Where there is a will, there is a way

Our garden is producing extremely well this year. The corn is higher than the fence, and the tomatoes are starting to colour up nicely. The cauliflower and broccoli have produced so much this year that we have ordered a freezer. My husband has been busy blanching cauliflower, cabbage, carrots and broccoli, and our current freezer is nearly full. The beans are just starting to form on the frame.

Hopefully, next year we will become more self-sufficient, as we close in the vegetable patch and fruit trees with bird wire. We also intend free-ranging the bantam hens in with the fruit trees. This will serve a dual purpose - fertilise the fruit trees and hopefully, the bantams will keep the insect pests at bay.

The sparrows have decimated the tatsoi and bok choy this year, and the parrots have also eaten all of the nectarines and nearly all of the pears. We were unable to cover the nectarine and pear trees with nets, as they were too large. The rest of the fruit trees are covered with nets, so hopefully we will be able to taste the almonds, apricots, peaches and apples. The parrots even sat on top of the apricot tree, eating the apricots through the net. Apples also taste so much nicer when eaten straight from the tree.

This year, we have also had more success with strawberries, as we have grown them in containers and watered them with rain water. We save the water (in a bucket) that usually runs down the drain as the shower temperature is adjusted, and it's amazing just how much water is saved by this one water-saving measure. Last year we attempted to grow them in the garden using bore water, but they all curled up their toes. My son counted the strawberries on the plant below, and there were 28 on the one plant, minus the one that I have already eaten.

These strawberries are growing well, and my son has planted the runners that are growing from the parent plant. We are planning on planting them in an old feed trough when they have finished flowering and the small plantlets have well established roots.

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10