Snow peas, broad beans and lemon tree suckers

The broad beans have all sprouted and are about 10cm tall. A second lot of snow peas has gone in at the back of the lettuce greenhouse, and the luffa has finally dried out (though I am not convinced its at the stage to use in the bath)- and yes, looks pretty much just like the luffa in the shops! There was at least 3 dozen seeds inside one luffa, and we've decided to dry out the seeds and next year throw them 'down the back' so the vines can just grow in the yard.

The surviving asparagus has been moved from its safe haven inside the old fish tank to a deep pot in the yard. I was worried it would dry out in the fish tank (hmm, very casual watering going on and its a bit hard for me to monitor from Sydney!), and after several months I'm taking the tough love approach to the asparagus - hoping it survives as I'm still happy that I managed to get it to raise from seeds!

Thanks to Tara Steele for her advice on the lemon tree suckers

from her grandfather Frank Rayner

"Tara who is studying ecology etc at uni. She rang me in return and noted that you'd been whippersnipping. Suggested thay maybe the parent tree may have been bruised by getting tooclose.If this occurs suckers may be thrown off, Suckers should be removed."

Finally, I've noticed that seedlings do much better in the mound than seeds- there are lots of ant nests in the mound and perhaps the ants are stealing the seeds.

Suprisingly, the Okra has been infested with aphids! Treated this with a thick layer of vaseline around the base and some vinegar solution on the leaves (probably needs another spray with vinegar and chilli in a week!)

Hope everyone is getting some winter vegies in!