Monday, September 14

funk gardening

you know the feeling when you want to write but youre all 'blocked up'? Theres too many things going on and not enoug clarity about any of them. Its all too fresh. Thats where Im at. Befuddled and a bit overwhelmed with all of lifes 'stuff'. Theres B1s first real heartache with unrequited feelings and her complete inability to manage them meaning of course that EVERYTHING is my fault. Theres my good friend handing up her PhD and jetting off to New York for a month whci has plunged me into the depths of the 'im never going to finish' despair. Actually i have been feeling so funky that not even a good Spring session in the garden pulled me out of. Must be hormonal. Im hoping its hormaonal coz Im feeling way out of control. Despite the funk, i did have a great weekend in the garden in between ferrying kids arounds for what seemed like hours and hours. Inner city living with teens is looking like a great idea! Heres what my Sunday looked like. Proud glimpses of a recovering patch of rhubarb ( netting obviously did the trick! must have been possums or rats!)

The Bloke finishing of the vege patch extension, especially for a bumper crop of tomatoes.
The cabbage patch (!) weeded of wild rocket, more cabbage seedlings and some cauliflowers as well planted up and the potato patch topped up wth turned in green manure (rocket waste after removing all the good bits which made 3 more litre jars of pesto!) and 35 more potatoes planted.
The rasberries are sprouting away on the right of the pic here just next to a new bean structure which is sporting no beans yet but some purple ones are in and in went some early capsicums which im hoping wont get frost bite!
The tub was purchased ready to catch the grey water run off from the studio sink. This is intended as frog bog and will get planted down in that green space just infront of the walkway.
My tomoates and lettuce are doing well if not looking a little light stretched!
That pizza oven rain hats gotta go before the house and garden get opened to paying customers! and to the left is not a neglected dead old vine, its last years hops plant left to provide structure for this years growth.

And this is a sight to soothe my grumpy arse. One of my anticipated spring garden events is the oranges in full colour contrasted with one of my favourite bulbs, the grape hyacinth. they make a fantastic foil for each other.


I made some totally fantastic pita breads, Katrines broadbean felafels, a yoghurt, cucumber and feta tatzaki, hommous and a tomato parsley salad for a fantastic felafel pita meal but we were so hungry after a day in the garden that i couldnt be bothered searching for the camera. All i can say is that it was well worth the effort of home made pita( so bloody easy and soo bloody good) and felafel. 3 litres of limoncello got finished up for the first stage and I couldnt find any happy pork up here in the hills, so its on my list for tomorrows market day. Stay tuned for a salami making session.

10 comments:

Veggie Gnome said...

Hope you get out of the doldrums soon! It's not nice there. Anything we can do?

Love the pictures and the write-up. Can't wait for the salami making piccies and report.

greenfumb said...

Your garden looks absolutely beautiful, I would pay to come to your house! Maybe after the big event you will feel better, sometimes you worry about things without even realising you're doing it.

Hope you feel better soon x

Laura Jane said...

Are you SuRE you don't feel better after seeing that rpoductive garden? My guy would be green with envy about such a patch.

And your own rasperries!! YUM! Its too hot here for them, I never had a fresh home-grown razzy until I went to Tassie in 1983 - and now I'm a huge convert! Eating them off our own bushes in Wisconsin was pretty good too!

Looking forward to seeing you next week!

cristy said...

Your garden looks amazing! Wow. I like the pizza oven's rain hat. You should leave it...

Hope you feel better soon.

Kale for Sale said...

I second the rain hat on the pizza oven. It adds even more character. Mostly I want to appreciate the grape hyacinth which are far too often over looked. I love them; their color, longevity, their tolerance, their intricate clusters of little flowers that make up the full bloom. And of course their unmatched blueness. Maybe a couple on your desk would remedy your blues and a couple beneath B1's pillow would help to heal her heart too.

Rixa said...

I can definitely sympathize with that "how will I ever get everything done?" feeling. I never ends...

It's fun to see you getting ready for spring when we're winding down for the season. I plan to have lots and lots of kale for the winter/fall, so at least I'll still be able to have some garden produce for the next few months.

Jen said...

I feel exhausted just reading about your weekend! I was also in a funk over the last few days with S away and the girls on school holiday, but just waited it out when I prolly should have sweated it out. By the end of the w/e felt like I was slowly emerging out of said bad mood. Guess what, it was hormonal...now Im loving my diva cup once again!

Katrine said...

i'm glad you enjoyed the felafels! the pitta bread sounds fantastic too... i might have to give it a go, i still haven't tried bakind anything bread like...

the salami making sounds very exciting!

inner city living is overrated ... there's not even nearly enough gardening space :)

my parents where/are fine with picking me and my siblings up from the train/bus station but drew the line at driving us any further. (unless we where REALLY nice to them!) it worked well for them :)

Kelly said...

veggie- almost out, feels much better, thanks. To kind, umm, bring eggs on saturday and a laugh or two. salami will begin when casings arrive and will keep ya posted.

greenfumb- i love it here. its a holiday everyday. Its definitely being stuck on the PhD. Too much work to get into it! Thanks for the xx.

laurajane- well, it certainly helps and another day out there today topped me right up. see you Monday!

christy- its a peaceful haven for sure and although it looks interesting n all, the hats gonna go when the crowds arrive.

kale- my sensibility says hats not right despite the urging otherwise! lol arent they just lovely, they are my favourite bulb and despite having loads of them i have never been able to pick any!

rixa- i know you can you overloaded crazy busy woman too! yes, inverted hemisphere gardening is always weird! shocks me every time, i never get used to it.

jen-it was busy but soooo sunny and beautiful out there! and funk away. its an entitlement i reckon! lol. My is definitely not hormal sad to say! hehe

katrine- they were huge hit! and the pita is actually really really easy, quicker than any bread or pizza dough(its the same really) Im excited about the salami- its surprisingly easy ...apparently!!LOL. Yes, i do that too but these were sleepover pick ups- waay to0 much pillow and bag and sleeping bag for public transport. Im with your parents 100%- did you spend periods of hating them for it like they hate me for it? i just call it indepepndence building! hehe

Katrine said...

ah, sleepovers are a bit different... before i was about maybe 14/15 they'd drive me to sleepovers still.
after that, i had friends who lived in the city and would share half their bed with me or a comfy couch and started to realise that all i really needed for sleeping over was a toothbrush and a pair of undies, so my parents stayed home :)

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