sow far, sow good

winter is nearly at it's end, thank goodness, it's been a tough one for many people this year, and the hardest going for a long time.

first calender day of spring has officially sprung, and the light is coming earlier, and staying longer, each day.

here are some up to date photos, making the most of glorious spring sunshine.

lemon balm and spring planting peas

curry plant, grape cutting, last year's jalapeno chillis

Chicken Run!

lavender, grown heaps from small cutting; new tyre paths with solar lamps

tyre path, jade plant and borage

avocadoes, grown from stone, grown heaps in sunny sheltered spot

rosemary, for remembrance, grown from seedling

nasturtium cuttings, grown heaps and well established

It's coming up to the end of my second full year here, as I moved in at the start of spring. I have learned a lot, about all sorts of things, and feel, finally, like the garden is coming together a bit, and even getting ahead - well, soon anyway.

Having said that, even for a still-in-development project, this little patch of heaven has produced a lot of food! and still is. It's good, fresh, spray- and chemical-free food, which has been blessed by the natural rain and all day sun. It has survived gales, hails, frosts and invasions of next-door's chickens (not always helpful); it's cheerful, colourful, spicy and packed with love.

Growing one's own food makes so much sense, even if it's just a box of lettuce or cress on your kitchen windowsill. Having living things to look after, protect and defend, serve and work in harmony with, is incredibly good for the soul, and of course the body too, although it is also a lot of hard labour, so be prepared!

I am looking forward to my third year here, I hope to build some shelter and some structures which capture as much natural energy as I can. I am also looking forward to applying my learnings, and seeing how much more efficient and productive the garden becomes.

happy gardening

lou

boy it's cold

howdy all gardeners, well it's still cold, and we're having the most bizarre weather, along with a whole year or more of bizarre natural disaster events, so the world is rumbling for sure. There has been snow up here, and up in Helensville (the closest town), and even as far as Dargaville, home of the Kumara, in the "Winterless' North - not any more apparently! It's the first time Auckland has had snow since 1939, long before my time, another weather record broken.

Here are some photos of the garden, when it was still warm and sunny. They cheered me up, and I remembered just how much hard work and love I have put into this little plot. Winter has been very slow, with little opportunity to work outside - if it's not pouring with rain, it's blowing a gale and throwing down hail, and lately all three! It's nice to look back on sunnier, more productive times, whilst eagerly awaiting the return of spring.



who said crocs are not cool...

baby swan plant, food for monarch butterflies. Bees like them too.





Californian poppy. Baby avocado. Only seven years to go....





Globe artichoke in growth...



and bloom.

Salads from the garden

My first ever rose, given to me on my birthday by my mum, with plotting help from the woofer

Nasturtiums, great flavoursome addition to salads. Apparently eating one nasturtium leaf a day can help prevent and ward off arthiritis, according to Dr Vogel.

Of course, the recent terrible weather affects the garden, and the work-ability, and the gardener too! Thankfully the rain has stopped for a little while, and the mud is giving up some of the gumboots and even people it sucked in last week. The chickens got all excited, and laid heaps of eggs with many a squawk and flap, especially Fluffy the big black chicken, who is in her first season of laying and can't really believe what is happening in her nether regions. They have gone into recovery mode now though, unless they are hiding eggs somewhere, so I am trialling a supplement of brown rice and chilli flakes - lots of vitamin B rich foods for nourishment, and apparently chilli gives everything a gee up, a bit like drinking strong coffee for constipation, and gets it all going again. We shall see.

Meantime, I watch avidly for the first light of morning, noting that it comes a little earlier each day. It is freezing cold, that's true, but the sunrises are just spectacular, especially now that the moon is waning. The other morning, I went out on the deck, where pink fluffy clouds hung low in the sky, and I stood myself at the very mid-point of the path of the rising sun on my right, and the setting moon to my left. What a view!

ka kite ano, happy gardening

lou

winter's cooooold

howdy all, winter's arrived, after the warmest May on record, and then the wettest muggiest June for a long time, and the cold has come as quite a shock, with chilly south-easterlies cutting through the skin, and rain forever. However, there have been some awesome rainbows, and some beautiful sunny days, so it helps while I wait for it to roll on spring! I'm hoping for a few more sunny days, to dry out the ground, as it is developing pronounced swamp-like tendencies. Gumboots have been sucked off in the mud, on more than one occasion!

Due to the ground being so wet, the garden is coming along very slowly, the main activity at the moment being stamping one's feet on the ground and going 'isn't it cooooold!' I am considering turning the back garden into a winter olympic stadium for rural sports, such as the Mud-Puddle Gumboot Hop (10 metres and 20 metres), the Stamp'N'Shiver Endurance Month, and the Sway-In-The-Easterly dance competition. Special spot prizes will be awarded for funky hats, scarves and gloves. I have been making use of the indoor warmth though, and planting lots of seeds in containers on sunny windowsills. So far, peas, beans, lettuce, nettles, viola, and even a couple of sunflowers are coming up. Unfortunately, slugs seem to be sprouting up too, and all over my kitchen floor and windows first thing in the morning! cheeky things, but they are good feed for the chookies, who like their little parcels of fresh protein being tossed over their fence.

The chickens are not laying at the moment, apart from Blondie the chicken who ran off to go and fornicate with next door's rooster. The rooster has been dispatched, for extreme antisocial behaviour, and Blondie is looking for secret places to lay her fertilised eggs, whilst singing 'that man he done me wrong, that man he now is gone' in a plaintive manner. I probably won't be telling her where he has gone, and how he got there.... Meantime, I think that there may be some little chickies chirping around come spring, so watch this space.

Here are some photos of the garden in autumn, with accidental pumpkins, and helper chickens, who came from next door to dig up the garden and poop all over it, saving me the job of having to dig it and spread poop on it myself. Sally the Cat supervised the whole project from around the corner....

here are the potatoes in their early stages, just making the most of the diminishing sunlight hours

and the lemon balm grew hard out, and has had a radical haircut since this photo was taken. Anyone got any ideas on what I can do with lemon balm?

aaah those views, aaah that sunset.

Guess this is what they mean by 'living the dream'.

Ka kite ano

lou