Sometimes the thought of a white Christmas with snow all around and chestnuts roasting on an open fire which also takes the chill off your rosy cheeks after a day focussed purely on finding the right gifts, having time to do festive baking, building snowmen and doing all the things they sing about in the Christmas carols, sounds wonderful.
The problem is none of the carols sing about pulling weeds and harvesting zucchini, scaring birds from the strawberries and watering, watering and more watering. The whole festive arrangement doesn’t take into consideration that my garden is in the prime of the season and needs constant tender loving care.
My time has to be divided between Christmas and gardening and if a choice had to be made out of necessity then it would be the garden that would have to fall by the wayside for a couple of weeks while I make Christmas happen for my family – because lets face it – without the mums of the world the festive season wouldn’t be anywhere near as festive. Women make Christmas happen.
But if I really had to choose based on personal preference I’d be out there in the dirt pottering about to my hearts content. But alas no. So I climb into my hot stuffy car and head to crowded shopping centres trying to decide on the perfect gifts for the people I love the most.
Don’t get me wrong… I love Christmas. I love the look on the faces of Tim the Helper and the Joeyosaurus when they unwrap their gifts to see what santa has bought them, I love the ham and the salads, with fresh peas and new spuds, pavlova and fresh fruit salad – filled with summer fruit. I love the true meaning of Christmas and the reason for the season – the birth of a wee baby all those years ago that still holds so much meaning this year. Christmas is such a special time.
The garden just has to wait. The thing is it’s not just until boxing day that my garden has to wait – there is the summer holidays as well. Those well earned days relaxing on the beach. Luckily my garden won’t be completely neglected as I have my handy dandy watering system that is easy to use and a wonderful temporary garden guardian who will make sure all my plants stay healthy, in return for as much fresh produce that comes ready on her watch.
So I know for certain that today will last time this year that I’ll be able to give the garden my full attention so I can see some frenzied activity about to commence. In the meantime I want wish everyone a very merry Christmas and awesome new year. Thank you so much for following along with me in my garden. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have.
Come again soon – 2013 is a whole new gardening year.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
Well the poles are going to shift today so who knows what we’ll be growing when this time next year 😉 big wink and great zucchinis! Merry Christmas
Happy New Year Carol. Those great zucchinnis have taken you at your word and have become great big marrows while we were away on our Christmas holidays.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Fresh garden veg for Christmas sounds great – we are past that here in Canada. Enjoy your holidays!
Happy New Year Heidi. Our Christmas veggies were wonderful. Its the best thing to eat your own fresh produce on Christmas day. But in one short hot week away, the garden has gone crazy! Having summer at Christmas time isn’t the most ideal arrangement for a keen gardener.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Oh, I think that my people would all get a basket of that so delicious looking produce. As it is, some of my friends have to make do with jars of soup or freezer bags of pumpkin or baked zucchini bread. Love the looks of your garden.
Happy New Year Lucinda. We were able to take a large supply of fresh produce away with us on holiday. It was so nice to be able to share it with our friends. However the garden is definitely suffering from holiday neglect and doesn’t look any where near as good as it did a couple of weeks ago!
Cheers Sarah : o )
It will get better, they always do.
Sarah, it’s been so intriguing to watch your gardnen reach it’s zenith while my own is so brown and dormant.
Last summer, during the worst of our heat and drought, I often sang Christmas carols, just to get a sense of what the holiday season must be like for Kiwis. It was rather fun!
Happy Christmas!
Hi Cheryl. It would seem that the garden at it’s zenith is a complete wilderness. We haven’t been away that long, but it looks like we have been away for a month. Luckily it was being watered while we were away so it still looks lush. The weather boffins have hinted at drought, but they aren’t quite sure!
Cheers Sarah : o )
We in the Southern hemisphere have to down tools for Christmas in our busiest season! We WordPress bloggers DO have snow though ;). Have a fanastic Christmas and New Year and 2013 is going to be a very interesting year for you with everything that is happening and we can’t wait to join you on the ride 🙂
Happy New Year Fran and Steve. I hope the festive season hasn’t taken you away from your garden for too long. This should be a great year for everyone. Your new course sounds really exciting, so we are all in for a fantastic if not a little scary ride for 2013!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Happy New Year Sarah, Christmas didn’t take us too far from the garden as we had a nice quiet one :). We have some BIG plans for our veggie gardens here on Serendipity Farm this year and I just discovered a book by Jackie French that has blown me away. Its called “The Wilderness Garden” and is an amazing way to garden for our Australian conditions whilst providing food for ourselves and our local critters 🙂 You are in for a very big rollercoaster ride this year and I can’t wait till that book is released…I will be buying a copy as soon as it hits our stores 🙂 2013 is going to be a really proactive one for all of us 🙂
Merry Christmas, Sarah. What a wonderful family feed from your garden. I hope you got some of the Waikato rain that fell while we were away. As we drove back into Hamilton this evening the well-washed trees glowed bright green in the evening light.
Happy New Year. We have just had a wonderful week on the opposite harbour from your wonderful holiday, but the bay at the top of our peninsula is a local “best kept secret”. How blessed are we to have such wonderful beaches on our doorstep. A week on the beach is worth leaving the garden unattended for.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Maybe you should write a gardening Christmas carol!!!!
Christine
Happy New Year Christine. A gardening Christmas carol? Hmmm…. luckily I’m not all that musical or you never know what would emerge once I set the old thinking cap in motion! I hope you had a lovely Christmas and I hope 2013 treats you well.
Cheers Sarah : o )