I have a really exciting opportunity coming up that will take me away from the garden for 20 days from the end of the month. It is garden related so there will be more on that later. But in order to prepare for an extended absence in spring – the busiest time of all the seasons I have had to be organised and work really hard.
And if that wasn’t enough I have a garden club coming to visit the garden the week before I go away. When I agreed to the dates I was quite smug thinking it would be good to have a reason to have the garden sorted before I went away so it wouldn’t fall into much chaos in my absence. Present Me is a little annoyed with smug Past Me. Past Me didn’t realise just how much time and effort that would require!
So I have been super busy and something needed to give while I got all of my ducks in a row, and unfortunately this was the weakest link and so I took a little tiny unplanned break from blogging. I didn’t mean to, it just happened. Days drifted into weeks in the blink of an eye.
Computer gardening has taken the lions share of the priority as a lot of it is what funds the garden and has deadlines attached that can’t be missed. Conveniently we had a polar blast last week, where the temperatures plunged and the wind howled a hoolie straight off the ocean. There was no gardening done at all, but it did mean all of my computer gardening commitments until after I get back have been taken care of and so that is one less thing to worry about and several items crossed off the extensive to do list.
The garden has been a bit of a concern. My Handy Helper and I stood back at the end of this week’s session, confident that this time all out of control garden areas are now back in control and we just need to work on a maintenance schedule to keep it that way. It is such a wonderful feeling and for a while there I didn’t think I’d get to this point in time.
There are other areas in the garden zone that need some attention. The shed has become a bit of a dumping ground as each returned item came with a promise to be put back in its proper place later… when there was time. It is amazing how quickly chaos can ensue once you begin to not put the first few items back properly.
My office has a similar problem, but as I am in it most days, there is a degree of order as I need to know where everything is most of the time. So that is more organised chaos, and a jolly good sweep wouldn’t go amiss!
Then there are the actual spring things. I have been sowing seeds, transplanting seedlings and preparing beds as fast as I can. There are only 2 beds left that need to be cleared and prepared for the spring, but we are still eating the occupants. A couple more meals and it should be good to go.
Even though I staggered my seed sowing to ensure I would have staggered transplanting sessions, there comes a point when the weather warms up and everything outgrows their pots, but it isn’t safe enough outdoors yet. So, the other day was a ‘most of the day’ transplanting session. But it was good to see the wood for the trees and do a final roll call to see who is missing and how many extras I have to set aside from the official Heirs and Spares.
I still have one more good transplanting session to go… probably 2, maybe 3 hours. It might seem a little pointless as there is less than 2 weeks to go to the safe planting out day, but you will be surprised how much those plants can grow in 2 weeks when liberated from pots that are too small. It is worth the time and effort for healthier plants.
I have been up to other things as well and I will find the time to tell you all about it as soon as I can.
Come again soon – and thanks for bearing with me.
Sarah the Gardener : o)