Gloomy's Garden & Witchery - Garden Vlog # 17 (20th 24th May)

Hello Everyone,

Just following through with another gardening video for my third week of my holidays - it can be viewed here on my YouTube Channel:

Don't forget to like and subscribe as this really helps my channel grow, and just like a garden, I am planting the seeds in hope that the internet gods will be kind to me and grow my channel into a flourishing community of like minded individuals who cherish Mother Earth in ALL her glory.

So tell your gardening or witchy friends about my channel, hell - tell your neighbour, your grocer or even your pool guy hahaha..... just kidding, I really do want to grow this channel so I can keep making videos - my channel isn't monetised, I am not in it for that - it's just to show you all what I do in my garden and witchcraft practice, plus my herbal remedies, my sewing and crochet projects and any other things that I can come up with along the way - it's a Journey, and I hope you will come along with me on it!!

Anyway, I have one more week of holidays left and if I do not win x lotto, I will have to go back to work on the 2nd June.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead.

Blessings,

Annette )O( xxx

Garden Vlog # 16

Hello my lovelies,

Here is just a quick catch up video of what is happening in the gardens at the moment.

I am on holidays, and have another 2 weeks off - so hopefully I will be able to do a couple more videos before I have to go back - maybe a more witchy one!!

I hope you are all doing well and I hope to catch up with you all soon.

Blessings to you all,

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden & Witchery - GardenVlog # 15 ~ 1st - 4th May 2025

Hello my Green Thumbed Guru's,

I hope you are all keeping well....

I have done another Garden Vlog on my YouTube channel, just to keep you in touch with what is happening in my little part of the world..

Please leave a comment and tell me what you are up to...

Also, if you like the type of videos I am doing, please feel free to like and subscribe - I am trying to build my channel up, but don't have the algorithms working for me yet to get me out to the millions of folk out there in cyber land.

Your help with this would be greatly appreciated!!

Anyhoo - here is the video....

Enjoy,

And I look forward to catching up with you all soon.

Cheers for now,

Annette )O( xxx

Tea & Chat - Herbal Remedies - Gut Health

Hello my lovelies,

I have another video up on YouTube all about Gut health, and what I use to help my IBS.

I hope you will enjoy this little "different" video!!

Take care and have a great week!

Blessings,

Annette )O( xxx

Gloomy's Garden - Vlog 11 - End of Summer Catch-up

Hi Everyone,

Just another Gloomy's Garden Vlog for end of summer...

I hope you enjoy it!!

Witch Vlog # 2 Lughnasadh - now available on YouTube

I have started a YouTube channel...

 Hello my little wild ones,

Well, it's been a hot minute since I last posted, so I thought I would update you on what I have been doing in the cyberworld...

I have started up a YouTube channel:

It only has 4 videos on at the moment and it will be a mixture of gardening, health, herbal remedies, green witchery and anything else I feel like sharing with you all as time goes by.

I hope you will join me and maybe pop over to see my latest Gloomy's Garden Vlog (well, it's actually the first one ever) - right here.........

Gloomy's Garden Vlog # 1 

At this stage I do not know how often I will be posting - it depends on how much time I have at any given time, but I hope to post at least once a month at this stage, as I work up the nerve to actually talk live in front of the camera (I am very shy!!).

Anyway - ENJOY!!!

Blessings to you as always,

Annette (Gloomy) XxX )O(

 

GLOOMY'S HERBALS - A RECIPE FOR BITTERS

In today's society there are a LOT of illnesses that can be prevented by having good gut flora.  The so called "Foods" we eat today are making us very sick (and surely killing us quicker than normal).  To prevent getting ill, we need to get our gut flora in check, and to do this we need to stay away from processed and packaged foods, junk food, excessive sugar, flavourings and colourings.

Look at the list of ingredients packaged foods in the supermarkets and you will notice a load of numbers and words that you don't even know what they are - this is wrong, so very, very wrong.  You should be able to tell what is in your food.

Herbal Bitters can really aid the digestive system and it is a good practice to take them just before a large meal - (like the sort we eat at Christmas time, where we stuff ourselves silly and then can't move...hahaha).  

Herbal Bitters can also have a very positive effect on all the body systems, as there are bitter receptors throughout the body and it will help to stimulate these systems.  

This herbal concoction can be used all year round if required - before any large meal, greasy fried meal, or a rich meal, (though it does pay to limit these kinds of meals) to help in the digestion of such foods through your body.

 

INGREDIENTS:
Dandelion Leaves and Roots,

Yarrow, 

Chamomile, 

Calendula/Marigold Flowers, 

Wormwood,

Elecampane (can be fresh or dried), 

Fennel Seeds,

Peppermint, 
Brandy.

 

METHOD:

Simply chop them all up and place in a Kilner/Mason jar.  Cover with brandy, stir to remove any bubbles then leave to infuse for 3-4 weeks in a cool, dark cupboard. 

 

You can also use Vervain, Agrimony, Ginger, Hops, Burdock Root, Dock Root, Stinging Nettle and many others.  

 

When infusion is complete, strain out the herbs and put the bitters into a dark bottle, and store in a dark pantry or cupboard.

 

 

DOSE:

 

 Take 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon about 15-20 minutes before eating (work your way up to a tablespoon full if you do not like bitters).  It is best to take bitters straight on to the tongue but perhaps add the bitters to a little drop of water until you get used to the bitter taste.  

This concoction will last up to 6 months. 

 

NOTE:

 

You can either grow these herbs in your garden or purchase them dried online from a reputable source.  But I prefer to grow my own herbs so I know that they are fresh and have not been sprayed with any pesticides or other nasties.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER:

If you are under a Health Practitioner's supervision, always check with them first before embarking to take anything herbal, just to make sure there are no herbs in the mix that might be contra-indicated for you (will clash), with the prescription medication you are already on. Better to be safe than sorry!

I hope you found this helpful in your quest for a healthy gut flora.

Keep well my friends.

It's been a hot minute (or two - hahaha)

 Greetings Beautiful people of the interwebs,

I hope you are all keeping well and life is going great guns for you!!

As the heading say's - It's been a hot minute or two since I last did a blog (Spring was the last time - it is now Autumn!!), but life has a very interesting way of prioritising your time and what you can do.

In other words - life got in the way!!!

So just a quick catch up from me 😁

I am happy to report that Paul is doing well, he is off all the drugs that he was on for 5 months and he is walking everyday and trying to get fit.  He has even roped me into doing more fitness and going for walks with him - which has really helped my stress a lot.

My work has been very stressful this last couple of months due to 2 new system integrations, which generally speaking, are not going well - even with 4 years of testing and things not going as planned, the powers that be decided to go live with it, and we have all sorts of issues arising (as we knew we would) - so the systems saga continues.

I have to keep telling myself - 3 more years to retirement, just 3 more years........

This last summer we have been doing our house up a bit too - we have new carpets in the lounge and Caetlyn's office plus new flooring in the kitchen.  We are waiting for our new lounge suite to be made and delivered - which is supposed to be late April, then we are getting the roller shutters replaced on the front of the house (as the old one ones on the front window are broken).  Then we are thinking of putting tint on the front room window, to stop the heat from coming in too much in the summer.... but that might be another year away.

I also want to take a month off of work to repaint and re-floor my office and turn it into a space that I want to work in - at the moment there is just everything everywhere, as it is our library, my office, my witchy room, my sewing room, my art room, my harvesting room and as you can imagine - it is chockers full in every part - so I want to sort it out, eliminate stuff I don't use or need anymore, paint the walls and put new carpet on the floor.  Maybe move a couple of cabinets out and make more room.

The weather is starting to get cooler now, with daylight savings ending in a few hours - we revert to winter time.  That means that I have to move my chilli plants to the patio area at the front of the house so they don't get too cold, and so I can overwinter them - they are still producing heaps of chillies, so hopefully they will still ripen once I put them out the front.

I have trimmed all my roses, fertilised and put compost on all the plants out in the front garden and got them ready for their winter hibernation.

I still have to do the back garden - and I am running out of time (always the way for me!!).

I have two tomato plants that are still producing cherry tomatoes - so I don't really want to pull them out just yet - but I might have to to make way for the brassicas - and I planted a whole bunch of seeds in the vegepods a couple of weeks ago - some of them are starting to pop through now!!

I have 4 beds to prepare (I am so behind schedule!!!) for winter crops, and the back garden to tidy up - once all the trees have lost their leaves (Granny Smith Apple, Pink Lady Apple, O'Henry Peach, Stella Cherry & Apricot) - I am going to collect the leaves for leaf mulch.  I then have to harshly prune the apple trees back, compost around their roots for winter too.

I also have to compost and mulch around the banana plantation too, as they will need a bit of warmth for the oncoming winter months.

I also have a few things in pots that I need to plant out before it gets too cold!!

See - busy, busy, busy and no time to do it in - but we will see how far we can get this year LOL.

Harvesting and preserving all the fruits and veggies has taken some time as well - I still have a tonne of pomegranates and apples to preserve - plus some beets to bottle as well. (I think I need more like a year off of work hahahaha).

Anyhow - enough of me grumbling about lack of time ⏰ - it's 11.45pm on Saturday 6th April and I really should go to bed if I am going to have a full day of "doing much needed jobs around the garden" tomorrow.

So thanks for catching up with me again, hopefully I will be able to chat more to you all soon.

Blessings to you all )O( stay safe and healthy!

Cheers,

Gloomy xxx

Mid-Winter

Hello my dear Wild-Ones,

Here in the Southern Hemisphere it is well in the middle of winter, but there is still a lot happening in the garden at this time - even though lately I have been too busy to really get out there to do much but the occasional 5 minute weed session here and there!!

The beautiful Osteospermums are blooming well and creating

a lovely bright colour in an other-wise winter garden.

The jonquils have popped up just a bit early this year,

and their scent is divine!!

(Even if Super-Hubby doesn't like the smell haha)

                                          The most vibrant Dimorphotheca ecklonis "Fire-starter".

Another Osteospermum - Black Widow - with friend!

The Greenhouse is looking full at the moment,

waiting for spring to come so they can be

planted out and spread their little roots in the soil.

My "mini" herb bed is doing well with lots of

scrummy herbs growing in there, as I try to

keep them alive over the winter.

The ones I have put in here are:

Rosemary

Parsley

Oregano

Thyme

Chives

The back garden is looking rather flooded and

leafy - even the fake critters are looking a 

wee bit forlorn!!

So what have I been up to whilst the weather has been wild and woolly? 

A few things actually - I have taken up crocheting again and made myself this lovely long jacket:

Yes - they are skulls!!

I also have made a phone case cover - my "shop bought" phone cover was starting to fall apart - so instead of buying a new one (because anyone who knows me, knows that I am a hermit and I don't like leaving the house - especially to go shopping at the best of times), I decided to crochet one instead - it turned out ok - except the next cover I try will have to have a different part around the camera because when I take photos - I get a black haze...LOL

In the theme of "Save the Bees"...

I have also been preserving a lot of our Autumn harvests making jams and pickling beets, making chilli sauce from our Habanero chillies, freezing lots of pomegranate pearls and pumpkins (and of course making pumpkin soup!!).

Pomegranate & Apple Jam                    

Beetroot from my garden!        

                                                                                                                    

                                                                                Habenero Chilli Sauce

                                            

It's also been the time for de-cluttering the house and getting rid of anything that we either haven't used in 6-12 months or things that no longer serve us or our current needs.  It had been awesome to do!! Even today Super-Hubby and I are going to clean out the pantry, so that I can organise it a wee bit better...and get rid of any old packaged food that is past it's use by date!!

And harvesting my dahlia seeds for the coming spring:

I did receive a lovely gift from an Instagram friend in New South Wales - she had chatted to me about an Elder tree in December last year, and she said that she would post a cutting to me.  Time went by and I thought nothing of it (you know, people promise things and then life happens and it goes out of their minds), but early July a parcel was delivered to me and inside was this gorgeous Elder cutting:

I have named this Elder cutting Courtney, after

my friend that sent it to me 😄

HOW BLESSED WAS I!!!

Even though it has been bitterly cold this Winter, we have still been doing quite a lot in the gardens and home - so it hasn't been a total hibernation period like most years!! (which I think, is a good thing!!).

I hope your Winter (or Summer - depending on which hemisphere you are in), is going well.

Until next time Wild-Ones, may you seek the beauty in nature everyday!!

Blessings to you all,

GLOOMY's Garden

And remember to save the Bees!!

Vast Harvest Permaculture - Our Government are destroying our bees (this needs to be seen)

I thought I would share this thought provoking video regarding the killing of innocent bees, that is happening in the Eastern States of Australia at the moment.

What gets me is that they didn't even test the bees to see if they had the Veroa mite to begin with, before destroying 18 hives.

The family of Vast Harvest Permaculture are understandably devastated - as I would be too!!

I thought we as guardians of the earth were supposed to protect the bees from extinction - not friggin go about willy nilly destroying them  - that's bureaucracy for you!!

WARNING - this video is heart wrenching.

Please plant flowers in your garden to attract the bees and have bee watering stations, make bee hotels so they can have a place to thrive and survive...

Take care of yourselves and the BEES

AJ xxx

An Autumnal update..

 Greeting Earthly Folks,

I hope I find you all well on this lovely Autumnal day.

Yes - it's Autumn here in the suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia - Winter is looming and I have SO many things I need to do in the garden before the cooler weather hits.  So much so that I have made a list of things to do, which stems over 3 pages long - just so I can keep track and get things moving.

It's a busy time of the year sowing seeds for Winter veggies, making sure all the fruit trees are pruned and composted around the trunks, overwintering chillies and other cold affected plants.  Making sure everything has good drainage etc.

BUSY - BUSY - BUSY!!!

Our achievements so far in this Summer/Autumn transition have been wonderful - Super-Hubby bought me a portable greenhouse (in other words not a glass house, but one that can be moved).. Mind you - Super-Hubby made sure that it was secured to the concrete by drilling little brackets to hold it down - this baby ain't going anywhere until we want it to!!

GLOOMY'S GREENHOUSE

In this greenhouse I have all my seeds that I have sown - Celery, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Snow Peas, Carrots & Onions (so far) - I have a few more items to get started in the next couple of weeks - I would love to grow some Cavolo nero kale (it's the straight kind not the curly one - which I find easier to clean), I would also like to grow brussel sprouts, and I have to plant more perpetual spinach (we go through a lot of that).

BABY CABBAGES

    Things are starting to pop up quite nicely now I have a greenhouse and I am                           looking forward to seeing how much food I can grow this year in my tiny back garden.

    I am hoping to get a couple more raised beds as well, so that I can use them specifically for food growth.

    We have also purchased a gazebo to go in the corner of our yard where we have our table and chair setting - so that we can utilise that area in winter too.

    This will arrive later next week (as it was a special order), then Super-Hubby and the team (Caetlyn & myself) will be building it - so that should be interesting!!

    Luckily, the pieces are all cut and prepared - we just have to put the jig-saw puzzle together (we are not builders, but we figured - we managed a greenhouse with dodgy instructions, we can handle this!!). 

In the garden - we have harvested all the Peaches off of our O'Henry Peach tree - what an abundance we got this year, which was really a blessing as we didn't think that the fruit would survive after the wild and woolly weather we have had the last few months of Spring/Summer.  But none the less, we managed to harvest around 60 beautiful peaches.  I froze a lot of them, made peach jam and we ate a lot of them too - I still have some left in the little fridge outside, which I have to either freeze or make something with (probably more jam!!).

Our apple trees were a bit of a disaster this year - they got coddling moth again and even though I took precautions, most of the apples had to be thrown away or left to the birds.  I did manage to get one basket full of really small apples off the red delicious tree - none of them were red - or delicious.  I still have to do something with those too - though I am not sure what at this stage - probably either dehydrate apple slices or blanch and freeze them.

We have pumpkins growing still - it was a bit weird this year as everyone was thinking they wouldn't get any due to the weird weather we have had - then all of a sudden they had flowers everywhere - and now pumpkins are growing when they should be dying back.  Same with the Zucchinis.

Tomatoes this year were a bit of a flop too - the only ones that really took off were the small bite-sized volunteer ones - I only got a few of the bigger ones (Red & Black variety) which were delicious, but not enough of them.  I didn't get enough to make any sauce this year.  

Capsicums have been the same - only have around 6 fruit this year - last year they kept going all through winter - but I don't like my chances this year.

Chillies are the same - even though I still have to harvest some of the yellow habanero.  There are about 20 of them still on the plant - but not enough to make any chilli sauce with.  So I am going to dehydrate them and make some killer chilli powder and flakes to use in the next 9 months.

I have yellow dwarf beans flowering at the moment - so hoping for some beans there...plus beetroot, turnips and lots of flowers - dahlias, petunias, zinnias, poppies, kalanchoe, portulaca, calendula, marigolds, osteospermums, hibiscus, dietes grandiflora (African Lily) - they are all looking most spectacular and attracting the bees and other pollinating insects.

The only herbs I have left are Peppermint, Mint, Sage, Rosemary, Yarrow and Basil - the Basil is flowering and attracting a load of bees - so I am leaving that for them... my herb garden was hit hard by the weather - so hopefully in Spring I will have a nice place to grow some more medicinal herbs.

The Pomegranates are nearly ready to be harvested - in my garden they are usually ready between late March and mid April - last year I harvested them on 25th April - so we will see this year.

I still have bulbs to plant in the front garden for a little bit of a colour POP in Spring plus lots of tidying up, pruning, weeding, mowing, and just general maintenance on garden beds to be done.

But all in good time (and hopefully by the time winter hits!!)

In the meantime - please enjoy these photos from my garden....

                                                                    PUMPKINS

      DAHLIA (POM-POM)

                                             

                                                  TOMATO HARVEST

APPLES

INSIDE MY GREENHOUSE

THE AREA BEING RENOVATED NEXT!!!

PEACHES

Until next time - have a wonderful week ahead!!

      Cheers,

      AJ xxx

 

WOW - and just like that, it's December!!

Greetings people of the Interwebs,

How are you all doing?

I tell you that life is moving so fast lately - last time I left you it was October, I blinked and suddenly it is December!!!

They say time flies when you're having fun...LOL..  But I find that as I am getting older, time is just speeding by and I don't have enough of the stuff to get all my jobs done that I need to get done.  I always say I can't wait to retire so that I can get on track with the things that need doing around here... Hahaha! (That won't be for a long time yet - so I had better sort myself out to start getting things in order now!)

Luckily this month, starting on my birthday (9th December), I have a full month off of work, to get those niggly, pesky jobs done - like planting my Banana Trees and their pups because they have been cooped up in their pots for too long, also planting my Dietes grandiflora in the ground, repotting all my Aloe vera and Dragon Fruit Cactus into good soil, covering the fruit trees in netting so that the birds don't get all of my fruit like last year.  Plus we will be building an extension to our back fence using wood so that I can grow things like passionfruit, kiwi fruit, jasmine, and other "climbers" against the fence to make it a more greener area.

The garden is looking spectacular at the moment with a lot of things growing - like lots and lots of flowers of differing sorts, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums, chillies, onions, perpetual spinach, peaches, apples, pomegranates, corn, herbs and mints - it's all very exciting as I have NEVER had this much growing in my garden - and we have been here since 2001.

There are also other jobs that I need to do on the holidays:

We are also looking at an area for me to put a 10' x 8' greenhouse as well, plus possibly ripping up some of the concrete so I can put a few raised beds in to grow more food.

And looking at beautifying our entertainment area in the back garden - making it look more appealing to the eye instead of all the tin from the shed and back fence. Maybe I will paint it, or hang trellis from it to make it look more natural, add some nice plants around the area and maybe a water feature!

I also want to get everything out of my office come sewing room come working altar for my Green Witch side of things - and do a spring clean, a bit of a fix up and possibly paint the whole dang room in a nice calming colour - I want to make it more peace inducing for when I am having a bad day at work - not that I should have many of them at the moment as I have changed jobs within the Department I am working for.  I started that on the 1st December, and even though we are having a few teething issues with systems, it is very much less stressful than my normal substantive job.

Another thing I want to achieve is giving the bathroom a makeover too (& possibly the toilet area as well) - I need to get in there and scrub like a scrubby thing, all the nooks and crannies that you normally gloss over on the weekly clean.  I wouldn't mind painting this too - but we will have to see how the finances hold out and time itself...

However, I will be making time for rest and recuperation too - I need it after the year I have had!!  I need to focus on becoming a bit more healthier and fitter so that I can take care of my garden (especially when the heat really hits - it's 35 degrees Celsius today, but it's destined to get hotter).  I don't cope well in the heat, especially outside - it makes me tired, weary and grumpy..LOL

I do have indoor projects to do on those days where it is unbearable outside - I have gnomes to repaint, sewing to do, mending to mend, crocheting to finish and even seeds to harvest and sow - so there is no excuse for being bored.

Even though we are not Christmassy people -we have put our light up Christmas Decorations up in the Garden and it looks really cheery at night - we didn't do it for the longest time - especially during the "C-Virus" years as we didn't think anybody would be able to see it - this year we felt like it's still been a tough year for everyone, so we would try and bring some cheer and put them up...I hope the neighbourhood likes it!! (I will put some pictures up in the next blog!!)

Anyhoo - I had better sign off for now, hopefully I will catch you just before Christmas starts!!

Until next time, many blessings to you all..

Cheers,                    

Gloomy xxx

Hello and Welcome!!

Hello and Welcome to Gloomy's Garden,

I hope you will enjoy your time here and maybe learn a little from what I am doing, be it gardening, cooking, sewing, trying to find better ways to live off our land, herbal remedies, green witchery or a number of other things that this household in the "Burbs" of Adelaide, South Australia are interested in. Discoveries in Nature, road trips, music (My Super-Hubby is a musician), and maybe even an appearance from our Doggo Rudy!!

So excuse me whilst I set up this page to get it to a more "user friendly" type of thing - I'm not good with this stuff, but I am willing to give it a crack!!

Until next time (when I will introduce myself a bit better),
Stay safe, healthy and happy!

Cheers,
Gloomy