Out in the garden

We have plentiful tomatoes! So so many tomatoes! Most of them we are just munching away on, but I have also chopped lots up for the freezer and made a big batch of tomato sauce.

The little yellow ones fall off the vine when they are ready, so the ground is always sprinkled with them, it looks quite pretty.

 

The garden is looking very different from the last time I posted about it, see the before shots here. Which I see was way back in November, wow, we are 3 days into Autumn now!

The tomatoes were just tiny baby seedlings and the carrots had not even sprouted.

Liam helped me scatter all the spinach seeds we collected from our old plants and now we have LOTS of seedlings. We have been using the baby leaves in our salads.

 

My pumpkin plant has gone crazy and decided to see how high it can climb the tree next to it! There is even a big pumpkin growing way up there, hopefully the branches will be able to hold it's weight.

 

My dad stayed for a while over Christmas time and built me another compost bin while he was here, it's fantastic! I really needed another bin. Now I can leave one to compost down while I'm filling the second one up.

I haven't actually planted any potatoes but my potted lemon tree always has a crop that sprouts under it, it's quite handy! I love it when the garden does it's own thing! I had just enough to make this yummy recipe from Jamie Oliver - Crispy and sticky chicken thighs with squashed new potatoes and tomatoes. It's a simple recipe but really delicious, and a great way to use up some of those tomatoes!

 

What's going on in the garden

My poor neglected garden is finally getting a bit of attention. These are the before photos. Hopefully in a month I can show you some beautiful after photos!
Last summer we were finishing off the house so the only summer vegetables I grew were tomatoes, and even those were a little neglected. My garden has pretty much been untouched for a year, except for putting some garlic and shallots in and letting the self seeded spinach flourish. The weeds have had a great time establishing themselves, last week I dug out a giant dock weed that was up to my chest! My compost bin is now full of many wheelbarrow loads of greenery. Liam has been earning pocket money weeding out patches for me.

 

All my spinach and parsley have gone to seed. I've pulled a lot of it out now, but I always like to leave a few to scatter their seeds and gift me with new seedlings.

 

 

 

I have repaired my bamboo trellis and planted some sugar snap peas. I've also finally planted out my tomato plants, some little coriander seedlings, some bush beans, capsicums, and another lot of carrots after the snails ate the last lot!

 

 

 

It's all looking a little bare and sad really, but it's amazing how some sunshine, water and a little TLC can transform a bare patch of dirt into a lush little paradise. So watch this space!
At least we have some yummy strawberries appearing, and borage flowers for the bees.

In the garden right now

We have been spending lots of time out in the garden in the last few weeks. I love this time of year, everything starts sprouting and turning green and flowers are popping up everywhere, it's so pretty. The sun is beaming, but it's not too hot, perfect weather for being outside.
I spend lots of time in spring planning how I'm going to make the most of the productive garden season that is ahead. I always seem to think I have plenty of time, and then the weeks zip by and all of a sudden we're already half way through October and I'm rushing to plant my tomato seeds before it's too late.





I find spring is very much a transition time, my garden is pretty full year round, I don't have a huge space (well not big enough for all my ambitious dreams anyway!) and there is never a lot of bare earth sitting empty. So spring is all about shifting things around and moving things on in order to make some space for all those wonderful summer vegetables!
Sometimes it takes a bit of juggling - at the moment I'm patiently waiting for my coriander to produce seeds, and then it'll be out in a flash as there are carrots and beetroot waiting in line to use this spot.



I try to be efficient with my space planning and I hate pulling things out that still have something to give. I had to clear out a spot for my precious summer tomatoes to go into, but I saved the nasturtium petals to add to our lunch, and I even saved the forget-me-nots :) they were too pretty to throw in the compost pile.





As well as planning what is going where there is lots of preparation - it's all about feeding the soil and making things all good and ready so the veges can go straight in when it's their time. We have been collecting lots of seaweed from the beach, and will soon be bringing home bag fulls of sawdust from the calf pens where we buy our milk, it makes great mulch and is wonderful when composted down.
The kids helped me build a new compost bin, I am very proud of our effort, Liam has become very good at hammering in nails since we have been working on our house renovation.

I've also been building trellises for things to grow up, I like to grow as many things vertically as I can in order to save on space. I had fun pottering for the afternoon in the garden last week weaving a bamboo frame, it will either have cucumbers or zucchini growing up it come summer.





So yes, lots of preparation, lots of planning, but not a lot of planting, not just yet - though this weekend is the traditional time for planting out tomatoes, but I'm going to leave mine indoors for a couple more weeks just to get a wee bit bigger (because I planted them a wee bit late!). I have managed to put in a few lettuces, peas, and spinach, and we are enjoying a bumper crop of broad beans, which as you can see I am struggling to keep upright, the strong spring winds we've had haven't helped.





So that is a bit of what's going on around these here parts, and I'm tempted to apologize, once again, about my lack of presence here and promise, once again, that I will be here more often. But I think I'll just keep my mouth shut and we'll see what happens :) And yes, I know, I really should update my profile picture, seeing as Isla is almost 6 years old now!
xx
Hanna

New garden beds and strawberries

:: My garden diary ::



This past week in the garden we have been building a new garden bed. I've bought all my seeds now for this coming season and I have grand plans as you know, but we need more room! My strawberries are kind of taking over my vege garden now so I decided it was time to move them to a new home, under the fruit trees.



We laid scrap paper and cardboard over the lawn and topped with compost and mulch. (Isla got sidetracked browsing women's clothing catalogues).



We picked up a trailer load of mulch from a nearby stable, a lovely mixture of sawdust, hay and horse manure which has been just fantastic, we've covered most of the garden in it and will be going back for more.



We've also planted one lot of peas along the fence now, and will be planting more every few weeks, I'm hoping to be able to have enough to freeze some for later eating. The fruit trees, an apple and a nashi pear will be espaliered along the fence. My job for this coming week is to get some wires attached to the fence to shape my trees onto, and then these wires will be used also to support the peas.



We will also be planting borage and nasturiums in this bed as companion plants, (borage for the strawberries, nasturtium for the trees) and I must collect some pine needles from the park next door to mulch around the strawberries, they seem to love them and apparently it improves their flavour.

Sowing tomatoes and making fertiliser

:: My garden diary ::

This is a catch up post on the gardening diary front, from last week.
It's tomato seedling planting time, it seems so early to be thinking about tomatoes, but I really want to hit the ground running this year. Last year my dream of bottled, dried, sauced tomatoes faded quickly as I got my seedlings in the ground far too late, those weeks just rush by so quickly and before you know it it's Christmas time!



So I've sowed my seeds and they'll be living indoors and being lovingly cared for until the weather is warm enough outside. I've planted a mixture of heirloom varieties and cherry toms.
We also sowed borage, onions and gooseberries to get going indoors.



Second thing that needs to be talked about from last week is liquid fertiliser. If you plan on having a summer garden then get your liquid fertiliser going now!
Go to the oppshop and get yourself an old pillowcase, and fill it with good things. In ours is: sheep manure, kitchen scraps, grass clippings, weeds, comfrey leaves, seaweed, and a little bit of lime (I think that's all). If you look online there are lots of specific recipies and ideas of things you can throw in there.



Then tie up the top of the pillowcase and put it in a big barrel or old rubbish bin or something and fill it with water, make sure it's something with a lid because it's a bit stinky! And then just leave it to do it's thing and by time this new growing season is underway you will have a whole barrel full of wonderful wholesome food for your hungry plants. and it will last you for ages too as it needs to be watered down, put about half a litre into your watering can and top up with water. Your plants will thank you :)

My garden diary

I seem to have become a little preoccupied with my vege garden just of late. It all started with being determined to be organised this year, which got me thinking, and planning and opening up my books and magazines, which led to trips to the library and the discovery of this book, which I have been carrying with me probably far too much, I'm going to wear the pages out, I'm going to have to buy my own copy. And then it just so happened that I was sent an email invitation to attend a talk by this lovely lady, which has got me even more inspired.



I'm sitting here this morning with a rather sore back from too much enthusiastic gardening, hoping that it will ease shortly so we can get out there again. We have had some beautiful sunny days, it's actually hot out there! And the kids have been enjoying being out there as much as I have, they will quite happily spend the whole day out there, with just the odd toilet break and stopping for food to keep up the energy levels.



So, I thought I would start a garden diary sort of thing on here. Just posting updates now and again of things we've been doing in the garden. For two reasons - it will be helpful for me to look back on next year. And also it may be helpful for you, I'm doing so much research and discovering so many wonderful things, that may help you in your gardening adventures, or perhaps inspire you to start!



The print is from a painting by a local Waihi artist, Helen McCulloch who my sister Frith took some art classes with. Helen had some of her paintings on display at a street fair a while ago and I saw this one and loved it so much. Frith remembered and asked Helen to make a print of it for my birthday :) I have it on the dresser in my bedroom and look at it often, I would love some more of her artwork actually. I couldn't find any of her work online to show you, Frith do you know if she has a website or anything?