I
now like to bask in winter sun.