If there is a bad time for a gardener to go on holiday then I would say it was either at the height of the harvest or two weeks before the last frost date. We went away during the last scenario. I can’t say I was very pleased. But Hubby the Un-Gardener landed a gig on a cruise ship and so I was forced to sail around the Pacific Ocean for 17 days, where there wasn’t one single bit of greenery except the plastic plants dotted about the ship. The landscape was predominantly blue tones and there was no dark rich soil, just white grainy sand.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy my time away, it’s just that it was at the wrong time. I should have been preparing and enriching my soil, re-sowing the last chance seedlings that had as yet failed to pop up and without them, their fruits would be absent from my garden this summer. I had to lovingly transplant and re-pot each and every seedling from their seed raising soil nursery into the more nutrient rich potting mix, so they could grow strong and healthy and able to face what the world outside would throw at them. I had to begin to harden them off so the shock of going from the warmth and safety of the greenhouse to the big outdoors wouldn’t cause lasting emotional damage.
There were weeds to keep on top of and irrigation systems to set up. I needed to figure out a way to protect the strawberries from the birds – although I can report the stone strawberries have provided a good first line of defence as we have been able to eat the first load of strawberries and they have been completely devoid of bird peck marks – although this won’t last for long! There is heaps to be done in those last couple of weeks to get ready for when it is safe to plant out my plants. And I wasn’t there!
All the plants had been sown to a perfectly timed schedule so they would all be the perfect size for the big day – the planting day when there was no longer a risk of frost. Nothing was to be too small or too large. I was so pleased to have finally figured this one out, through many a past season of plants sown enthusiastically too early and were planted out all leggy and far too big and so they never really did as well as they could have, or even worse having too tiny plants perishing or even simply vanishing overnight!
And we had to go and stuff up this fine balancing act by going away. The first thing I did was enlist help. Well someone had to care for the kids and the animals, but an important criteria was the ability to look after my garden. An essential skill. This was found in my mum. She had what it took to look after the kids and plants – although she was a little nervous about the animals.
Initially she was daunted by the responsibility of keeping my plants alive; by the end she knew them all intimately. Whereas, on my return I had lost complete touch. I didn’t know what I had, what stage they were at and I didn’t even recognise my babies they had grown so much. So we sat together in the greenhouse and did a stocktake and mum re-introduced me to each plant and pointed out their quirks and idiosyncrasies as she handed over the reins of responsibility.
Since mum left my plants are all still there where she left them. All I have managed to do is to water them. I am so wracked with guilt. I need to plant these plants, but things have conspired against me. The social calendar is bursting with meetings, appointments, birthdays and things that really can’t be avoided. My health is not on full steam as I managed to pick up some nasty lurgy that one tends to pick up when confined to floating metal vessel in the middle of an ocean with thousands of other people and all their germs. I really need to shake it – I have things to do in the garden – important things, and now the beautiful weather has faded to rain…. The price to pay for taking and ill-timed break!
Come again soon – the need to garden has never been more urgent.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
NB: For a look at how bad things are, check out my latest You Tube video in two parts. Click here for part 1 and click here for part 2!
My mum was always on at me to start a veggie garden. Her little unit in Western Australia had the most amazing back yard full of cobbled together raised beds and vibrant healthy vegetables and I was always getting photos of her amazing produce. She died after visiting us at Christmas last year and one of the last things that she said to us before she headed off was “Get those veggie gardens in!” We just spent the last week making those veggie gardens and decided to name the very first one after her. We have all sorts of things planted out and as first time veggie gardeners we have most probably made all of those newbie mistakes that you have been talking about ;). I hope you get your land legs back soon and that your newly teenaged veggies are able to communicate their desire to be planted to you soon. Isn’t it ironic that the time when we should be bums up in the garden is the time that everything starts to heat up towards Christmas? Those lucky Northern hemisphere people got it right! They are winding down now as Christmas is ramping up. I have my figers crossed for your beautiful healthy looking babies 🙂
Hi. I am so with your mum! – a veggie garden is the first thing you should have put in… good healthy food to nourish your souls while you get on with the big job you have in your garden. And it does actually save you money. I hope you planted heaps of veggies – enough to last all year, then you can save grocery money for permiculture projects! Good luck with your edibles.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Isn’t it always that no matter how old you get…you STILL don’t like someone telling you what to do? ;). I agree…we did have veggies in town but when we moved out here…the task was so monumental and there was so very much to do IMMEDIATELY before it progressed and got worse that we had to really knock our socks off with work. We are studying hort at the same time so we have to work on our online studies and so we often get frustrated by not having the time that we want to get out into the garden and really sort it out. We are slowly coming to the realisation that a “perfect” garden isn’t a possible or manageable garden and so we are taking the perfect for US garden tack and are running all the way with permaculture and its nuances. Bollocks to pristine gardens…ours has character! 😉
I long since gave up trying to achieve “magazine perfection” in the garden. You’d kill yourself trying. I like to think of my garden as rustic!
If your garden is “rustic” (remembering…I HAVE seen it 😉 ) then ours is a positive jungle! 😉
I only show the “good” bits – you should see the rest! hehehe
Oh you poor soul! Every season we think we’ve got it cracked but there’s always some kind of event/emergency/unseasonal weather waiting in the wings to thwart our plans! At least it looks as though you mum’s done a great job babysitting all dependants. The fresh, clean air of your garden should help get rid of those pesty, Pacific bugs and I’m sure you’ll be your enthusiastic self again soon!
Christine
Hi Christine.
Thanks for your supportive words. I finally managed to get in the garden today and got my tomatoes in. Now I feel much better. Another couple of days toiling and the rest should be in, then I can relax and enjoy the garden.
Cheers Sarah : o )