Vegetable Garden

As promised yesterday we attacked the overgrown 2nd bed and although didn't finish it completely we did an exceptional job in very hot conditions. There are three panels remaining which shouldn't now take al that long tomorrow. Our plan is to continue weeding beds for the next few days and get everything up to date. In particular all bare soil will have either good compost added and old Lucerne hay mulched over to protect it. Or some areas will have a layer of chicken litter sprinkled on the surface and old Lucerne hay added and in a few weeks a green manure crop planted.

How nice to have a tidy bed

And the weeding's ready to run through the mulcher/chipper

The Watermelons are beginning to ripen and as is usual they all come in a burst with far too much for us to eat. This is not a problem as most of our gardening friends don't grow them and they make great surprise gifts especially in this hot weather.



The Orangeglo

A small Moon and Stars alongside Rockmelon



The other half of the Orangeglo and a ricotta cheesecake using Rockmelon

After a solid morning in the garden we took the afternoon off and went into Raymond Terrace to collect a couple of plumbing items from the newly opened Masters store. Another giant building which will spell doom for the local hardware stores of which one already closed in the last couple of years. It's hard to imagine the others will remain viable for long.

Already in one of the main streets a largish green grocer has shut shop. This was sad as it was owned and operated by two young brothers. The national supermarkets don't leave much room for small players. The local sole traders are at an immediate disadvantage on weekends. The hardware stores were both closed when we arrived in the town leaving no option but for us to seek our sink trap washers at the national chain.

At least we can report that the Masters store was incredibly expensive compared to its other national rival Bunnings. I'd recently purchased a female extension cord plug at Bunnings to assemble the thermostat controller for wine making. Always liking to keep a spare I went in search of the item. At Bunnings it had been $5 it was a bit of a shock when the same item came in at $8. We spent a little time scouting around the store and noting prices. In general it looked as if prices were all a bit high. I wonder if many of the shoppers do any price comparisons any more. Maybe thee is hope for the local trader.