A picture from the patch

Here is a bit of the patch. Mostly we are working on soil improvement, getting it ready for Spring, but a few things have gone in. Under the chicken proof cage is mustard spinach, lettuce, coriander and some seed rows of carrots, spring onions, swede and orange beets. In a few weeks I'll put in another similar planting to ensure continual supply for the three households.

Kids planning their gardens

We had brunch at one of the local nursery cafes this morning, and as usual we had the wander around, dreaming of plants afterwards. In order to do this (and to encourage my littlies' green thumbs) my children have their 'job' of finding two things for the garden each - an ornamental and an edible.

My boy, who has just turned 3, picked up two plants almost straight away, a pansy and a strawberry. We have lots if pansies and strawberries already, but he could not be persuaded otherwise. I gave myself a little pat on the back that he could correctly identify the plants without tags on them.

My girl, well! She is older at four and a half and is developing a sense of value and compromise. She picked up different pots and put them back, she considered what she liked and changed her mind. Eventually she settled on a punnet of stock seedlings and a packet of pea seeds.

So here I sit, still in the garden after two happy children planted their purchases. What a good day!

The patch

Our community garden, lovingly referred to as "The Patch" is now up and running. Fence is up, gates are in, the grass has been ripped up, the soil is being improved and a few plants have even gone in. I'm loving it! And my neighbours are too.

The frosts have hit

With frosts the past few nights, the summer veg have reached the end if their time. Here is my zucchini plant, with the last zucchini for the season. Now for the post frost clear out...