garden
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Nita’s borlotti beans
My cousin Nita is Italian and grows borlotti beans in her garden. She gave me some to plant, and I recently cooked some for the first time. I love when a new shoot appears from the ground, it’s like: Yes! We are doing this! This one started last year. Then it became this. I left… Continue reading
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Bird of Paradise! New plant
My neighbours Niven and Joan are an older couple, who aren’t that interested in their front garden. I offered to help them prune back their Bird of Paradise plants, which were getting pretty overcrowded. I started deadheading some. They completely neglect these beautiful flowers and they grow like mad, and so big! So I asked… Continue reading
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Meanwhile, lettuce in Kooralbyn
They’re doing alright without me. Well done Mike (although he says he’s done nothing) 🤣 Continue reading
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English tea, Sabah style
My cousin made English tea in a teapot! (I never do this but my friend Mariana would approve). Served with char siu buns — pork, mushroom, hard boiled egg and Chinese sausage (lap cheong). Continue reading
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Butterhead lettuce
I grew a few types of lettuce last year, and noticed the butterhead survived the bugs better than the others. Maybe they don’t like butterhead? Anyway I left one to flower and it made loads of fluffy dry heads, a bit like little dandelions. Earlier this year I carefully sowed some into a tray, lined… Continue reading
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Tree snake in the rose
A strip of iridescent blue, grey and yellow caught my eye in the rose bush. A tree snake with a lovely yellow head was just hanging out in the sun. I would have liked to get closer to take a better picture but I don’t know anything about snakes, so I kept my distance and… Continue reading
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Roses make a comeback
I love the early morning light. My roses had to fend for themselves last year and they didn’t do well. This year I’ve paid them more attention, feeding the soil and watering with Seasol. The kangaroos did make a meal of them during the drought 😕 but they are making a comeback! Continue reading
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Mummy and Joey (video)
It’s so dry now, the roos come very close, looking for things to eat. They’ve started to eat my roses. A lady who runs a nursery in Beaudesert said they’re eating everything at the moment, not just roses. I don’t mind. They can eat anything in my garden if it helps them to keep going.… Continue reading
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Mum and bub grazing (video)
I was digging the flower bed outside the wall, then this mother and baby roo stopped to graze. So I took a break. It’s great being on holiday and seeing these guys hang out. Continue reading
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Misty morning in garden
6.15am. about to water the garden before it’s too hot. Love the morning. Here’s my first William Morris rose for Spring <3. Continue reading
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Toadstools
I start every morning with a massive mug of tea or coffee and a walk around the garden. The morning light is so gentle (especially important in sunny Queensland), everything is soft with dew, and it’s cool. These toadstools appeared overnight. After a few hours in the hot sun, they dry up and die. Nice… Continue reading
About Joanna
Joanna is British Australian. She worked mainly in financial news in London. In her forties she moved to her parents’ birthplace, Sabah, a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo. She became a pianist at the Jesselton Hotel in Kota Kinabalu and wrote a blog about musicians, which was popular among Sabahans at home and abroad. The blog was turned into a coffee table book when the Ministry of Tourism and Culture expressed interest. Joanna came to Australia in 2012. This is her second blog.
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