finally...a gardening post. i have been 'preparing' the garden beds for a few weeks, clearing out all the old veges, turning the soil, planning the plantings and getting the compost finished and sieved. When you have limited space you have to be clever how you plant. In between kids and work, snatching good time to move enough compost to regenerate old beds and prepare them well enough for seed sowing has been tricky. Yesterday my lovely bloke and I managed a pretty good day outside, getting both top and bottom beds ready for winter planting, leaving behind the still productive plantings.
We tag teamed it with bean duties inbetween time for him hanging in his jumping contraption under the apple tree; its quite sweet as he has worn a bare patch with his feet into the earth from many half hour sessions. I'd made things more of a challenge for myself this year by resolving to try and do all our veges from seed. Id kept some seed from last seasons crops ( carrots, beans, beetroot, lettuce, cabbage) but id also had some new seeds arrive from Eden. Yesterday i sowed carrots, parsnip, beetroot, bintje potatoes, beans, chives, kale, rainbow chard, sweet pea and climbing peas, wild rocket(aragula), garlic, with more to sow in March.
According to the guide, its a waning moon and 4 days off being full. I figured thats close enough and besides, i had a free day! I always look forward to the beginning of a new planting season. Everythings looks so full of potential, neat and free of weeds or straggling bits and rows are ordered and crisp. I love the reward of sowing seeds after so much preparation and I love the anticipation and the wait for the first sign of them emerging from the soil, that lovely sense of timelessness when Im out watering, ambling and looking closely for that first sprig of green.
So i have to be vigilant over the next few weeks, watering every morning so they never dry out, get stressed and D.I.E, keeping the slugs n friends at bay and the damn cat out. Should be a challenge.
I'm really looking forward to the kale, did i say kale?
8 comments:
Gosh, that soil looks great!
Thanks for the reminder to get started on sowing. Great list of seeds! Let's hope they'll germinate well and get to grow to strapping teenagers in no time. :)
Such industry. Well done. I still have to pull out my corn, ditch the broc that got munched by the pottaroos, and refortify the patch for the winter planting...
hey, my verification this time was blogie.... i guess thats me now Im a fully fledged "blogie"! Yippee
You make me feel lazy, I decided that I wanted raised beds, so we (my man and I) are going to measure up today,(maybe) with the hope of having things in place sometime next month. Bamboo skewers set out amongs the seedlings help keep the cat(s) from lying down or digging up, just remember to take them out later on (so you don't stab yourself, speaks from prior experience).
Sorry I missed you at the market on Friday, I was looking, but we had got there a bit later than normal, so I didn't keep to my usual timetable. Maybe we should set up a meet-up?
take care and make sure you put your feet up sometime tonight.
Pip
It's so beautiful!! How I wish I had a gardening gene! I grow weeds well, but not much else... Except this one African Violet that is the only plant I haven't killed, and I've kept it alive for 8 1/2 years now. But your garden is lovely and I will keep watching to see it bloom! :)
veggie- yah, i was a bit worried when it was dry but once wet, it looks sooo sooo good, rich and friable. purrfect!
Jen - i can even begin to imagine trying to grden with potaroos around. Keep persevering!. Gotta love a good word veri!
RINI- i shant tell you what i did today then! lol. hope you got made some headway on the raised beds and yes, i call that feline razor wire, and i LOVE it! havent had any occupational injury yet tho. but it works doesnt it. no more raking through the cat @#!*. i did have my eyes peeled for you both and yes, lets catch up!
GeekMommy - welcome!! and thanks. the secret to gardening, its like house painting...all in the prep! Hope your violets not reading this...
Everytime I think we're past the worst of the weather and it's safe to plant, alone comes another hot yucky day. Maybe later in the week we can plant. Or next week. Definitely in March... before it gets too frosty.
iCG- i feel ya pain mate! hope the week ahead isnt too rough.
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