Out here on the coast the sandy soil is pretty much held in place with the kikuyu grass, especially on the hills and I have no problem with this. The last thing we need is erosion or even worse – a blow out, where the wind whips away the sand causing a deep hole. Once you get a blow out it can be difficult to … Continue reading How I keep the Kikuyu Grass out of my garden.
Historically May has been my least productive month. I prematurely convinced myself that it is close enough to winter that I might as well just settle down in the warmth and cosiness of indoors and wait for things to get better outside. The thing is, May isn’t really that bad in the grand scheme of things and it should really be spent finishing off projects … Continue reading Making May Count … Again…
From time to time Hubby the Un-Gardener has meetings with clients away from home and more often than not it is at a café location that roughly halfway between them both. So, this week when he told me a client suggested meeting at the wonderful café at the Auckland Botanic Garden, I told him he wasn’t going there without me. The weather this week was … Continue reading I’m coming with you
One of the main reasons I went and found myself a Handy Helper is the garden had got away on me. I had been managing the garden and my projects, but it was a very fine balance. It just took me losing my balance and falling down and twisting my ankle to lose my grip on the garden maintenance. And it went south in so … Continue reading Weeding for miles
We had another storm… I think I’m getting used to them. They are quite unavoidable here on the wild west coast. There was about four days when the wind howled a hooley and freezing cold rain came in sideways. You could watch the squalls form out at sea and come in across the waves and pound at our window. The strongest gust was 100 km, … Continue reading Storm schorm
I think I’m pleased. It has been so dry for so long and we’ve been worrying about how much water is left in the tanks for such a long time. Finally, there is respite and enough water that I may even indulge in a candle lit bubble bath with a good book at some point soon – maybe after a hard day digging something. Such … Continue reading Today is a rain day
This weekend I did something I’d been putting off for absolutely ages. During the summer I grew French Red shallots. Every year I hold back my biggest and replant them in the hopes that I end up with something a little bigger than the year before. You see, no matter how hard I try I always end up with the smallest shallots. But that doesn’t … Continue reading Getting Salty
I’m really starting for make some great progress in the garden and the feelings of being overwhelmed are slipping away. There are some seriously dodgy areas that have gone way out of control and some pretty big projects on the go. Fortunately, only one has a deadline attached and I feel like I am on top of it for now. The other projects are self-imposed … Continue reading Progress feels good.
Now that I have my Handy Helper who pops along once a week to help out, to make things easier for me, I have this huge hankering in me to create a visible difference in the garden so when she comes back, she will know I’ve been busy. I haven’t asked her to hold me accountable or anything, but it is a bit like cleaning … Continue reading No Pressure
As I have sunken my teeth into a large project, with a couple of minor projects on the go, a few projects I’m champing at the bit to start, and a veggie garden that is largely under control as it approaches winter, there aren’t many short and sweet activities going on at all. Aside from hoeing and weeding regularly, which is helping the vegetable patch … Continue reading The last week of May
