The big dam is dry. We haven’t had significant rain heavy enough to flow water into the dam since March. The small dam is all but empty. I’m trying to save a small amount of water for firefighting – just in case.

This week I started watering the garden using the rain water stored in our water tanks. The weather continues very hot and dry in the mid thirties. The fruit tress in the orchards are really suffering. There isn’t enough water for every plant. The pot plants and vegetables get priority. We are starting to eat corn form the second planting of three lots of sweet corn. We have started picking from the second planting of zucchinis and tomatoes, even the third planting of cucumbers. It may be hot and dry, but we still eat well with carrots and beetroot still doing well.

The new zucchini plants are just coming into their own now and flowering profusly. it’s time again for stuffed zucchini flowers. A 50/50 mix of ricotta and finely diced feta for texture, mixed with a few olives, capers, artichoke hearts and an anchovy, all finely diced.

These are pan fried in just a hint of olive oil, just to stop them sticking and covered to allow them to sweat out and steam in their own juices. It’s a lovely seasonal meal, as the flowers are only profuse for the first month of the plants 3 month productive life. All the old plants that we planted as seeds in September were down to just one small zucchini per day, when these Xmas planted seeds started producing this week.

The old zucchinis are now on the compost and caulis, broccoli and cabbages are now planted in their place.