Gardening Mates

Things are looking up out here in the boonies. The last week has been a bit cooler than heatwave conditions and as a result the garden has picked up a bit. The corn is flying along and developing pollen heads. The pruned tomato plants are showing good signs of recovery and the beans on the end of the shade house look like they will give us a few more beans before they sign off. The dwarf beans planted outside the shade have had enough and called it a day, but I'll get some more going in the next few days so it won't be to bad.

Last night we got a bit of the rain that has been moving down from Queensland, about 13mm so far and we may get more tonight and tomorrow. I took the opportunity to plant out the seedling tomato's I had ready to go and with a bit of cool and some more rain they should be off to a flying start. I had a bit of help with that job as you can see from the photo below. This guy and his mate are a permanent fixture around here and as soon as he spots me with a garden fork or hoe he's under my feet looking for any grubs or worms that get turned over.

That's one of the neat things about having a garden, you usually get to have a bit of wildlife as well, and we are lucky enough to get quite a bit. Of course living close to the river and a river bend reserve helps. Along with the usual insects we get all sorts of reptiles both large and small, and I have planted to encourage them. The garden is a mixture of native and exotic and I have placed logs and bits of garden furniture to create a habitat for them. 

 Most of the lizard population is made up of small skinks and geckos. Occasionally we get a snake or lace monitor cruising through and from time to time a bearded dragon or shingle back will be seen poking about.

Along with the reptiles we get the birds that like to eat them, Kookaburra, Butcher bird and Magpie. The Kookaburra like to use my weather station and shade house as a diving board for bombing their meal. There is a family of about seven that visit regularly and because we will give them an occasional handout they have become quite tame.

As today is cool enough for inside cooking I have taken the opportunity to throw a leg of mutton in the oven, so, tonight we dine in style.