Finally, some plants.
We have been blessed with some incredible late autumnal weather. The sun has done nothing but continue to shine and the wind has been little more than a puff. Although it has been a little chilly, which is only to be expected as we make our descent into the cool of winter, but I’m not complaining because it doesn’t get cold enough here for a frost – we’re too close to the sea.
What this has meant is the weeding and restoring order has been coming along nicely and the main edible area is now back under control. It has been niggling at me that I haven’t planted any cool-season crops, because I’d been away, but also, I couldn’t just pop them in where I would have ordinarily popped them in because for this next season I want to make some changes. So now that the weeds have been evicted and my plans have been reviewed and I’ve reassured myself that my calculations would work I finally planted my garlic, a handful of brassica, sowed some peas and popped in some coriander seedlings.
I normally plant my garlic in April in an attempt to beat the rust, but it is normally ready for harvest while I’m away in November so by the time I get to dig it up the protective papery layers around the bulb have all but rotted away. So, I had promised myself I’d wait a month so I wouldn’t miss the harvest window and still be early enough to avoid a severe rust issue when the plants are still young and vulnerable. Hopefully, I’ve timed it well enough that the harvest is before the Christmas holidays or I’ll still have the same problem, but that is something for future me to worry about.
At this point I don’t need a squillion brassica plants – just enough to get us through and I was delighted to find in the garden centre punnets of seedlings with 2 broccoli, 2 cabbage and 2 cauliflower. That will do for now. If I think I need more, I can pick up another punnet for a spot of succession planting.
I also grabbed some onion seedlings for planting out in a few weeks’ time because I missed the window to sow my own seeds. I like to plant them on the shortest day. You don’t have to plant them then, but I like to do it for the traditional ritual of it all. It feels like I’m marking something significant on the calendar and acknowledging the passing of time. Being a gardener allows you to really notice and feel the seasons that can get lost when you’re not out there all the time following nature’s schedule.
The coriander seedlings were because I needed four punnets to get the discount. Ordinarily they aren’t all that pleased to be transplanted, so I’m not really expecting them to do that well, but at the end of the day – in these tough economic times I saved a couple of dollars!
And just like that, a niggling concern in the back of my head was eased. There are cool-season crops in the garden and we won’t miss out. Now I need to move on to other areas of the garden and restore order. It shouldn’t take long and I’ll be back with my easy to tend, relatively low maintenance garden… at least that is what I remember it to be.
Come again soon – change is afoot.
Sarah the Gardener : o)