Ok so I’ve done some thinking…. About how I will tackle the next season. But I’d like to say that this is as convoluted as getting my head around crop rotation in the first place! Once I realised this, I decided I’d do it once and do it right, and then each autumn I can come back here as all the thinking necessary will have … Continue reading Wrapping my head around the cool season
Today is hot. There is a gentle breeze coming off the sea, but in the microclimate of my garden, the wind speed monitor is turning lazily without a care in the world. The hot sun beats down on the black sand paths, bouncing the heat from the dark surface, making it impossible to walk across barefoot. The golden brown of the spent grasses on the … Continue reading Summer can’t last forever
I can’t put it off any longer. While the days are full of heat, the kind we haven’t seen all summer, and the air is thick with the sounds of cicadas, finally able to bask in the kind of temperatures they prefer and the skies endlessly blue, this morning when I woke up, I found myself reaching for my slippers. It wasn’t cold as in … Continue reading Letting go of summer days
With the New Year upon us, I have had little time to care for the garden as well as I’d like. Technically we are still on holiday so days spent leisurely tending the garden for all my hearts delight is replaced with a quick dash into it to do what needs doing urgently and harvesting all that is ready. The time is spent enjoying time … Continue reading The signs are changing
The in between season. I’ve still got things in the growing in the garden. But not a lot and they are close to being labelled ‘past it.’ But they are still there needing to be eaten. There isn’t much that can be grown at this time of year. But I can technically plant some things, but even that is fraught with problems. For example I … Continue reading This is such a weird time of year
Sometimes in the garden you have to make difficult choices. Take my fennel for example. It seems to be like some kind of crop in my garden where it doesn’t seem to want to stop. New bulbs seem to form around the base from plants sown last spring. I’m tempted to leave it there to see what it will do, but it has a place … Continue reading Out with the Old … In with the New
I have tried to take my crop rotation seriously, but it is so confusing! I think I have ironed it out and use signs that I rotate to the next bed each year. A simple solution that means I don’t need to think about it again. But then every now and again something pops up that makes me wonder. I haven’t even explored companion planting yet … Continue reading Crop Rotation Conundrum
I cleared another three beds yesterday. Or should I say I cleared 10% of the garden. That sounds way better described like this. I am such a hard worker doing 10%! But if the truth be known, it was actually kind of easy. The soil is soft and crumbly and not too wet, so the weed roots just slipped right out. The other thing is … Continue reading It’s my garden – I can change my mind if I want to.
Gosh it was so hard to sort out my crop rotation – I nearly worked up a sweat! Actually no – it was so simple. A couple of years ago I came up with a three pronged crop rotation system that gets all the crops to be moved along, while gaining or creating value for the plants before and after it. I think I have … Continue reading The start of daylight savings is a great time to rotate crops.
