GROWING FRUIT AND VEGETABLES ORGANICALLY IS FUN AND REALLY EASY...

Well, I was tapping away on the computer a couple of weeks ago when a bird suddenly flew into my bedroom, but left just as quickly. At first I thought it was a sparrow, but after a closer look, lo and behold, a baby budgie and no more than six weeks old. Hastily grabbing the cage Tweety was in, I tied it to a branch close to the little bird and before long curiosity got the better of him, landing down to make his acquaintance.

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It took less than ten minutes to catch the little chap. I just walked him into the room as he sat on the cage listening to Tweety's chatter. He was fascinated with his new friend, particularly taking in what he was saying which was mainly, "Dear wee boy and good little bird."

A phone call to the radio station as well as the Bay of Plenty Times did not bring any results and I am rather inclined to think he most likely escaped from an aviary nearby. Anyway, we now have two budgies.

Meanwhile, I have the aviary up for auction on Trade Me and there are several bids and it's just shy of its reserve price. If it doesn't sell I will pop Blue-boy in there and track down another one to keep him company. As Tweets is talking more often now I need to keep him on his own:  he can chat to us instead.

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One thing about living in the Bay of Plenty you can be sure of rapid growth in the garden and mine is no exception.

On that subject here are the new fruit trees bought online from Wairere Nurseries in Hamilton. Wonderful service from this firm also. The trees arrived by courier several days ago and I intend to espalier both apples as well as the pear.
I cut the new trees back to three buds. These will soon sprout new growth.  One will be trained horizontally to the left, the other to the right. The middle one will grow vertically then will be cut back at the required height. I will repeat the process once more to get the three-tiered cordon I want. Meanwhile, I need to bus down to Cookes to buy wire and eye bolts in order to attach the espaliered branches to the fence. Leaving a decent gap between allows for good air circulation.

Finally getting the chop. Well and truly munched, attracted quite a few intrigued onlookers also.

"That the end of it mate..?"   Well, until next time....................

The pear tree has two different varieties grafted on to it and should do well in its sunny position. Will espalier it in the same way as the apple trees.

This semi self-fertile Burbank plum tree is growing up close to the deck beside the bedrooms.  Mmm.... juicy plums at hand. What could be better?

The last thing on the agenda is to get someone in with a splitter to deal with the pile of firewood. We thought our chainsaw might do it, but such chunky pieces makes this impossible..............
Growing our fruit and vegetables organically is providing the healthy food we thrive on and sustainable lifestyle we enjoy. Putting sea lettuce and comfrey tea around the garden, with a new lot of comfrey tea in the making is really beneficial and of course, our compost heap grows by the day. It will be ready in time for winter planting and soon enough we will be putting in brassicas, lettuce and so on.