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
Months ago back in the autumn I wasn’t thinking. I definitely wasn’t thinking of the convenience of my spring self. And now my spring self is a little disappointed with my autumn self. You see I grow wheat each autumn, not for the seeds, but for its lovely stalks. I don’t want it to go to seed or it will cause problems. Because when you … Continue reading I Made a Mistake
For the entire month of April we will be in a challenge to only eat local food, organised by the good people at Happyzine. The boundary set for local is 200km from your house. Which is actually quite generous considering where we live is often referred to as the bread basket of the nation. We are in the heart of a rich agricultural and horticultural … Continue reading How exactly do you define ‘Local’?
It has dragged on to be a planting out week, and I’m still not finished. I really wanted to have a Taa Daa moment and reveal a gorgeous garden all planted out, weed free and nicely mowed. But alas no, this is not possible. The main cause it’s the rotten weather. This spring has been cold, yucky and stormy with the odd great day thrown … Continue reading So much for planting out weekend…
We have had storm after storm after storm. When it wasn’t raining, it was blowing a gale and either way gardening was impossible. Add that to being knocked out for a good three weeks to ill health and the garden is way behind schedule. The last frost day is in about ten days and I am not ready! Whose idea was it to have such … Continue reading This has been the spring of my discontent.
Every year I mark in my calendar this day, having specially counted back from the harvest date so I know they will be perfect for harvesting on the right day and today my calendar popped up with a reminder: plant spuds. You see the thing is – I like to grow Jersey Benne spuds, among the other varieties I grow. They are the first ones … Continue reading Today is a momentous day – its potato day!
I am almost there. There is only one bed left to sow. Everything else is planted and sown. All the beds are full and should be displaying a “No Vacancy” sign. Although most beds don’t look full as the seedlings are still quite small and are surrounded by a sea of soil. As a beginner gardener I would have taken care of this and crammed … Continue reading I’ve bean procrastinating!
I have come up with a novel way of sourcing mulch for my garden and I’m so excited! I have always been a bit flummoxed when it comes to mulch. I understand the importance of it – to keep weeds down and moisture in, but when you have a large garden and a small shoestring budget; buying in enough good quality mulch to go around … Continue reading I grew mulch!
