Watermelon Jam I recently pulled the plug on my melon garden. The melons were ready, and the plants were exhausted from their efforts. It didn’t help that this was one of the most windswept garden beds with sightlines to the ocean through the front gate. I have a stable door style gate with windbreak on the top half, although it isn’t often closed and the …...
Making the hard chop In the old garden I used to have an amazing orchard. There were about 30 now mature fruit trees. I had the space, so I just planted what I wanted without too much thought and consideration. Although I did have a ‘do or die’ philosophy, which is quite self-explanatory. A tree would be popped in a hole and left to fend …...
Best Valentine’s Day ever! I’m honestly not sure how we are going to top this, and it all revolved around the garden. I have been on a mission to showcase the vegetables I grow in the meals I make. I’m a gardener well ahead of being a cook in terms of priorities, passion and ability. I revel in bringing forth life from bare soil and …...
The giant list of things that need to be done. After yesterday’s declaration of good intentions >Yesterday’s post< I took a moment to write down everything I need to do. And now I see why I kept it in my head and just procrastinated as a coping mechanism It is a tad daunting. But it is what it is, and is what I got myself …...
Good Habits start today. This is just a quick post and a public declaration, that I will be getting stuff done or be publicly shamed. The recent short weeks combined with a new ‘no back to school’ empty nest thing has really thrown the start of my February into disarray. I feel like I’ve been waiting for some kind of normal to kick in but …...
Heroes and Superstars. The garden has really been pumping out the harvest. Everyday there is something new to deal with, on top of the things already overwhelming my harvest basket. It can be so easy to just take yet another zucchini for granted or leave it languishing on the plant a little longer in an obstinate attempt to delay the inevitable, which ultimately results in …...
It’s over, move on. January is the strangest month. It starts in holiday mode. There is absolutely no expectation to do anything remotely productive, unless it is for personal gain, like indulging in a hobby. And as the middle month of summer, it is – most of the time – too hot to want to do anything anyway. I can’t cope in the heat, especially …...
Making a Shrubbery In the garden shrubs are generally considered the understated backdrop of the landscape – mini trees that provide the green and occasionally have flowers or fragrance but for the most part aren’t even noticed. In the kitchen shrubs are something else. They are so amazing that once you make one you wonder why you’ve never done it before. I am about to …...
Happy Anniversary On this day, 18th January, back in 2018 we were embarking on a great change. We sold our house in the swamp and moved to the seaside. To be completely honest it was moving from one challenging landscape to another, but what is life without a little challenge. The last place was at that point where it was done. The interior was how …...
Too Hot If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the garden. We are in the midst of a heatwave. It might not be the burning inferno that some folk experience in summer in other places, but it is hot for me. In the last week the hottest the thermometer in the garden registered was 38°C yesterday at 6:27pm! Surely the evenings are supposed …...
New Year is a state of mind. It is all very well to treat the new year as a fresh start when you are in between seasons like all the wonderful gardeners in the Northern Hemisphere. The previous season behind them, with lessons learnt from the successes and failures and all the hope and expectation of a new season just around the corner. While the …...
Tomatoes are the Star In my opinion, in a summer garden – of all the wide range of plants that can be grown, the tomato is the superstar. The one that just owns the season. Sweetcorn could come in a close second if it wasn’t for the fact that in spite of their sunny yellow disposition, which can be stored in the freezer to bring …...
50 Gardens in one Month It isn’t often you can say you have visited over 50 gardens in one month, but this November that is what I did. Well, if I’m completely honest – a few were in the very tail end of October and one of the gardens was mine, so the exact tally is a little hazy, but it was all part of …...
Soaking in Wonderful Gardens – Part Two I’ve saved the exciting bits of the >New Zealand Garden Trust< Conference down in Blenheim until last. Telling you all about the gardens. I hinted at them on my social media, but you don’t get much of a word count there and certainly a limited number of photos you can post there. I took a squillion photos (well …...
Soaking in Wonderful Gardens – Part One I have been away again. And of course there were gardens involved. And really nice gardens at that. Although when is a garden not a nice garden I was invited to attend the New Zealand Gardens Trust Conference which was held in Blenheim this year. The NZGT is a fabulous organisation that curates and rates all the best …...
Thoughts and Prayers Nothing bad has happened, but lately my routine has fallen out of sync with my intentions and the most the garden has received recently has been thoughts and prayers. My mind is rampant and full of ideas and improvement opportunities. My notebook is bulging with possibilities. I have lists upon lists. Some of the ideas are major projects that will take large …...
Room Three has Begun The Autumnal equinox is on us and going forward things are only going to get colder and bleaker. It sounds quite doom and gloom and this season, although we aren’t having the rain we had last year, the ordinary gentle descent into the cooler weather has been more of a rapid plunge! It hasn’t been as dramatic as flipping a switch, …...
Watermelon Jam I recently pulled the plug on my melon garden. The melons were ready, and the plants were exhausted from their efforts. It didn’t help that this was one of the most windswept garden beds with sightlines to the ocean through the front gate. I have a stable door style gate with windbreak on the top half, although it isn’t often closed and the …...
Making the hard chop In the old garden I used to have an amazing orchard. There were about 30 now mature fruit trees. I had the space, so I just planted what I wanted without too much thought and consideration. Although I did have a ‘do or die’ philosophy, which is quite self-explanatory. A tree would be popped in a hole and left to fend …...
Best Valentine’s Day ever! I’m honestly not sure how we are going to top this, and it all revolved around the garden. I have been on a mission to showcase the vegetables I grow in the meals I make. I’m a gardener well ahead of being a cook in terms of priorities, passion and ability. I revel in bringing forth life from bare soil and …...
The giant list of things that need to be done. After yesterday’s declaration of good intentions >Yesterday’s post< I took a moment to write down everything I need to do. And now I see why I kept it in my head and just procrastinated as a coping mechanism It is a tad daunting. But it is what it is, and is what I got myself …...
Good Habits start today. This is just a quick post and a public declaration, that I will be getting stuff done or be publicly shamed. The recent short weeks combined with a new ‘no back to school’ empty nest thing has really thrown the start of my February into disarray. I feel like I’ve been waiting for some kind of normal to kick in but …...
Heroes and Superstars. The garden has really been pumping out the harvest. Everyday there is something new to deal with, on top of the things already overwhelming my harvest basket. It can be so easy to just take yet another zucchini for granted or leave it languishing on the plant a little longer in an obstinate attempt to delay the inevitable, which ultimately results in …...
It’s over, move on. January is the strangest month. It starts in holiday mode. There is absolutely no expectation to do anything remotely productive, unless it is for personal gain, like indulging in a hobby. And as the middle month of summer, it is – most of the time – too hot to want to do anything anyway. I can’t cope in the heat, especially …...
Making a Shrubbery In the garden shrubs are generally considered the understated backdrop of the landscape – mini trees that provide the green and occasionally have flowers or fragrance but for the most part aren’t even noticed. In the kitchen shrubs are something else. They are so amazing that once you make one you wonder why you’ve never done it before. I am about to …...