It was touch and go there for a while as to whether I would actually achieve my daily 5 things. I was slow to get out into the garden due to a load of computer gardening. Some of it was fun and one weekly chore a mundane necessity. Sometimes real life encroaches on the magic of gardening, sucking up time that, if I could, I would spend it toiling in the soil.
Surprisingly this delayed start wasn’t the only reason I almost never made my 5 task goal on day two of the good intentions. Once I got into the garden around midday – it was hot! This was unexpected as the forecast had been promising grey and slightly warm with such consistency, I took it at its word and stopped checking. And in hindsight I should have kept a closer eye on it because it changed!
Although having said that I appear to have created a bit of a microclimate. There was a lovely gentle sea breeze drifting up from the ocean. Sitting in it directly robbed the day of much of its warmth. I sat at the front of the house overlooking the sea to eat my lunch and felt the need for another layer. Then I headed off into the garden for a good push on my 5 tasks for the day. The main part of the garden behind the first windbreak was warmer than around the front of the house. I put this down to the reduced breeze and the black sand paths. It was a lovely cosy warmth.
But my main focus was finishing the strawberry netting so I headed down to the back of the garden behind the new windbreak. The heat there was noticeably warmer than in the main part of the garden. I had been wandering about the place in bare feet, enjoying feeling the warmth radiating from the ground, dissolving any trace of chill lingering from lunch. But down the back of the garden the sandy path was hot – too hot for bare feet. So, I popped my gumboots on and set about covering the framework structure. I may have over engineered it slightly, but I think it might have been worth it as the bird netting was cheap and may not last the season. It is hard to tell when doing the click and collect thing. I am so pleased life is changing from tomorrow and click and collect will be a thing of the past. … for now….
I eventually got it done but I have to say, toiling in the heat made it take twice as long and I needed several breaks in the cool of the house. I think I may need to alter my routine and put computer gardening in the middle of the day when the weather heats up properly.
By the time I had my strawberries protected it was getting late. And I was tempted to call it a day. But my pride wouldn’t let me falter on day 2. So, I looked about for 4 other easy things to do that would count. And they do count because most of those 4 things are things that left undone would need to be done at some other time.
So, I popped some perfectly beautiful cosmos flowers into my flower press, and I weeded the worst bed in sector 2. Unfortunately, sector 2 didn’t get the full Tuesday love it was due, but I had a quick look and it isn’t too bad. I could make clearing up the kikuyu along the fence line as one of the 5 things on another day this week. Then I harvested some asparagus for dinner… that counts as it needed doing.
I then did something I wasn’t expecting to do. While weeding the worst bed in sector 2 I noticed the soil was quite dry in spite of the torrential down pour we had on Friday. So, the last task of the day was the first for the season and I set up the irrigation system – all set to water sector 1 at 7:00am tomorrow morning. I’ll probably move it across the day to other sectors after finishing its cycle and then diligently pay more attention to the weather and begin the process of actually watering the garden instead of relying on the sky.
And that is what I did today – 5 things, just like I promised myself.
Come again soon – I’m half expecting to find a possum has gotten through the strawberry netting.
Sarah the Gardener : o)
I like your idea of doing inside computer at the hottest part of the day. I would set weed hoeing as number 1 so the full day heat. Those 5 things too should be added to the 105 things you also did today non garden related. So huge pat on the back for achieving so uch.
The heat certainly came as a bit of a shock! It is good to make even the smallest bit of progress, especially on the days when big projects feel a little too much to do! : o)
Well done! I hope your netting survived the night. I’ll bet that asparagus made the whole day worth your efforts.
So far so good – it is still in one piece!
It is so great to have home grown asparagus. : o)
Sounds like you had a productive day! Yes – the computer side of whatever you are sharing takes time…it can be fun too, but it does take time away from whatever you are doing.
I have to just embrace the inside work as just as important / interesting as the outside work – most of it is all garden related – except the accounts – I really don’t like doing them. I’m not sure how it became my job – I’m terrible with numbers! : o)