Very Early Spring in our Garden

Warm breezes and a different quality to afternoon's light signal a change to Spring here in our subtropical home. Although the nights have still been cool, a sense of the season turning came earlier again this year than the flipping of our calender's page to September. It is a glorious time of year here which I relish before the heat of Summer takes hold. 

Out in the garden, green-tipped new growth abounds and more and more flowers are coming into bud and bloom. The mandarin tree is covered in promising white blossoms, purple lavender spires scent the air, plump mulberries are ripening and delicious, the passionfruit  in a pot is sending out its first tendrils and the veg patch waits, under a blanket of mulch, for new plantings. 

Creamy petals and a tinge of pink on a salvia's bloom.

Ripening mulberries on our little tree.

Little native raspberries beginning to form too.

The intriguing bloom of an iris.

A mass of perfumed lavender blooms.

White blossoms on our mandarin tree.

Early growth on our new passionfruit vine.

Chocolate Cosmos has a chocolate-y scent!

This Spring, I plan on adding even more salvias to the garden, with plants gifted to me by a new gardening friend, along with different varieties of cosmos. Packets of Cosmos 'Picotee' and Cosmos 'Sensation' seeds have arrived. I ordered my seeds from Green Harvest, an Australian organic seed supplier based up in the Hinterland not too far a drive from here. (I am not affiliated with Green Harvest in any way; I just like to buy my seeds from them.) 

There's so much to look forward to in our garden this Spring! I'd love to know what you are planning to grow as the season changes where you are in the world.

Meg

 

Finds from the Op-Shops

There are several op-shops to visit very close to where I live. I often pop in if I'm passing to see what is hanging on the racks or stocked on the shelves. Sometimes, I have a specific item I'm hoping to find second-hand and other times I may just be in the right shop at the right time! These are my recent op-shop finds:

A set of four of these blue-ringed pasta bowls. They cost $8 total.  Their blue rings match some plates I bought a while ago. We have used these multiple times already for soup and pasta meals. They hold generous serves!

This floaty cotton top cost only a few dollars. It's a brighter red than showing in the photograph. As it's a very lightweight cotton, it will be perfect to wear in Spring and Summer.  I 💗it!

This book is filled with amazing tales and stunning photographs that chronicle the history of attempts to climb the highest peak on Earth. Published in 2002, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the first successful summit by Edmund Hillary and Tenzin Norgay in 1953,  all three of us were fascinated by the stories and images and have since borrowed more books from our local libraries on the topic. I can't remember the exact cost but it was less than $10.

A t-shirt and a pair of shorts for my growing boy cost $7 altogether. Orange is one of my son's favourite colours and so he has been wearing his new-to-him t-shirt quite a lot. The shorts are a size larger than he currently wears and have been put away until the next growth spurt. 😊

These thrifty finds are all in excellent condition. Bringing them home has benefits beyond the savings of second-hand. They remain in use, the resources embedded in their manufacture have not ended up in landfill and the dollars I spent to purchase them go towards supporting the work of charity organisations, that run these op-shops, in the community. 

In the next little while, I'm on the lookout for collared polo shirts for a growing boy off on school camp and I am always hunting for old embroideries and linen. Who knows what else I'll come across in the treasure-troves that are my local op-shops.

Have you found any op-shop finds lately?

Meg

 

Generosity In My World

With fresh eggs from her chickens, juicy oranges and macadamia nuts from her abundant trees and delicately scented nasturtiums in a little posy, my friend shared with me some of her garden's bounty. I brought her sweet local strawberries and homemade cake as a thank you. I think we were both thrilled!

Gifts from my friend's garden.

The juice from my friend's homegrown oranges, and the golden-yolked eggs from her happy chickens, went into dozens of orange and chocolate chip muffins. The hard shells of the macadamia nuts have all been cracked open and the creamy, sweet kernels enjoyed wholeheartedly. What a healthy treat! And those pretty nasturtiums graced our table for many days and reminded me of my beautiful friend each time their vibrant petals caught my eye. 

Produce grown just a few doors down from our place.

From one of our generous neighbourhood gardeners, we received fresh lettuce and rocket, picked right there and then from his productive garden. We laughed together as he told me to watch out for a caterpillar or two! I brought his gift home, washed the leaves (no caterpillars😋) and made a healthy salad for dinner that very same day. So fresh and delicious! I plan on reciprocating with a big bunch of homegrown Italian parsley and some homemade biscuits...I think chocolate chip might be his favourite!

Homemade chocolate loaf cake.

Almost every week, my mother-in-law bakes something for her grandson's lunchbox. She brings her delicious baking over on Sundays when we all share afternoon tea together. Over the years, I've been so thankful for the extra biscuits, muffins, pikelets and cakes that she quietly puts on my kitchen bench and that I transfer to the freezer for enjoying later throughout busier weeks.  In return, we send her home with produce from the garden or some soup or some extra slices of sweetness from our afternoon tea. 

Fragrant Vietnamese Mint

Cutting of Salvia Leucantha (Mexican Sage)

Over the past few months, I have gotten to know a fellow gardener who is teaching me about her culture's cuisine and how she grows the food she likes to cook. We've exchanged laughter, ideas and plants. Recently, this sweet gardener gave me a pot of Vietnamese Mint and I have struck cuttings from a salvia that grows in my garden to give to her. We both love salvias!

Salvia Leucantha in bloom in my garden.

These are just a few examples of the generosity in my world; there are countless more.  They rely not on the exchange of money but on generosity of spirit, a willingness to share and a heartfelt thanks for the kindness and love that changes hands. 

Meg