Growing time in the garden

Last year was a busy year for me. With study and extra work I was pretty busy and my family was too, to make it all possible. With my study complete and a mortar board waiting for me in March, my work load has been reduced. I realise now how much time it took up. I'm not saying I didn't like it. I loved my study, it was personally and professionally rewarding. But it took up so much time! My garden was getting just the basics done. Beds were being dug over and plants or seeds going in. Some seeds were raised in the green house. Occasionally some seasol would be watered in and a few weeds were pulled. But the glory of this year's January garden does not compare to last year. There have been gaps in my planting/seed sowing for successive crops. Some things haven't gone in at all. It's getting late in the summer growing season now and I'm wondering how many pumpkins we'll get - not whether it will be over 60, but whether we'll get 6. So over the past few weeks, my time in the garden has been growing. I have been able to get back in there more and it feels great. In my garden now, not so many things have been grown from seed. I have bought more seedlings or plants to go in and really, I have to be okay with that for now and look forward to the growing time that I have in the garden and the growing that will come from it. Looking outside, I can see it's a nice day here for gardening...

The lilliums are flowering!

They are some interesting carrots!

After a few weeks away from my garden, I spent all day pottering in the garden today. I didn't mean to, a few minutes turned into a few hours and before long my children were covered in mud from playing in the mud patch and it was time to start dinner.

But what to cook? As I said, all day in the garden, so no post holiday grocery shopping was done...

Luckily there was some frozen fish in the freezer. Added to that, home grown and freshly picked potato, zucchini, beans and carrots. Check those carrots out!

Bandicooting potatoes

I have been bandicooting potatoes. This is a variety of 6 different varieties that will make for a very yummy potato salad. I am especially looking forward to the very dark ones, which are purple right through!

My garden floweth over

My garden is taking control of itself at the moment. With little time to spare for the luxury of pottering around of late, some plants have taken it upon themselves to self seed and spread.

Borage, tomatoes, calendula, parsley, lettuce, chives, pumpkins... All good things which I am happy to have more of. But with the self seeding is also the interesting places that they have come up in.

Don't get me wrong, I love a flowing garden, but my yard is supposed to have a bit if order and structure. I have a plan, and tomatoes in the scoria was not part of the plan!

The patch, on the other hand, is a lot more free flowing. I am encouraging self seeding there... It's less predictable in terms of germination rates, and subject to loss through accidental weeding, but so much easier with a very relaxed feel about it.

So, now I have completed my Masters degree, and finished teaching at the Uni and at school (well, almost) for the year, I have more time to collect seeds and plant them where I want them.

Rain, glorious rain

The rain is wonderful. It is filling the tanks and watering the garden. It's warm enough that popping out for a spot if gardening in the drizzle is possible and even enjoyable.

But then I think back to last November when we had this wonderful rain as well. It was all good, except for the strawberry rotting abilities of constant rain. We lost a decent amount of our harvest due to that rain. Our strawberries are so juicy and sweet, the supermarket varieties hardly compare. Chemical free and plump, I look forward to November when the daily harvest is plentiful.

So now, I am considering how to protect my berries from that glorious rain if it continues as predicted.

A rose by any other name

A rose by any other name, will still smell as sweet.

But a boysenberry by a different name would lead to less confusion.

Especially for three year olds who get horrified at the thought that perhaps their mother has chosen to eat 'poison berries'.

On another note, the boysenberries are ripening up nicely and we are getting a larger crop this year.