Things are getting out of hand

I've been talking about the abundant spring rain, but this is ridiculous

 And now that Toby fancies himself as a bit of a blog celebrity

Garden surprises

I planted a few packets of "cottage garden" seeds to colour things up a bit and attract the bees.  But I was puzzled when this massive plant popped up in a spot where I hadn't planted anything.  It grew like a triffid and it took me over a month to work out what it was.

All I can think of is that there are sunflower seeds in the chicken feed and occassionally a bird gets in the run for a quick meal. So perhaps one made a deposit as it headed out of the garden....

The wettest Spring on record

My neighbour is convinced I have 10 green fingers, but I've had the dumb luck of letting my chickens free range an area of garden before I decided to plant it out and then the wettest spring on record in Australia.  So the garden continues to grow and provide us with fabulous food.  Here are the latest pics after a full week of rain (its even raining today when I took them).  Toby, our cockerspaniel, was keen to star in the last one.

The Chicks are Growing Up

Gertrude and Olive are now living in the elements (and my bathroom is the better for it).  We've got them in a run, inside the run, so as to allow them to get to know their new family.  Caramel, who is the chicken at the bottom of the pecking order, is delighted to have someone else to boss around.  So she paces the cage, waiting to get in and make her presence felt.  The chicks are clever enough to give her a wide berth.  Here is a pic of Gertrude, who is clearly not a Brown Leghorn as advertised, but who is growing into a big, healthy White Leghorn.

Things get productive

As its coming to the end of spring and we've had plenty of rain, the garden is really turning it on and every day there's something else to pick.  Many of these are a first for me such blueberries, rasberries and some of the fruit trees, so please forgive my enthusiasm.

Chick's Day Out

The chicks, Gertrude and Olive, are now old enough to go outside for a while and experience the wonders of the world.  We also wanted to introduce them to their new chicken family.  So we borrowed a cage from a friend and took them on an outing into the garden.  At first, the chickens were fascinated but after five minutes, they wondered off to other chicken business and left the chicks to it.  We were also giving the chicks their first taste of greens, so they were busy exploring that culinary world and didn't seem too concerned about the feathery giants on the other side of the fence.

After the rain

I was overseas for a week and it poured with rain whilst I was away.  The garden made the most of it and was almost unrecognisable when I came back.  Have a look