Radish is a quick and easy crop, and this is where the flibbertigibbet of season worked in my favour. I was late getting them in and ordinarily the weather warms up and then all they do is bolt to seed with no sign of a fat bottom at all. But with the season on constant reset back to very cold after a few days of … Continue reading Radish Relish
My garden has suffered greatly at the hands of the weather. But the seasonal pull of summer is starting to make its influence felt. We have had three nice days in a row and the boffins have put 6 more shiny sunny images on its 10 day forecast. I think in this instance I will chose to believe them! It seems reasonable enough – the … Continue reading Rusty Garlic
If you look at stereotypical images of spring it is always blue skies and perfectly formed flowers and blossoms, delicate seedlings and maybe a gentle shower or two. I would have a hard job capturing any image that even remotely resembles this spring ideal. Winter won’t let go! It is cold – not spring chilly, but harsh winter cold. It is wet – not spring … Continue reading Winter, you have had your turn – go away
A time to sow and time to launch. Now you may have noticed that I haven’t been as bloggy this last year as in previous years as I have been a bit distracted. I have written this most amazing kids gardening book PLAY IN THE GARDEN and it will be released in good book stores in New Zealand on September 5th.  So super excited! When … Continue reading Spring is a season of new beginnings
We have lambs… And we have daffodils… Did I mention we have lambs? It must be spring soon! Now I have been thinking about my potatoes. I have four varieties, as per usual, although my technique for selecting them has been a little different from usual. Normally I go to the garden centre and get one that can be harvested in time for Christmas, in … Continue reading In all but name…
 In preparation for the coming of spring, I – like the birds – have been doing a bit of nesting.  The beds are almost cleared. It is just the brassicas; the in ground mixed bed, although that is allowed to wait as it is my demonstration garden that I use to teach new and discouraged gardeners how to get it right, all through the season. … Continue reading Grand designs
Sowing the seeds of love, we’re off to a seedy start, I’ve sowed the seeds to a new season… I could go on, the clichés are endless! Entering into August puts us one month closer to spring and the weather is beginning to play with us. One week it is warm and sunny and we haven’t had any heating on in the house for a … Continue reading Some ideas on Pinterest may seem like a good idea at the time…
Well not all of them – not that I have that many worries, but I have been deeply concerned about the upcoming summer and the need to keep my garden hydrated. The first spot of good news is my laptop has been fixed – under warrantee and I have a brand new motherboard, whatever that does. But it must be pretty important or they’d have … Continue reading All my worries are over!
While I have a scientific background from too many years ago that I care to count, I would like to reassure you that I haven’t been dabbling in genetic modification in my garden shed. I have been doing some good old fashioned digging. The digging in itself, while back breaking and a bit laborious, has been a welcome escape to my week.  It is the … Continue reading One becomes two and two becomes one – a tale of two berries
In the last 30 days we have had 26 days of rain and of those 14 had over 5mm. To be completely honest with you I did round up two days from 4.8 to the nearest whole number. One day even had a whopping 50mm. All in all we had 206.6mm of rain in the 30 days I decided to do my 30 beds in … Continue reading Rain delays play
