Hi, everyone! I hope everyone is having a great day!!! I am incredibly busy, but just wanted to post at least once today! Thank you Tracy - I am SO happy to hear that you all loved the cranberry jam stuff! I have to tell you I made your homemade cranberry sauce yesterday, and my hubby LOVED it! He and I were the only ones that ate it - we always are! But, he went on and on about how it was way better than canned, and way better than any other homemade anyone has tried! Then, the stuffing! Girl - that was wonderful!! I did add a half pint of mushrooms that I canned a while back, and chopped them up very small so the kids wouldn't really notice them. That went really well too! Dave said it was the best ever, and my brother-in-law loaded half his plate with it! William is the only kid here that is a stuffing eater, and he loved it too! (So did I!!!) I am getting close to finished. Not really, but it's nice to say! I have all the chocolates and candy and cookies packaged. Just have to cut and package the fudge yet. Make labels and stick them to all the jars of preserves. Make the cocoa mix, muffin mix and pancake mix, and make all those labels and package them. Umm, make an order form and price sheet, make an inventory, and I'm sure much more, but that's all I can think of right now. I am not going to bring the cupcakes I'm afraid - I've just run out of time to finish those. I got some baked, but I don't have time to make frosting and make the decorations, so hopefully some people will check out my website, where I will post some of those soon, I hope! Anyway, gotta get back to work - I want some sleep tonight! : ) Hugs, Becki

I have one approximately on acre inside my fence, which allowing for house and driveway, gives me a reasonably large garden compared to a suburban house block. The size of my garden is restricted to this size due to water availability, which comes from rainwater in a dam. In times of desperation the dam can be filled from an irrigation channel. I have a large area of lawn because I regard this as my fire break, climate control for the house, and I'd go barmy if I couldn't see that patch of green when everything outside the fence is brown. I also have a large driveway because as well as providing access to the house and garage, it is an area that does not require water. Between the lawn and the fence are the garden beds, heavily mulched with straw. This provides a fairly low maintenance garden - no trees to mow around, concrete edges that can be trimmed with a power edger, drippers on all the garden beds. All it takes is an hour on the rider mower and the garden looks very tidy. I can manage the rest on the fine, mild, sunny days as I am a "fair weather gardener". I love Wattleblosson's philosophy on planting, such commonsense, down to earth advice - must find out more about this Mary Verey.

Thanks Barbara, Jan, Annie and every one so Bearded Dragon it is, I though it was but didn't want to put that name to it just in case it was wrong. We get a lot of them here on this block last year one had babies so there were little dragons running around everywhere, We also get the frilled neck and some type of monitor or goanna. Thanks len for that info, you know the river is across the road but have yet to see a snake on this block. Marion my arm is starting to feel a bit better but I cannot lift it much, so hubby is still putting the clothes on the line bless him. Cheryl I have not seen a snail since we left Melbourne eleven years ago, but we have plenty of other pests to make up for it. GH I have 23 Bougainvillea's I will put repeats on for you one day as last years were the best.I hope that nectarine keep bearing fuit too or it will get the chop. And dear Bev I do hope you are feeling a lot better, I have just put more pics on for you. Cheers..MM.

Hi I found this info on Jaboticaba ages ago but I have no idea where. I saved it for my own use so didn't bother keeping a record of where it came from. I don't know if it will help as it is mainly about the yellow form. YELLOW JABOTICABA, Myciaria glomurata The Exotic fruit special for this month is the Yellow Jaboticaba. We consider this tree a showpiece. Its lime green leaves have an unusual soft, almost powdery appearance and its beautiful golden green pendulous branches make it a worthy feature in the garden for its highly ornamental nature. The fruit of the black jaboticaba is becoming more popular and widespread while the yellow jaboticaba still remains a mystery to many. A prerequisite for enjoying the fruits of the Black Jaboticaba is patience. They can often take 6-7 years to come to fruit. However, we have found the Yellow Jabot produce fruit in as little as 3 years. It is a small bushy tree, usually growing to 3-4m in the subtropics of Australia, however I have seen photographs of the tree, in Brazil (its place of origin), with a couple of young boys perched high in the branches. These trees must have reached 9-10 m tall. The tree has a moderate cold tolerance but is best protected from frost. It is a suitable container grown tree in those areas that do receive frost and can be moved to a sheltered position during the cooler months. They are happy in full sun or part shade and are generally small enough to find a place in most gardens. They are relatively wind tolerant but will not enjoy salt spray. They particularly enjoy deep rich soil pH 5.5 to 6.5 but with regular nutrient application can be grown in most soil types. While the fruits have some similarities to the Black Jaboticaba, they are quite different in appearance, having a slightly furry yellow skin instead of the smooth shiny black skin. The fruit contains a gelatinous whitish pulp which has a pleasant, sweet tangy flavour reminensint of pineapple. A single tree will produce fruit, but cross pollination has shown to increase productivity. When planting a jaboticaba, the crown (uppermost) roots should be 2 to 3 inches higher than the surrounding soil levels to provide water runoff. Peat, compost or rotted manure may be mixed with the soil from the planting hole to improve it. The soil should be a well-aerated mixture.