The last bit of sewing and Cucumber growing.

Hello,

Earlier on in the week I finished the last of the sewing for the year. I have had some waffle fabric scraps which have been waiting to be used. I turned them into hand towels.

I used fabric for the binding that matched the machine embroidery designs. The white fabric you can see on the stitching is a wash-away. This melts  in water. I also used up the last of the yellow cotton and crocheted two facecloths which are so lovely and soft.

 Each of the ladies at the Blogger's lunch received a machine embroidery stocking to hang on the tree.

Apple Cucumbers.

 For many years we just haven't been able to grow Cucumbers. We would plant them and within a day or so there was absolutely nothing left of them. This was our final time at trying. The lady at the Garden Centre suggested that maybe something might be eating them so we put some of those blue snail pallets around the seedlings. Slater's were the little pests eating at the plants.

Marketmore Cucumbers.

 Leading on from that success I was given several packets of seeds last month and amongst them was a packet of Marketmore Cucumbers. I planted these in those little jiffy pots and all the seeds grew. These have been planted out in a raised bed and are thriving. I have had them under some shade cloth. They even survived several 45/46 degrees days with no side effects.

Lettuce and Cucumber in a self watering box.

I enjoy watching Gardening Australia on television and was quite impressed with the self watering vegie box they had on a short while ago. Basically you get a foam box then place either gravel or perlite in the base about half way up the box. Then you add some way to add the water. You can use the black drainage pipe with the holes. We didn't have any of that and substituted the white down pipe with holes drilled in it. A piece of shade cloth is put across the box on top of the perlite/gravel then potting mix is added. Put a hole in the side of the box at the end where the pipe is a couple of inches from the base to allow water to drain out. Fill the pipe up with water to soak everything. This will remain damp for about a week. You are supposed to cut of the shade cloth but we left ours to put across the top of the plants on a hot day. I originally planted the cucumber seeds on one side to see how it worked and was pleasantly surprised with the growth. So a punnet of lettuce was added. I will transplant the cucumbers shortly.We actually have used two foam boxes, the outside bigger box was broken at one end so we placed the smaller one inside. This may help stabilise the temperature for growing  and help with holding the water for longer.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2014. I 'll take a bit of break from blogging over this period and will be back next year.Stay safe.

Happy days.
Bev C