Lettuces and lemon trees

The lettuces below were planted in May and did nothing but die back through winter; now they are growing like there's no tomorrow! They must have Spring fever. There are quite a few varieties, such as mustard, rocket and so on (you can tell I don't know what!) and I left them growing in the punnets in a big container so that the roots could grow through. Most plants die on me once I transplant them so I thought I wouldn't court disaster and see what happened. The third photo shows the amount of greenery I can pick at a time every second day - enough for a very tasty salad! They are organic lettuces and I have now bought two more punnets and will give them the same treatment. Hopefully will not have to buy any for a long time now.

It's another starry, starry night with no cloud or wind or moon to obscure the view of our tiny speck of the universe which is unparalleled at this time of year. Scorpius and Sagittarius are right overhead at the moment and a comfortable deck chair and a pair of binoculars will enable you to see the myriad globular clusters which populate these two constellations. A good-sized telescope will enable you to see planetary nebulae and far distant galaxies, although not in the detail or colour spectrum of the photographs we see via the various telescopes which are currently out there in space.

The new moon will be visible after sunset on Thursday, and judging by the high tide today, we are in for some upheaval along the Cape coast. It's a good time to get down to the beach and load up a sack or wheelbarrow (depending on how far away you live) with the large bamboo stalks of the kelp which breaks loose in strong tides and washes onto the rocks here in Kommetjie. Rinse off the salt and, while it is still moist, chop up with a spade or panga and dig into your vegetable garden or around trees, particularly a lemon tree, and see how your garden grows. Free from the sea.