I have spent a lot of time trying to put all my ducks in a row so I can stay on top of things this winter. Ordinarily winter is a time to wind down and ease up on the gardening, however, I have an exciting project in late spring that will take me away from the garden for 20 days. This is a long time … Continue reading No Hibernation for Me
Next week is the school holidays. Not that the teen lads need much attention during the holidays, but the dynamic changes in the household and so any routine I find myself in during normal weekdays just flies out the window. Recently I have had a good thing going on where I have my little rhythm to what I have to do and I’m making great … Continue reading What a whirlwind of a week
This is a strange time of year. Daylight savings has ended but it is still warm-ish and we are wandering about our days feeling it should be later than it is, which strangely gives us more time in our days. It won’t last and soon enough we will get used to the new ebb and flow of time and know exactly where we are and … Continue reading March and A Week Garden Tour
Today was an amazing day, the sky was blue, the sun was shining and once it warmed up, it was the perfect gardening day. Once I took care of everything indoors, I headed outdoors with a plan. I was going to plant all my potatoes and finally get them in the ground so I can stop worrying about them. The Christmas ones were the biggest … Continue reading Well that didn’t quite go to plan – I blame it on the worms
It seemed like such a good idea at the end of last season to grow cover crops on the beds as they came empty, with little thought to my spring self. So what if they add so much value to the soil, to replace lost nutrients, add much needed organic matter and even, it is said, do special jobs like lupin adding extra nitrogen or … Continue reading Covering it up
To be honest you really can’t tell you are going to run into problems until you run into problems. But having said that, I should have foreseen this one as I grow brassicas all year round so, they are going to get maximum use of their space until the very last minute. Now that would be ok, if I had a slow starter following them. … Continue reading Yet another crop rotation conundrum
So much has happened in such a short space of time. Firstly, it is now winter. It is cold. I’m allowed to say that now. In autumn I was putting on a brave face, so while it was getting colder and colder, it wasn’t winter yet so I kind of pretended to myself it wasn’t that cold. If you can’t cope with the cold of … Continue reading A Very Quick Update
Finally, we are at the end of my plans for the future of the garden. It will be such a relief not to have to think about it ever again. I have my notes and can refer to them each autumn and know exactly where I stand. Of course, there will be tweaking and changes going forward, especially when I find out how these summer … Continue reading Cycle Three
Following on from my deep and slightly obsessive thoughts about my winter crop rotation, today we are looking at cycle two. This is the biggest one as there are no permanent unmoveable crops in this group. So, it will be seven years before anyone is back where they started. No chance for disease to build up or certain nutrients to become exhausted to the point … Continue reading Cycle Two
I spent the weekend with a nagging feeling in the back of my mind…. ‘I need to sort out this crop rotation cover crop thing. Once it is done, I’ll never have to think of it again.’ But there were other exciting things to occupy my time, so I pushed the reoccurring thought away. But with the start of a new week and a decidedly … Continue reading Cycle one
