Last week in the Food Garden at the Royal Tasmania Botanical Gardens (RTBG) we cleared and prepared garden beds ready for planting this past Thursday. I am grateful that two of my fellow gardeners reported on the activity and for Lesley’s photos of some of the changes.Sandra told me “Robyn and I planted lettuce and cucumbers and Neil and Andrew were in charge of silverbeet and more lettuce”. Lesley added “There are some melons Neil put in that are in front of the peas.

Then there is silver beet (5 colour mix) in the foreground put in by Robyn and Andrew and some lettuce put in by Neil.

The next photo shows the cucumber Neil planted and the first flowering of a Sunflower.

Lesley continued “We were also weeding around the thyme in the fruit forest, getting out a range of weeds including chick weed, euphorbia and flick weed.” All those weeds remain prevalent and constant. They act as a great reminder that life continues, gardens are never constant, and that repetitive work is a given.

Thanks Sandra and Lesley. Obviously another day of great achievement by all. With our southern days still lengthening and the general temperature warming, all these freshly planted vegetables will grow rapidly and blog posts in the New Year will track their progress.

From this Monday 14^th December all stories about the RTBG and other Tasmanian stories will halt because I have written 26 days’ worth of blog posts recording the 8 day sailing trip I took from Hobart to the south west of Tasmania recently. That story will run until Friday the 8^th January as an uninterrupted daily report with photos of the glorious sea, sky and wilderness landscape. I look forward to reading your comments and hearing your reactions.