So the Weekly Times arrived and the magazine in it had a story on Deutscher's Turkey Farm at Dadswells Bridge (opposite the Giant Koala for those that have seen the movie Charlie and Boots...).
But having had no success with a sitting of eggs (all unfertile), Christmas Turkey shopping was required.
From left to right Edna (the lilac), Rhonda (the red) and Lisa (the white)... With Claude cut off in the front. He's had a very busy week drumming and waving his tail around in the air, so far they seem underwhelmed....
And now the garden! Snake bed is planted out and doing really well - although it has taken some hefty doses of shell grit to get the snail and slug problem back under control - now everything's storming ahead.
As much as we like our nightly tiptoes around the garden with a bucket of salt water to dunk discovered snails in - this year we've had all sorts of trouble with the sheer quantity of the rotten things. Liberal applications of shell grit have been the only option - and it has really stopped the worst of them. I still find the occasional slimey lurking - so I still get the slight pleasure of a sizzle as they disappear into the ever present bucket of salty water!
The sleeper beds we set up last year were refilled with straw and alpaca poo - and are back in production.
Hidden away in here are some Ball Zucchinis which are a new variety for us... have to say they are very prolific and the zuccs are lovely.
Last year's plan of leaving some fruit lying around has paid off already - love self-sown tomatoes... all that fruit / sod all work!
In one of the snake curves, we'd always thought a pond would work.. so we've started. We actually dug the hole a while ago but couldn't lay the liner because... the hole kept filling up with water. Here.....
Tomatoes in bales are starting to take off now as well.
And not forgetting around the back of the house. The citrus in this bed really struggled with the severe frosts we had over winter... but they are hanging in there. And the roses and mints are beyond happy. Again - liberal applications of shell grit have been required to keep the snails at bay - but I'm hoping that the extra calcium will help the citrus as well.