It's still crazy spring weather here in the South Waikato, rain,sun, hail and alot of wind.

My pink & blue bells are a lovely show under my Feijoa trees.

My vege garden is coming along nicely thanks to the plastic tunnels I've been using, the mini micro climates have let the broccoli, red cabbage, lettuce & mesclun salad be protected  from all the bad weather we had had for months.  I am going to be brave this week and start to sow my outdoor crops of runner beans, potato's, Sweet corn, Peas, Squash and Kamo kamo.

I planted beetroot, red onions, radish, zucchini & cucumbers a couple of days ago under cover.  

My garden in the early stages.

I am also very happy to let you know that I was voted 14th at the  Beginners Quilt-along @ Quiltinggallery.com, and have won an awesome Simplicity 6" x 24" Quilting ruler which I'm totally stoked about because I don't have one a 'proper' quilting ruler- so ya!

Thanks so much for the votes, they really did count, I only scrapped in by 1 vote! 

Time to vote.

The Beginners quilt-along I entered at Quilting gallery.com is down to the final voting for the grand prizes. There are 31 finished quilt tops in the final, at the moment mine is rating 17th out of the 31, the first 14 win- so VOTE,  VOTE, VOTE for me and "MY FIRST QUILT".
Click this link,  http://quiltinggallery.com/2012/10/02/voting-time-beginners-quilt-along-quilts/ check out the quilts, vote for me & submit vote. Only 1 vote per IP address, voting closes October 9th, fingers crossed x

Block 13's a winner!

Well guess what!
My 13th quilt block I made for  the www.quiltinggallery.com Beginners Quilt along has won a prize.
Wow, 13 must have been my lucky number.
I've won 4 quilt patterns from www.thefatquartershop.com, I was so excited when I got the email, goes to show how the Internet has made the world so easily connected, me from Lil New Zealand winning a U.S challenge, Awesome!
 

 #13 Quilt block is a winner.

I've been a busy-bee in the garden, it's spring-time, lots to be done, seeds to sow, plants to plant, compost to dig and BAD BUGS NEED TO DIE! Aphids in particular. Making themselves cosy in my glasshouse.
I checked out the sprays at my local supermarket & hardware stores and was blown away at the prices, anywhere from $18 for a 750ml ready to use spray or $14 upwards for a 250ml concentrated spray.
I remembered that in a previous N.Z. Gardner magazine there was a article on 10 Easy to make Organic Bug Sprays.
I hunted down the issue from the stack (November 09) and found a Garlic Bug Spray recipe, it's said to tackle many different bugs- aphids, wire worm, codling moth, white cabbage butterfly & mosquito larvae. So back to the supermarket I went to buy the 3 ingredients I didn't have, Pure Soap (sunlight), Garlic & Kerosene, totalling $11.83.The 4th ingredient is water.

This has made 1 litre of concentrate, with a mixing ratio of 15mls spray to 1 litre of water,
that's approx 66 litres of spray from 1 batch. Had to share the recipe, I will let you know how well it works over the following weeks.
                                                       Recipe for Organic Garlic Bug Spray
                                                         1/3 of 1 bar of Pure Soap (30grm) grated,
                                                         100grm Chopped Garlic (3 bulbs)
                                                         1 tsp kerosene (5ml)
                                                         1 Litre of water (warmish)

  In a large Juice Bottle I dissolved the  soap in a little boiling water, then added other ingredients,

shake the heck out of it, leave it for 48hr.

Then strain/sieve it and it's ready to go.

I have finished my quilt-top for the Beginners Quilt-along, just in time to be in for voting to win lot's of great goodies.
Judging starts at quilting gallery.com in two days time. You can check out how my quilt progressed at my flicker page and please vote for me & my quilt in the quilt-along.
/http://www.flickr.com/photos/82082458@N03/

I'm very happy with how the quilt has come together.
I just wish the photo's were alot clearer.
The fabrics are so funky, Skulls, Flames, Squiggles, Splodges, Puzzle pieces, Circles, Paisley's and Flecks.
In a colour range of Black, White, Grey &
Duck Egg Blue.

Just the backing & binding to go to finish the quilt completely.
Quilting gallery are in the planing stages for an intermediate quilt along in march next year. Bring it on! 

Yates Veggie Growing Challenge

I have entered the Yates Spring Veggie growing challenge for a third year, this years challenge is abit different to previous years, less blogging & updates and alot more category's and prizepacks. You can checkout & watch my gardens progress over the coming months at this link: 

http://www.yates.co.nz/vegie-challenge/spring-2012/gardeners/Mel%20Maj/5565-another-spring-another-yates-growing-challenge

I'll be sowing & growing lots of veggie's and herbs. I purchased some 'Roma' & Money Maker' Tomato plants at our local Tokoroa Farmers Market, a great value 8 plants for $5, ready to plant out in my glasshouse this week.

There's lots of digging & compost to be added to my main garden beds. I've planted out broccolii and lettuce plants under a grow tunnel to protect them from the crazy spring weather we've been having. I'll be planting beans(4 types), sweetcorn, beetroot, potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce, coriander, sage, borage, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, chilli, broccoli, leek,red cabbage, spring onion, red onion & radish to name a few of what I'll try to grow.

Slack Blogger!

Wow, can't believe it's been over a month since I posted my last blog, slackest blogger ever!
I have decided to try posting smaller blogs more often.
I do have so much to share but never enough time to write big posts.
My quilt-along is going great, I've finished the 13 blocks so now it's onto piecing it together with borders

My awesome 1st Iris for spring and the purple ones are ready to burst open, love them.

   My lettuce in the glasshouse have been pumping.
I've picked 18 bags of salad so far, my iceberg's are hearting up nicely. Sad news- my arctic tomato plants stalks frozen 2 nights ago when we had quite a heavy frost, bummer.

Spring is on the way......

Spring is on the way-

my 1st daffodill was out and proud on the 1st of August.

It is so nice to see some colour in the garden and to signal the winter will soon be over and a new spring season is soon to begin.

My veges in the glasshouse are booming, we have eaten our 1st salad with the lettuce I planted and it was yum.

I picked 5 different types of the messclun mix,

the freshness and flavour is outstanding.

I have sown some Spring Onions- Ishkura long White and Radishes- Easter Egg Blend in around the outer of the lettuces.

I've also been abit ambitious and have sown 4 varieties of early growing Tomatos, 2 types of

'Sub Arctic Plenty', 'Baxters Early bush cherry'& 'Cherry Sweetie', fingers crossed X.

 These are the 1st 8 Blocks from the beginners quilting challenge that I joined at Quiltinggallery.com. I've been learning lots of mad patchworking skills and have recieved some nice comments and feedback on my blocks.
I'm loving this weekly tutorial that is teaching the basics of putting a quilt together- I can do anytime and it's free!

You can check out my progress on my
flicker page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/82082458@N03/

I found this great pattern for a quick to knit beanie over at http://yarnmanknits.blogspot.co.nz/2009/02/regular-guy-beanie.html

I had some Naturally's Tussock 10ply Yarn and it knitted up awesome with this pattern,  my 'Regular Guy' Hubby loves it.