Feets

I thought this was so cute I just wanted to share it.

My heads hurting.

Ok, whose bright idea was it for me to go to Uni after leaving school in grade 11, 30 years ago.

Oh, ok, mine you say.

Bugger!!!

I'm half way through a Tertiary Preparation Program English test and my head already hurts.

This is just to get me started, what's the real thing going to be like?

It's ok Stewart, just breath deeply, it'll be alright.

Hopefully some veggie news coming your way on Wednesday after I've finished hurting my head.

I'd better finish off the second half of this test so I can start the maths one. Yippee!

Stewart loves tests, not. Stewart loves tests, not. Stewart loves tests, not.

Anyone good at algebra?

Cheers
Stewart

RHUBARB - Sydney Crimson

Thank you for placing your order with Greenpatch Organic Seeds.
Your order, which appears below, will be processed as soon as possible.

Date : 17 Jun 2009 - 03:38
Order ID : 7904400



Arrived 24 Jun 2009 - 02:16

Cool, thanks for the great service!!

RHUBARB - Sydney Crimson (Rheum rhubarbarum) Organic
Perennial to 90cm, plant in rich well drained soil. Stalks cooked for pie, savoury or sweet. Leaves are poisonous, used as spray for the garden. Available all year.




As you might be able to tell by now I ordered 5 Rhubarb plants from Greenpatch and I'm more than happy with their service and the quality of the plants that arrived.

When making my order I found their web site easy and straight forward to use.

Also as you can see they were securely and firmly packaged and arrived in tact.

Three thumbs up!!!  


Ummmmh, I can taste the jam and pies already, which probably means I'll have to exercise more or get rounder.

6, 7 or 8 tips on planting Rhubarb

Cheers and Happy Rhubarb gardening,
Stewart.

do you know whether or not.....

G'day cobbers (I'm feeling all colloquial today along with moments of irreverence) hows yous goin? Wheres ya bin and whats yous up ta?

Phew, glad I got that out'da the system.

What I wants to post about is the guys at Tomato Casual, that I put up a rave about a few weeks ago.

Why? Because they are having a Tomato Quiz and if you want a bit of tomato fun and have nothing better to do then why not.

That's all now, have fun, bye.

Oh and for any New South Welsh people out there, Go Queensland!!!!!!

The sky is crying.

It's been three days of drizzle and light rain here so there's not much veggie gardening going on.

About 10mls worth or rain so far.

But after three days of drizzle and light rain I get a bit stir crazy and need some good blues to calm me down and here is some of the best.

Egg 'versatile' Plant v Jack 'runny nose' Frost

Ooops, no contest, Jack 'runny nose' Frost by a knockout.

Egg 'versatile' Plant is said to be planing to make a come back in early spring.

I'm off to my plot at the Toowoomba Community Organic Gardens to plant some cabbage and lettuce and ues a garden hose :)

Cheers and happy gardening
Stewart

But wait there's more

Hang on a minuite, it must be Wednesday somewhere in the world.

Some more of the Wednesday walk through.

First up is the white Italian garlic bed with the purple podded peas at the back.

Very happy with the progress here.

Click on the photos if you want to see a bigger photo.



Some people think they are cute but, as you can see in the photos below, the trouble I have to go to to grow a few lettuce, (not to mention having all my carrot tops eaten off) I hate them.











These are the drunken women lettuce I've been growing for a while now.

The aforementioned possum has had more enjoyment from them than I have. Bloody, bloody bloody........bloody possums.








These are my Red Iceberg lettuce which I am especially proud of.

The possum got a few munches on them but I've had the rest and it's a great little lettuce for sandwiches.








Beetroot and some more lettuce which the possum hasn't found yet for some reason.













Climbing snow peas in flower.

I'm growing about 6 plants in 3 week intervals so I can hopefully have a continuous supply of snow peas until it gets too hot for them.

So far so good.







An eclectic collection of brassicas which includes red cabbage, kohlrabi, Cauliflower, 'Violet Sicilian' and Broccoli, 'Romanesco'. I think there is a normal drumhead cabbage in there as well as a normal Broccoli.

Cheers and happy veggie gardening,

Stewart

Wednesday walkthrough.

Hi all,
I just put new batteries in the camera, went for a walk around the garden and here are the results.

First off is the purple flowering broad beans which are doing quite well if I do say so myself.


Click on the photos if you want to see a bigger photo.



Next is the freshly sown onion bed. Not much to see, Just a nice photo of of some fresh soil, but can't you just see the potential?













I love a good yellow rose as much as the next person so here's one to share.














A small selection of dwarf and mini brasscias.
There's red cabbage, mini cauliflower and mini cabbage as well as a Broccoli.

All growing well thank-you very much.








This is the hard neck garlic which is the first time I've grown it and therefore have nothing to compare it to so I have no idea if it is growing well or not, but it looks good to me.










Baby cos lettuce, three in a row all ready to eat.

Luv this gardening.

Cheers and happy veggie gardening,

Stewart

Help Needed

Search for 'priceless' stolen hotrod

Callum Johnson | 15th June 2009

The 1928 Ford Tudor that was recently stolen from a Gold Coast resort, along with a 1974 HJ Monaro. Ford Tudor owner Kaylene Quigley is imploring Darling Downs residents to keep an eye out for it.

YOU can hear the emotion in Kaylene Quigley’s voice when she talks about her family hotrod that was stolen from a Gold Coast resort on June 6.

"I'll do anything to get it back," she said.

"I can’t sleep, I can’t eat. That car was priceless to us."

Mrs Quigley’s precious Ford 1928 Tudor was last spotted travelling past Stanthorpe on the way to Warwick, joined by a 1974 Monaro that was also stolen at the same resort.

Both cars were stolen during the Wintersun festival at Coolangatta.

Read full story

If anyone has seen either of the cars pictured, or has information on their whereabouts, call Kaylene on 0409 840 967.

Easy as 1,2,3.

Well we finally have eggs.

And if you had your money on my Light Sussex laying first then I'm afraid you've done your dosh.

That's right, the scummy Isa Browns (at least one of them did) won the race to be the first to lay eggs.

Oh well at least some of the money I'm outlaying on food is getting turned into something other than Chicken energy and manure.







Cheers for now and happy Chickening and eggening,
Stewart

Happness Gnomes no Boundries

Gnome time like the present. Pardon the pun but I couldn't contain myself.

Why you might ask? Well, Ok, I'll tell you.

The veggie Gnome at the Mad Gnomes Strike Again! blog is having a Send in the Gnomes competition. Check it out here!

Why you might ask again?

Well according to their blog it is just because they can.

Anyhow here is my entrant/entry. He lives on a bridge in our front yard over looking a dry pond full of weeds, but as you can see he doesn't have a care in the world. Larry we call him as in Happy as...

Thanks Shallot

Hi all,
Well it's cold here in Toowoomba as it probably is every in Oz at the moment.

I finished work this morning at 4am and had to wait 5 minutes for the car to warm up enough so I could melt the ice on the windscreen.

I also had 4 large eggplants that now look like they have had the life sucked out of them.

Some good things about the cold is that it will sweeten up all my brasscias that I have planted as well as being a good time to plant my shallots and onion seeds.

I planted my shallots on Monday along with preparing a garden bed for my Spanish red onion seeds which I'll be planting on Monday coming.

I haven't over done the preparation of this bed as I don't want to much fertility.


The bed has been fallow for the last three months and I added about 50 liters of cow manure to a 3x2 mtr bed.

Too much fertility can cause excessive soft leafy growth to the detriment of storage and increasing their susceptibility to disease.



Cheers and happy veggie gardening,
Stewart.

Accused taxi robbers front court

Gottem by the looks of it.
Phew, that's a relief.

From The Chronicle

Peter Hardwick | 11th June 2009

THREE of four teenagers charged in relation to armed robberies of taxi drivers in Toowoomba at the weekend appeared before the city’s courts yesterday.

Michael Collins, 19, and a 14-year-old boy, who as a juvenile cannot be named, were charged with robbing a taxi driver at knife point in Kearneys Spring about 1.30am Saturday while the complainant man was washing his taxi.

The pair was also charged along with John Kenneth Tripp, 17, with the assault and robbery of another taxi driver in Harristown about 1am Monday.

All three were charged with stealing and torching a Holden Rodeo found on the New England Highway near Cambooya at 3.05am Monday.

Full story

Bfn
Stewart

Thieves attack cabbies

Taxi cab security footage shows this masked man armed with a knife robbing a Toowoomba taxi driver of his night’s takings in the early hours of yesterday. Police are looking for two men in connection with the robberies of two taxi drivers yesterday and another Saturday morning.

This is getting a bit dodgy. I was working on both these nights when the robberies occurred.

From the front page of the Toowoomba Chronicle newspaper:- THE second armed robbery of a taxi driver in Toowoomba in less than 48 hours has police looking for two knife-wielding thieves targeting late night workers.

A 34-year-old male cab driver was punched and had a knife held to his throat by one of two men who had climbed into his taxi which was called to a Clarice Street residence just after 1am yesterday.

After the taxi driver had arrived at the Harristown address, two men had got into his car, one in the front seat and one in the back.

Both were armed with large knives, Sergeant Greg Wheeler of Toowoomba Police said.

Read more

Jamie Durie launches the new Good Wood Guide

From the Greenpeace website:- Jamie Durie launches the new Good Wood Guide

Sydney, Australia — Every day, Australians buy illegal timber without even realising it. Now the Greenpeace Good Wood Guide is set to change that.

Illegal logging of timber for Australian and other markets is linked to loss of livelihood and biodiversity, and devastating deforestation that contributes to climate change.

The updated 2009 Good Wood Guide helps consumers make an informed, environmentally responsible decision when buying wood and wood products. is the essential shopping tool for builders, renovators, designers, architects and consumers. With the guide, you can:

• find Good Wood timber products, including outdoor furniture, decking and joinery
  
• search a timber species to check whether it’s Good Wood.

Read more

One from Five

Sorry in advance, but round these parts there is only one kind of footy and that's Rugby League.

Just for the fun of it I thought I'd post my ABC Grandstand NRL Footy Tipping picks for the week and see how I go.

Your welcome to join in through comments or bag the crap out of me for supporting NRL, as long as it's all in good fun.

I can't believe it one from five.

Reminds my when my Dad was having a go at me as a kid for not getting something right he would say "you couldn't hit the side of a barn with a hand full of rice or you couldn't hit a bull on it's bum with it's own tail", and another one was, "you couldn't run out of sight on a dark night", (those were the days) or, "useless as tits on a bull", (your getting the idea by now I suppose) and after picking 1 from 5 I'm feeling that at the moment.

I really thought this would be fun , but I'm finding it as hard as hell and frustrating.

Oh well here I go again, which reminds (the here I go again part) of my time when I was in Mackay during my 20's. YouTube Whitesnake 'Here I go again'.

FRIDAY
Wests Tigers vs. Panthers .... Tigers

Storm vs. Broncos ............ Broncos

SATURDAY
Sea Eagles vs. Roosters....... Sea Eagles

Cowboys vs. Rabbitohs ........ Cowboys

SUNDAY
Sharks vs. NZ Warriors ....... NZ Worriors

Knights vs. Eels ............. Knights

MONDAY
Titans vs. Dragons ........... Titans

I'm currently ranked 1202 out of 3302 tippers on the ABC Grandstand AFL & NRL Footy Tipping http://tipping.abc.net.au

Wk. one. 135 out of 2211
Wk. two. 220 out of 2531
Wk. three. 893 out of 2945
Wk. four. 1970 out of 3113
Wk. five. 2016 out of 3179
Wk. six. 1594 out of 3216
Wk. seven. 1550 out of 3232
Wk. eight. 1635 out of 3252
Wk. nine. 1391 out of 3266
Wk. ten. 1234 out of 3275
Wk. eleven. 1024 out of 3293
Wk. twelve 1202 out of 3302

Happy footy tipping
Cheers
Stewart

What is rain?

Does 1 ml of precipitation in a 24 hr period
constitute rain?

FORECASTS FOR SOUTHEAST QUEENSLAND
Issued at 4:40am EST on Thursday the 4th of June 2009
for Thursday

IDQ1008002
DARLING DOWNS AND GRANITE BELT DISTRICT
Cloudy periods with patchy rain areas in far eastern
parts, easing to isolated showers during the morning.
Isolated thunderstorms. Light to moderate NE to N'ly
winds, tending NW to SW during the afternoon.
Outlook for Friday     ... Morning drizzle areas and
isolated afternoon showers.
Possible isolated thunderstorms in the far southeast.
Outlook for Saturday   ... Isolated afternoon showers,
mostly north of Dalby.

IDQ1008003
TOOWOOMBA
Early rain, easing to a shower or two.
Possible thunderstorm.
Light to moderate E to NE winds tending NW to SW
during the afternoon.
MAX    18
UV Alert - 10:20 am to 1:10 pm, UV Index predicted to
reach 4 [Moderate]
Outlook for Friday     ... Early drizzle and a possible
afternoon shower.

More Baked Beans

Hi all,
I've been thinking about growing my own navy beans - a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris - so I can make my own baked beans (check out this baked bean recipe).

I found two good web sites on growing and using navy beans as well as a bunch of other info I found useful, so I'm going to share them here just in case anyone else wants to try their hand at navy beans.

Has anybody grown navy beans before? Care to share any thoughts?

• The World's Healthiest Foods
• Queensland Government

Wikipedia has an article on bakes beans.

And just for a giggle here is Mother Goose with their Baked Bean song again.



Cheers and happy Baked Beaning :)
Stewart

State of Origin

There baaaacck, tonight 7.30



Whew who, bring it on.

Done Diggin', for now & Kylie's Rose

Well I had a good productive day in the garden today.

In my home garden I managed to weed and mulch the Italian garlic, Purple flowering Broad Beans and the Strawberries as well as giving them a dose of fish emulsion.

I'm still chasing the Grey aphids that seem determined to keep having a go at my brassicas.



Then after lunch I went down to the community gardens to finish digging the last third of my garden plot.

As this bed is mainly going to be used for a spring planted crop of potatoes I'll probably plant more peas in here mainly as a green manure crop.

I'll let them go until I get at least one picking of peas off the bushes and then dig the whole lot in.





I also went down yesterday (Sunday) to plant some Leek and Spring Onion seedlings. The photo is a bit short on detail but you get the picture.











The ' Greenfeast' peas I planted are up and going strong.

I also mulched them with some aged horse manure that is available at the gardens, so that should help them along as well.







Kylie's Rose.

This is a photo of Kylie's Rose who is my step daughter.

I can't remember how I came by this rose and I don't remember what it is called either, but we attributed it's beauty to Kylie and it has been with me now for 17/18 years (the rose and Kylie that is).




We lived on the Gold Coast at the time I purchased it and when we moved here to Toowoomba Kylie's Rose came with us.