This coming week in S.E. Queensland bans will come into force on the use of hoses for watering gardens. Like many other home gardeners, we are having to re-think our plans for a winter vegie patch. And I had so been looking forward to replacing all the herbs that hadn't survived this past hot summer. Especially the sorrell and lovage for the winter soups I adore.
Now it seems that bucketing water around to 40 or so fruit trees may become my new exercise regime. Who needs pilates classes?
This little gnome has seen it all. In good times and bad, for twenty-odd years he's been sitting around in various spots in the garden or among the pot-plants.
But these past two weeks there has been a real little elf helping me in the garden. Miss Two is such a willing worker.
Her favourite job in the world is scambling under the prickly lime and lemon trees to collect the fallen fruit. And then wheeling them in her barrow to the kitchen. 
After that, she will fill her barrow with fallen leaves to be thrown into the compost bin. Then she jumps on top in her gum boots and turns them in with her mini rake.
Feeding the vegetable scraps to the worms in the farm is another important job - as is collecting their 'wee' to pour onto the garden with a watering can.
So in the garden shed there is a pint-sized watering can as well as the mini wheel-barrow and rake.
Last week's fun job was picking the rosellas and calamondins and seeing them turned into marmalade and jam. And after that eating it on our breakfast toast. And picking and squeezing tangelos to make our own special orange juice.
It's a whole new world for a city-based tot -- and a very slow one indeed for the grandma who's getting all this extra help!
Comments