Bits n’ Bobs

Posted on by Ark

Monarch on Pumpkin Leaf.

Robber Fly alights on the stoep table.

Gemsquash. Homegrown. Weighed in at a whopping 683g!

Frozen cake on a hot summer day!

Another Ems beauty 

Mantis On Lily.

A selection of some of the veggies and fruit harvested from the garden this month.

This particular pumpkin is called a Marina di Chioggia. First time I’ve had a go at growing this. The one on the right weighed on at 8.426 kgs. There are a few more still on the vine! So far I have counted 60 pumpkins of various varieties around the garden. What the heck I am going to do with all of them is anyone’s guess. But it’s great fun growing them.

Home-grown.

Cooking Stirfry on the Stoep. Most of the veggies were from the garden. What a bonus!

Young Crab Spider spotted on a cosmos.

Flycatcher with a bee. Seems a bit incongruous considering the bird’s name!

Garden Hack.

I always managed to spill a bit of petrol when filling the tank and even with a conventional funnel there was usually something to wipe up. But with this – no problemo!

You can see(I hope?) it’s a cut 2litre plastic milk bottle and the end fits perfectly into the tank. Built in handle, too! Not a drop of spillage!

Who’s a clever boy, then?

There y’go!

Ark.

 

 

 

 

28 thoughts on “Bits n’ Bobs”

    1. I am just as surprised at what the garden has produced so far this year.
      I am still waiting on a second crop of potatoes and I planted garlic and onions last week.
      So much fun and the taste … well, they really do taste!

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    1. Hello, you! 😎
      Long time no read.
      Yes, the garden has done us proud this season. And there are still beans and potatoes and more pumpkin and tomatoes to harvest.
      It is an absolute joy.

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      1. Now tell me, Ark. Do you call squash pumpkin, like they do in Australia? (In fact, I think you are correct). Here, what we call pumpkin is used for Hallowe’en decorations. .they’re orange and very large; they need to be carved. Squash would be green here. Or sometimes sort of yellowish. ..

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        1. Here, they go by the name Pumpkin but are part of the Squash family.
          There are numerous varieties.
          I’ve grown three – a light green one, an almost white variety and the dark green Chioggias you see in the photo.

          The two small green ones in the foreground are also squash – we call them Gemsquash.

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          1. Do you make pumpkin/squash pie? Our Australian son-in-law had never heard of such a thing. We have that at Thanksgiving/Christmas dinners.

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          2. The wife makes pumpkin fritters at Christmas – fried and coated with cinnamon and sugar, a traditional Portuguese treat.
            Delicious! Wouldn’t be Christmas without them.
            Otherwise we eat it with a roast.

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    1. It does the job. Too much grass for an electric. Had one when we first got here but the motor burned out!
      I’d ‘lose’ half the lawn and plant shrubs etc given the chance but my marriage wouldn’t stand the strain of the yelling if I dug it up.😉

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  7. A very eclectic mix. Kudos. The cake is amazing. Who does the art? You do? Your wife? Daughter? Great art really. The frozen princess is amazing.
    (Jacarandas are now blooming here…)
    Cheers

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    1. Sorry Mr D, just picked up your email.
      Yes, what a game.
      I must admit I felt a bit sorry for Kepper, and his Sky Shot, as I do for every player that misses a pen.. But this is the way the cookie crumbles.
      I’ll bet Mendy was silently thinking: ‘Told you so’.
      Rightly so.

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