Here are the first artichokes from the artichoke plant that I grew from seed. Unbelieveable that these monsters grew from something smaller than the size of a finger nail! Tonight we’re having roasted artichokes and pork :) .

Also crossed off the to do list is the little (and final – for now) round garden bed.

Before:

After:

They’re hydrangeas around the base of the bird bath (small now but they’ll get very big in a couple of years, I’ll be fighting to keep them down!). I sprinkled some grass seed in all that dirt around the outside of the garden bed. I found a good deal on lawn seed at Hollander Imports on the Brooker Highway - a 5kg bag for $22. I’m glad I discovered them because I used to get grass seed from Chickenfeed at $9.80 for a 1kg box of seed.

While I’m on the subect of the garden beds, look how well the shrubs in one of the larger round garden beds are doing just 5 months on from being planted out in September:

Before (September 2010):

After (February 2011):

And look how well the garden bed at the front of the house is doing:

Before (January 2010):

After (February 2011):

And the kangaroo paws in the native bed are going crazy amost exactly 12 months on:

Before (February 2010):

After (February 2011):

Anyway, back to the finished projects - here is an old 1960s wooden slat outdoor setting that we bought last year. It had 4 layers of paint on it.

Before:

I pressure washed it, stripped it, sanded it and painted it and took it out into the garden and set it down under a tree. It’s a nice spot to sit with a cup of tea whilst watching the dogs sniff around the garden in the morning (it’s also a nice spot to sit on a summer’s evening while sipping a little glass of wine).

After:

Finally, back in July last year I bought this old home made planter that someone made from an old truck tyre (it’s even got a patch on it where a hole had been repaired at one time). I gave it a pressure wash and then painted it.

Before:

After:

Magically, the other week I managed to come by another tyre planter.

Not exactly the same, but very similar. I wonder who was making these tyre planters? Anyway, hopefully in the next few days I can get time to wash it and paint it.