As the days grow cooler, the love of a good chilli can add some heat! I have plenty to choose from in my garden – cayenne, jalapeno, padron (gone too far to be a playful game of spicy roulette – they are all very hot now), habanero, birds eye and a few others. And they are all ready and waiting for me to do something … Continue reading Monday Message
This lockdown has been a bit of a strange creature for me as far as productivity and getting stuff done goes. I have to confess a lot of time has been spent in a bewildered state. While my life hasn’t changed all that much, I work from home, Hubby the Un-Gardener works from home and it felt like the school term hadn’t been going that … Continue reading Lockdown Funk
… On a Tuesday. The weather outside might be terrible, but all storms pass eventually. Today is really stormy – it was yesterday too. You really feel it out here exposed on the coast. The garden seems to be holding up ok, but there are no tender seedlings trying to establish themselves so there isn’t much to worry about. But storms here always sound so … Continue reading Monday Message:
I had the pleasure of chatting to the lovely Sam and Julia on Newstalk ZB this morning and one of the things we talked about was things that can be growing things from the kitchen when you don’t have ‘proper’ gardening supplies. For example: Take an avocado stone and suspend it over a jar of water with toothpicks to get it to sprout Try growing … Continue reading What to grow when you don’t have ‘proper’ supplies
I need to start by saying I am not a baker. When a small child came home from school with that little paper plate with a piece of paper stapled to it with the instructions to return the paper plate to school with a suitable cake for an impending cake stall, I would attach money to the plate with my own note that read: “It … Continue reading Lockdown Hot Cross Buns
Not wanting to go on about it, but the Pith Necrosis in my tomatoes (you can read about that >HERE<) has been on my mind. One of the things that made the conditions ideal for the disease was the soil was too nitrogen rich. I’ve been pondering this a lot. The general instruction to gardener is to add organic material like compost and well-rotted manure … Continue reading Checking the soil.
Find a new rhythm and look for a new normal. It is strange times indeed. Daylight savings finished the other day and it made no difference – I didn’t need to be anywhere so time is almost irrelevant. Even the garden doesn’t need me as much these days, especially after the massive harvest I did the other day. There is still the tidy up to … Continue reading Monday Message:
I have been rather busy lately. I am fortunate in that my workloads and deadlines haven’t changed and writing about gardening is just as popular as it ever was. So, I have been tucked away in my office or creating the supporting imagery to go with the writing. I don’t feel like I have had a spare moment. Even the poor garden is feeling a … Continue reading The harvest waits for no one
Staying busy is a great way to keep your mind from the worries of the world for a while. While in lock down it is so tempting to be glued to each and every update that comes in, seemingly by the minute. But being an active relaxer with a tendency to worry about things, I decided it was in my best interests to just check … Continue reading Monday Message:
Although for many ways for me it still feels a little normal. Because I’m not a great extrovert and so staying at home and potting about in my garden is my favourite thing to do. So, I ordinarily I don’t get out much anyway. And who would want to, we are in our dream home, in our dream location, with plenty of land, a working … Continue reading This is not normal
