Catch-up time

CONFESSIONS OF A LAZY GARDENER
I'll confess it, I am a lazy gardener, BUT putting aside the fact that I don't weed that often and when I do they tend to stay on the spot (if they don't make it to the compost heap), I have infact learned a few great things.

Firstly, aphids love Puha AND they'll leave your lettuce alone if there's Puha about.

Secondly, at least in a greenhouse, if there are weeds growing, the water retention is a lot higher. We've been having terrible problems with dry soil. I was feeding them for between 5 and 10 minutes every night with very high pressure computerised watering system... THERE WAS SO MUCH WATER IT LEFT PUDDLES and yet by 11 the next morning there would be cracks in the super dry soil. We've all been a bit busy lately so no concerted effort in the patch but it has proven to be an effective 'mulch'.


BERRIES
After our WWOOFer in August cut back the berries to next to nothing I was gob smacked to see this growth in the berry cage AND spreading outside of the cage too.

BOLTING PARSLEY
Time for the parsley to bolt and spread seeds... why should I plant it when mother nature does it all for me. See lazy... or perhaps it's just that I suck with growing seeds?

CAPSICUM WORRIES
Our sorry looking capsicum clearly needs some TLC. V has lovingly put some manure near its roots, but given these look sad and there are a few families to feed, I thought I'd get a few more plants. Still I'm not going to pull them out just yet, I am certain they are of more use to us yet.

CHOCOLATE MINT
Thank you Liz Buckley for making me try the chocolate mint in your garden. I loved it so much I went and got a plant for myself. Now nestled amongst the roses and thyme, I am looking forward to it spreading its way across the garden and landing in my teapot.

You could of course, take these words exactly as written, but I'm sure some of you will read plenty into it :)

CORN
Another thing you notice when you're a lazy gardener is how fast things grow... just look at this corn, it's only been three weeks and it has quadroupled in size. Looking forward to when you grow ears :)

LUFA
one of the seedlings I planted in my new seedling house was Lufa. I got six plants in the end and have planted these out in my flower garden for now. Surrounded it with coffee grounds, kindly supplied by Melissa at Calendula Cottage and am going to watch them grow into some fabulous wee Xmas presents for next year.

MANURE DELIVERED
Thank you to Steve who has dropped off some wood shavings / manure mix from the horse stable just down the road. Now to chuck it into the tyres and grow our pumpkins.

MONTYS SURPRISE APPLE
I was lucky enough to be a member of the Tree Lovers Club when the Monty's Surprise Apple Tree was discovered and a special grafting project started to save it. I bought a couple of trees, one for me and one for a friend. I got it in the ground a little late frankly and over summer,it pretty much died, despite my constant feeding. However, Monty has given me a second surprise. Take a look at how much re-growth we have this year... more than what it had on it when I first got it.

SEGAL PASSIONFRUIT
Our family name for our Passionfruit is Segal, thanks to the Segal family who got it for us for Christmas last year. We received two, when they were around about 15-20 cm tall. One is now well over my head and incredibly bushy and as you can see by these wonderfully unusual flowers, we are about to get a harvest from them. :)

PEAS ARE PODDING
Ladies, Ladies, the peas are ready. We can start eating them now in the shells OR wait a little while to take 'em out. Stir-fries here we come. Personally I can not stand those hard little peas we get in the freezer bags at the supermarket... BUT THIS IS AMAZING.

POPPIES
After hundreds of poppies sprouted, I killed a whole pile with my lovely seedling house plastic cover and I managed to plant about six in the ground. Here's hoping these will take well and self-seed next year.

ROSES
Every year these beauties come up and every year I am astounded by their beauty. I tried to copy them one year on a cake for my Nana, but as much as I like my work, they are just nothing in comparison to the real thing.

SILVERBEET PATCH
Well, after spreading the compost / mulch my brother in law bought around and throwing in a couple of silverbeet seedlings, I had wondered if it was worth it at all... but look at what's happening out there... OK so there are some horrible weeds too, but the silverbeet is ten times as large (those that took) AND there are a couple of rogue potatoes growing from last years harvest. Lazy yet successful, I am pleased :)

SUNFLOWERS
After a 'false start' with the sunflower seedlings being eaten by slugs /snails, I am happy to report that the second batch we put in (and surrounded with coffee grounds) has grown twenty times as tall and thriving in the spot that we think glysophate was thwarting growth in our beetroot... if you ask me the beetroot looks happier too

Latest update...

SEEDLING HOUSE
Recently I was lucky enough to have a lovely couple from Germany stay with us on the WWOOFing programme. Franzi was a great help in the garden and paddock and a lovely person to spend time with. Her boyfriend Benni came to stay toward the end of the visit, and with such a handy skill as carpentry, I could not hold back in asking if he would build me a 'frame' to put my seedling trays into. He obliged and less than a week later I have built a plastic 'tent' for it. My daughter Lottie and I planted a whole pile of flower seeds that are sprouting nicely. I did however find a petrified slug that managed to get up to the top shelf. Better take the roof off in the day time or I'll kill my seeds.

CORIANDER /BASIL
The coriander and basil that was planted in the box is growing nicely next to the lettuce. The chives planted at the same time though aren't doing so well... there is one seedling that's come out of at least 100 seeds (yes I go for overkill)

DWARVES ARE CLIMBING - BEANS
So when I first planted the bean seeds, I am certain it said dwarf.. yet they are looking awfully like climbers, so in went the frames. A few will need to be moved as we don't really want them entwining themselves around the cucumbers.

CARROTS STILL A PROBLEM - GH ROOF CONCEPT
I am so sick to death of carrots at the moment. My toilet paper tape has only had minimal success. I happened to have a friend Sarah over today and after listening to my carrot stories and the fact that the dirt seems to be drying up so quickly, reminded me that the Greenhouse roof only went on a year ago... ah, click, penny dropped of cuorse, the old roof had 'mildew' or shall we call it a natural UV protection on it. Of course the plastic used is supposedly UV resistant too, but perhaps we need a coat of 'grub' on it yet. Must get on to that mulch/manure mix.

TOMATOES TWO LEAVE NOW THRIVING
A little while back, we gave in to the tomatoes that were only growing to two leaf stage and planted them anyway. I am thrilled to report that these are doing fantastically.

ZUKES STILL NOT GREAT - 6 PLANTED IN gh ONLY 2 COME UP
Sadly the slugs seem to be getting the zucchini seedlings. there is still one on each mound though. Perhaps we need to bite the bullet and buy the seedlings.

GUY FAWKES MUMMIES N GUMMIES MEETING
Guy Fawkes seemed like a fantastic time to get the families together for a do. We did the usual Kiwi BBQ approach where everyone bought a plate and figured everyone should bring a small amount of fireworks. Dinner was great, the volleyball game was played yet we're not really sure who 'won' and 1.5 hours of fireworks is probably a bit much for the kids. All in all a great success.

YAMS LOVING POSITION
Look at these yams, aren't they happy... now, only about 4 months left apparently.

ROGUE GARLIC
Last year I planted garlic here... collected the seed as it did absolutely nothing underground. My darling daughter distributed the seeds all over the floor one day and my dog found them there... so I didn't think I'd have any luck this year... however, it appears I didn't get them all before the seed fel to the ground, so lucky for me I have some rogue garlic's. Looking forward to them doing 'something' this year.

FLOWERS IN THE SEEDLING HOUSE
It's only been a few days and I have at least 100 poppies coming up in trays... so excited, I have never planted a flower garden but don't want to buy the plants. I have a huge gaden and not a great deal of money to spend on it. There is also 1 lufa, 1 soapwart, 2 marshmallow coming up... now hopefully the echinacea, feverfew, bells of ireland do something as well... although I may have fried them eysterday in the little sun-house.

THYME REVERTED
For a few years now I have had two types of thyme in the garden, only this year the variegated thyme seems to have reverted back to its original self. Quite frankly I am glad as the leaf is far softer and palatable.

Internet is running poorly from my house so images will be added later.

CORN SEEDS AND WEEDING

Today I planted corn in spleft over space in the vege patch. We originally had two rows of corn, but in hind-sight, that probably isn't enough for six families. Still the left overs in teh seed packet were not enough to fill the space so have to get another packet of Yates Corn seeds to fill it up.


I also started the arduous and never ending task of weeding the garden by house (again) with my WWOOFer Franzisca's help. Such a lovely young lady and it is a real shame that her visit has come to an end.


THIRD MEAL

When we were in the garden 'tidying up', we noticed the abundance of beetroot leaves, knowing that they can be used in salads we were wondered if older leaves could be used for anything. I think sometimes you ponder things at just the right time... as my wwoofer Franciska said, that she has sautee'd them with onions and put cream with them... so that night we gave it a try and I have to say I loved it. We had only sour cream at the time and it was fantastic, I loved it and would defini do it again... cream, sour cream, yoghurt or cream cheese would work fine. At the same time I made sage & oregano gnocchi (from scratch), also a fantastic dish thanks to Cindy making it when she was here.


SALAD GREENS

Now that the initial bulk planting of seeds has occurred my planter box is all mine again. I now have in my planter box, lettuce, basil, corriander and chive seeds. Already the lettuce and basil are showing.

CONTEMPLATING COFFEE
Over night it suddenly dawned on me that one of the mum’s in our new entrant class at school (with my 2nd son just starting) owns one of our local cafe’s.

Next morning I found her and she is happy to store up their coffee beans for us, and also the scrap food for the pigs/chickens… now I just need to find a whole pile of buckets.

For anyone travelling near Waiuku or the Glenbrook Steam Train (very close by), they are by far my favourite cafe, not only for the great food, but the setting is so lovely. Take a look at their facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Calendula-Cottage-Cafe-and-Gardens/154673477902098?sk=wall


PEPPERMINT TEA

One of the most lovely treats that my visitors have given me was a use for peppermint.

For Xmas last year I was given a peppermint plant, from a family visiting from Israel. Through them I was introduced to peppermint tea and frankly it is amazing.

Now that my plant has grown big enough to start using more frequently I am very excited… So much so today’s Mummies in Gummies ‘meeting’ I got the old Baileys teapot out to enjoy a brew.

MANURE

Liz and V talked about getting the horse manure today… after V left, she decided to go and scope out her source… LUCK… there was some sitting by the side of the road. She managed to pack in 5 bags and Liz ran up and managed another 8. Will be great in the compost and in the garden.

Although the stuff we need for between the rows etc is the sawdust or hay the horse farms take out of the stables. This is what we really need on the tops of the tyres to grow our pumpkins… MUST GET ONTO THAT.


MORE PLANTING

Remember we are feeding 28 people…. so yes more planting

This time a few extra potatoes in the area’s that didn’t seem to take. A few more peas, the odd onion seedling that did actually grow, Pak Choi and low-growing silverbeet.

the pumpkin plantings got another step closer. The tyres are now full of stuff to be compostede and in a few days ‘fingers crossed’ we will have horse manure / saw dust delivered to pop on top to grow out pumpkins in.

The plan is to grow them vertically, but of course it wouldn’t matter if it grew over the compost too.

We girls have had great giggles over the potential use of our old bras ;)

WATER TESTING

No I don’t mean the pH levels… but rather whether water is simply getting through the sprinklers.

Even after Trina’s great effort five of the sprinklers were blocked with ‘new’ algae.

Poor Liz had to stand in the ‘rain’ to see what was and wasn’t working.

At least it was a good day for it.


BAMBOO TEEPEES

Trina and Tania had a great time cleaning the bamboo shafts that Lin's hubby Bill had cut for us. They made a great laugh out of rotating and cutting the bamboo... but I wasn't really privvy to it so I can't quite understand the analogies.

Any way, we made some great teepee type support structures for the peas and beans which are getting up there in size now.

Irrigation

After the girls cleared some of the obviously blocked sprinklers the other day, Trina decided to take a look at them all... and just as well, my goodness some of them were hideous. At least now they should let out a lot more water. It just seemed strange that it was drying so easily.

Johnson Family

This week for school holidays the Edmonds household had some visitors camping. They are the Johnson family, Karrina, Cindy and June (in generation order). Dad, Cary was unable to join them time around.

We had an absolute blast with them here. Karrina entertained my three rugrats so superbly, that despite Jason being home he actually got to 'rest' the foot that he had injured.

It also meant that we had an opportunity to get to know Cindy better. She is our local dance teacher. Liz and Tania have been taking her class for at about 2 years.

Immigrating (from America) is difficult at the best of times - so... you guessed it, we've asked them to join Mummies in Gummies :)

They are a fabulous addition to our little community and we look forward to many happy harvests with them... and of course dancing around the garden :)

reflecting on the week

After asking Cindy to join our crew we had our Tuesday morning working bee.

Not all of us could make it, but those of us who could got straight into work.

Weeding mostly... But also noticing the changes that were happening.

The Scallopini Zucchini and one or two cucumbers had started on the mounds we set up before our trip away.

The carrot seed tape got put down too so we'll see how well that's going to do. The original had not worked in the GH so we pulled that up and put it under plastic to germinate. The onion haven't done very well in trays so also trying them in toilet paper tape. Fantastic space saving discovery that with a little water it sticks to the window well...

Given the kids were off school, they were offering to help, so we put them to work cleaning sprinklers and setting up the remaining tyres for the compost bin.

We hoed the tomato area and the potatoes and dug over the area for more beans.

That night Tania and Liz got out and created rows for the beans.
Next day Lin got in and planted said beans.

Following day V and Liz put in more beans and fluffed around with the irrigation system. There is a setup where you can suck up water from a drum- like a manure tea or the like - however that is not working. Went down to the local plumbing store and it looks like it's going to be a $50 expense that no one really has right now, so that is definitely one place that the Yates winnings (fingers crossed) could come in handy.

The pumpkin is ready to be planted, but we need to finish filling up the compost bin tyres so we can grow them vertically.

Pak Choi almost ready to go in too

My b-i-l, Justin rang one night and asked if he could bring some 'twigs' over to burn on our property. When he got here the trailer was full of compost... so my brain got ticking over and decided to place it in the area that we were about to dig over for silverbeet... yay... less work to be done :)

Next with my new wwoofer Franciska we level off the silverbeet patch, removing any raspberry saplings that were popping up.

Also planted a the Yates lettuce seeds, which is already popping its little heads out :)

Feed 'em S@#T and Keep 'em in the Dark

MUSHROOMS

About a week ago V bought aruond a mushroom kit. Today I attempted to read the instructions... quickly fell asleep on those and decided to google.

So far this is the most useful and least scarry guide I've found



This video talked about the use of card board and coffee grounds, but I didn't quite understand why?



This next one explained the coffee grounds a little (albeit no audio) and gives you an option to increase your yield



Then I found a fantastic website that explained some of the terms and gave you idea's on what to grow them in... also explained coffee grounds :)

http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/grow-mushrooms.html

So then I got to thinking... it's all very well, putting the spores into the soil but how do you get new spores without having to buy them again. Then I found this site which I have to say has been the most enlightening and has video as well. It told me the name of the process of 'getting more spores' was called cloning (surprise surprise) and then - you guessed it - GOOGLE for more videos. http://www.mushroomvideos.com/Mushroom-Cloning

Just before we move on to cloning though this site really was the best one I think... should our mushroom venture take off that Bill (AKA DH to Lin) will likely be tasked with creating a boiler for us to sterilise the substrate... (see at this point in the process I am starting to use strange words).

So anyway, cloning - I found this video with green lighting and done in silence until the end where mexican/spanish (I think - we don't study that part of the world down here) is spoken... thus making me wonder if it really was taking a culture from a button mushroom (but infact it was...) It was done in open air and if you read the comments, some people were horrified by that. Personally I figure if it is done in an unsterile natural environment then why have all the pomp and ceremony of a glove-box (but that's just me)



There was also a video of the same sort of thing done in front of a Hepa-Filter blowing air toward you thus pushing any contaminants away from your work... a little bit of protection doesn't hurt I guess ;)

Of course if we want to go down the petri dish method we'll best learn how to prepare petri dishes. This is a video about how to do with ath with Potato Dextrose Agar 'mix' the name of which I got from the 'green' video.



and then there was this beauty to extract the spores (far easier and a different video had already said that aluminium foil comes off the roll sterile)...



Best spore print without all the scientific gear - Part 1



then what to do next



and with that and the fact that I have been at this for two hours and it is 11:15... it is time for me to sleep :)

One last thing before I go... I've seen this word coir used here and there, and was baffled as to what it was and how it is used. Turns out it is just another type of substrate (growing mix)... or, as per a site I found... Coir is condensed coconut fibers that expand in moisture and when properly prepared can help budding mushrooms fight off the molds and bacteria that would kill them. Other material must be added to meet the high-nitrogen requirements of mushroom growth. http://www.ehow.com/how_10045860_use-coir-substrate-mushrooms.html#ixzz1bPeNIqft

Deliverance...

d-d-ling ling ling ling ling ling ling

We have corn... of course at this early stage it looks like grass - of which there is a lot of in the garden here and there but this is appearing in a row and forgive me if I'm wrong, but grass clumps together.

The carrot seed that I toilet-papered germinated VERY well and now that the shoots are starting to turn green they got planted... here's hoping the next stage works well. The test tape that I put into the garden originally did not work as it did not keep wet enough.

Of the mounds we made just before I went away, we have a Lebanese Cucumber and a Scalloppini Zucchini poking through. Given there was space at the base of each mound for the cucumbers and gherkins we decided to put beans toward the bottom of the mound. Apparently good companions and will help protect the cucs a bit I believe.

You probably also notice that the dirt is quite dry. This is due to forgetting to water it last night and having a lovely sunny day today. However, I do want to state that I think the earth needs 'help'. I do not remember it being this 'clay-like' a few years ago, and given it hasn't really received any TLC I think it is time to give it some. Must get on to neighbour about getting sawdust and horse manure.

... and more planting

but this time I won’t rabbit on for ever…

So Lin, Tania and Liz had a quick wizz in the garden this morning to plant a few more ’things… ZUCCHINI, SCALLOPINI ZUCCHINI, GHERKIN, LEBANESE CUCUMBER and APPLE CUCUMBER.

I’ve given up on the trays, so given I’m away for a few days thought it a good time to try taking it straight from the ground. So we dug over the area and created 10 mounds. Right now only these seeds have been sown, but the plan is to check out their best companion plants and stick them in the ground when I get back. At least this way, they are there and going to start growing… I mean, why waste time right.

Planting Time

In reference to getting his bag ready for school, Joe “am I ready to put it into my bag”. Mum “I don’t know darling… let me come and see what you have PLANTED” -hmmm, I don’t think that came out right.

Clearly, I have planting on the brain.

Let’s see – on Wednesday…

The morning was taken up with a SuperClinic appointment for my son Joe (old broken arm injury) and it had gone on a lot longer that expecteed. But when we got home we got stuck into the garden together. He threw down some more radish seeds in the gaps where we had harvested them the day before.

In the meantime I planted SPRING ONION and LEEK from seedlings and put in some SWEETCORN seeds directly in the ground. I had read on the Yates site about the Three Sisters - (http://www.yates.co.nz/vegetables/how-to/grow-the-three-sisters/)… corn, climbing beans and squash, being good companions and so I thought I would give it a go.

We had some SCARLET RUNNER BEANS that were showing signs of life from last years bulbs so it went down there between them and the CHILLIES (also from last years batch and of course a perennial). Chances are we won’t be able to put the squash in the space around it but at least two of the sisters will be helping each other out. I have also heard that corn is best planted in squares to help cross-pollination. I wasn’t actually able to set it up this way, but will try with the next lot I think.

On a note of success… it’s damned nice to see some produce this early on. RADISHES are a great quick win really. Although we had planted some in rows, some had also self-seeded from last years patch.

That night Lin and her daughter Abby put in some time and dug over the area on the other side of the SCARLET RUNNER BEANS, ready for the PEAS.

On to Thursday, Veronique (V) and Liz got stuck in again, this time planting the PEA seedlings into three rows, approximately 20 seedlings in each of three multi-pots we’d sown. They fit nicely into the space and in three rows. Hopefully the bamboo stakes that Lin’s hubby Bill has cut for us will be ready before the PEAS are too much bigger. Last thing we need is to plant fresh BAMBOO in our lovely patch.

Thanks to V’s coffee obsession, we also put COFFEE GROUNDS around the PEAS to stop the snails from attacking them. it didn’t even wash away when we turned the sprinklers on. You can see it in the photo – its the darker patches around the individual pea.

V had also bought around an ARTICHOKE in a pot, which we transplanted. I am soooooo looking forward to getting an artichoke from it. I’ve only ever had one in my life and from that vague memory am excited about the prospect of another.

CARROTS… why aren’t they taking off in this garden? It’s either getting washed away – in which case they can’t be far away – but more realistically the birds must be taking them. SO what to do. We discussed this with SARAH THE GARDENER when we saw her and she suggested making our own carrot tape out of TOILET PAPER and keeping it moist until they are germinated. Now no offence to Yates, but I do prefer the idea of pulling out my baby carrots to make room for the others to get large, so the seed tape that they are selling, with one seed perfectly spaced, just doesn’t cut it for me. So if you care to view the picture, we have four seed toilet paper tapes nicely germinating under plastic which gets a squeeze of the spray bottle now and then (I can even take them on holiday with me) and another three put on top of a mound with a little dirt on top… let’s see which option works best.

Talking of planting, I am once again baffled by the mysterious seedlings that are popping up in my trays.

Now, who can tell the difference at the seedling stage between lebanese cucumber, apple cucumber, zucchini, scallopini zucchini and gherkin. Either way the the success rate hasn’t been that great, two pots having done nothing at all… but please take a look at the picture above and tell me which is which…

Phobic...

Something we haven’t told you about our resident novice Trina… is that she is NOT a gardener for a VERY good reason…

… on Tuesday we were working on the patch, scrubbing out the weeds that had started and planting the TOMATOES.

Firstly, the poor lass arrived with vertigo, so we set her to work fixing the sprinklers so as not to disturb her head too much. After finishing that, she decided her head would be able to cope with crawling on the ground taking out some of the seedlings. She did very well scrubbing out two, rather full rows of weeds when suddenly, she started screaming and hyperventilating, stood up and ran away.

Liz knew exactly what was going on, whereas some of our newer Lin and V had no idea what was happening.

… Trina is PHOBIC about ANTS!!

None of the little blighters had managed to crawl onto her, which we are all thankful for, because if that had happened we would have been in jeopardy of remembering our first aid lessons, as there was a STRONG possibility that she would stop breathing and faint… heaven knows what she would have landed on ’cos there are a fair few hazards in the area.

Thank you ants for being a little scared of Trina too ;)

Rain Rain... Go Insane

Rain rain, go insane

Come again for a few days

My wheat will grow

Vege seedlings will show

But dry up by Friday ’cos when the holidays begin, the children will play (preferably outside)


Seriously though… I checked this morning and the new beans that I planted are poking their heads through… I call that success.

Even the pumpkins, pak choi, zucchini are starting to do ‘stuff’.

I also just put coffee grounds around the seedling trays. Kindly supplied by V (our coffee obsessed member) it is supposed to be an alternative slug and snail murderer… still I am so determined to keep the little buggers away that I threw some Blitzem down too ;)

Seed Poem

A poem that a friend posted on FB that I thought was so relevant to our little group…

Scatter seeds of kindness everywhere you go;
Scatter bits of courtesy————
watch them grow and grow.
Gather buds of friendship;
Keep them till full-blown;
… … You will find more happiness
than you have ever known.
- Amy R Raabe

Chooks Pecking Garden

After culling the chooks it was time to set up the garden for the chooks arriving in December.

Liz used bird netting to cover the roof, but it didn't stretch all the way over and down to the ground, so setting up a little bit of a resistance figured that some of that green plastic netting would suffice.

She dug over an area and had the kids sprinkle wheat down.
Next she moved some parsley and comfrey which is apparently a great alternative for the blood and bone component of the layers mash that you can buy.

Thankfully it rained... you can imagine what a dessert was left after 12 chooks vacated.

Two days later however, wheat seeds are missing, so back to the drawing board on that side of things... still at least the ground is a little softer.

Weekend Away...

But we endevoured to go anyway!.. with much convincing (NOT! He he))

Ok so it started on a sad note.......poor Lin couldn't join us!

Still, with a hiss and a roar we headed to Ruakaka - to my fathers place, enough beds, meal planning done, now to 'garden planning'!
or so we told ourselves anyway!

Saturday........sleep......sleep.....sleep! (Any parent of littlies will understand!) and EARLY WAKE UP!
YES our body clocks just wouldn't allow us to sleep in!
Except V who apparently has no prob sleeping......(cow, sheep, pig and any other semi offensive word we thought to call her)


Poor Liz though, was awake didn't want to wake anyone else so stayed in her room while Tania and myself had a Spa!
A nice rest in the spa and we were in a much better mood and readily accepting to V obvious selfishness! (how dare she sleep when we can't!) (am I a bit focused do you think?!)

And let the garden planning begin..........or maybe after a movie? Ok so a Movie won that vote......then another, and
another! Yay 'CHICK FLICKS!' which our hubbies have a distinct lack of like for! Then dinner break and a discussion on how we all could hate a movie so much, but let it run cause we didn't want to upset someone, if anyone else was enjoying it. After that discussion Tania felt no NEED to pull punches, and after a couple of readily voiced objections
we found yet another movie to watch!

And a late night spa looking at the stars, me and Tania......."is that the milky way?"......"no!"....."yes!".....
and other such riviting discussions and we were ready for another....you guessed it......MOVIE!

Now I'd hate to rivit you all with our fascinating weekend if it wasn't for the fact that this was a 'garden planning' weekend! Or so our husbands thought anyway!

Without boring you all with how our Sunday went (much of the same really, then heading home again) I would like to note that because of the lack of planning that actually took place, another weekend is definitely in the planning stages!

OK so more planning on the planning weekends than the actual garden but hey, who are we to complain right? (Thats the hubbies job who all got left with the kids! he he!)

 

Time to get busy

Well, after all that effort getting ready, we of course had no seedlings to plant. As a result, we have had a couple of weeks off. Now of course there is plenty to get back into. Mind you, if you'll check out Mummies in Pinnies, you'll see we did get up to some other types of mischief.

We had made rows and put beetroot, carrot and radish in. So far the radish is doing well - even some rogue ones that have popped up from last years patch. The interesting thing is that the beetroot seeds on the right hand side are doing well whereas the beetroot on the left side is not as advanced.

Now, right at the beginning, we decided to spray glysophate on some kikuyu grass that was coming in through the side of the greenhouse. It is supposed to be rendered useless upon contact with dirt, BUT, given the problem with the beetroot and no apparent issues with the water supply, we wonder if this is really true.

At first I thought the carrots had done nothing, but now I can see that the seeds have washed off the tops of the mounds and are growing up in the middles. V suggested teatowels on top to keep them moist, and our friend Sarah the Gardener has suggested making a type of seed tape using toilet paper.

The same day as planting beetroot seeds, we also threw in a pile of potatoes and a few yams. So far 13 potato seeds have done their job. Yams will take their time.

As for the seedlings, we had some trouble with the first batch we had sown. Perhaps we should not have used the seeds we had stashed away at the back of the laundry cupboards - well past their used by date. Having said that the silverbeet seeds that frankly looked sick and were well past their use by date worked perfectly well... so you never know.

Anyway, we replanted beans, more peas, onions and pak choi. After only 10 days ago and they are poking their heads out nicely, so at least we don't have to go out and buy 60 bean seedlings etc to cover our five families. Imagine the expense...

Photos to come - once Tania gets here :)

Composting

So we've been trying to get ourselves co-ordinated to pick up about 50 tyres to make a compost bin... we all gathered, and then the very nice gentleman at Murray Kemp Auto offered to drop them off here.

Kumara Dance

After unsuccessfully growing kumara two seasons in a row... we finally had success...

First signs of growth

Woohoo... we have signs of growth... not bad for old seeds.

First time together as a group!

And what a hoot!
Officially we only got together for a group photo but the fun to be had!
New gummies for the townies, (Big surprise I actually owned some already and I don't even garden!) and of course we had to make fun of the 'brand new' RED ones! (You'll have to see the photo to work out whom!) And well needless to say no-one was prepared to carry the hoe! Then Liz leapt forth to the challenge to 'surprisingly enough' get out voted to ME!
(General consensus was no-one wanted what my charming humour can write when adding a hoe!)
Needless to say since it was me, this doesn't amuse me quite as much as trying to talk Tania into it!

Putting it into perspective!

A few of us having yet another social evening/get together! Where general consensus was that we needed (ok maybe we just wanted?) to add another into the mix......
Mind you if you look at the photo below, you will get a concept of how huge this venture is and maybe another mug......ops I mean wonderful friend may be needed to help!
Her name is “V” also known as Veronique: currently she is an ‘unknown entity’ but seems to have an opinion anyway if let loose!
Also we are planning a weekend away and V will definitely be a fun addition!
Also our name was born, mind you there were a few suggestions that should never have been considered but overall we are all happy and hope you all like!


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Kids help out!

Well another Day in the garden......with a small difference.......”SLAVE LABOUR!”
Yes Tania and Liz actually managed to get the kids involved, of course this was designed as a ‘learning’ experience for them!
But really I think it was just a cunning plan to have help while pretending to be ‘good’ parents! (He he) I’m sure there are laws about min wage etc guys!
And the success! Very proud of them all and much achieved, in fact almost ready for planting! YAY!

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Water Works

Here is Liz and Tania using the experience of having kids around to actually behave like a couple themselves, (mind you I do question their maturity anyway!) first trying the sprinklers.......actually just trying to wet each other with them if at all possible!
And what’s that you have done to yourself Liz? I’m sure you are way TOO OLD to have an ‘accident’! (He he) (Bottom Photo)
And Tania, I love the left hand, just so dainty! I can almost imagine you skipping!

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Moving onto the second ‘push’!

So much for feeling loved, I am given a crate to sit on (and NO CUPPA?!)........am I not acting crippled enough? But hey we can’t have anything distracting from the actual work on the garden right!
So here they are....digging the garden (turning the soil over so ready for planting again) see I’m learning right! And we find KUMERA’S!!!!! Ok maybe a few too many exclamation points but what can compete with the “kumara dance”?
Now it is only fair that I explain. Liz got so excited that we found kumara’s that she literally danced! (Now I am seriously starting to worry about our decision to follow this woman)........but hey, she has produced kumara’s! Only a year later than planned and with obvious surprise BUT?!!
Now of course that lead to a wonderful array of jokes regarding dancing and various vegetables........I don’t think I need/should elaborate on this! As I’m sure you can all get the idea! All I will end on is that I even pretended to do a toe dance (OK the rest of me was in pain......and the crate was not working for me! He he)
So home and bed bound was I!
Which is also why I was told about the latest addition to the garden after the fact?
They also have started a ‘worm farm’. Now sorry for showing my TOTAL ignorance, but WHY?
Don’t get me wrong I have actually seen one before, at Playcentre where my son had wonderful joy watching them etc......but in an actual garden? I thought the idea was to have worms IN the ‘garden’? So why take them out into a ‘farm?’!!!
It’s not like we need to contain them......or do we? I just hope I’m not given the job of checking the ‘ladies’ are pregnant and if not? What then, send them to the ‘works’?! How about milking them? Twice a day? (OK I learned later that they actually lay eggs......SO????)
I just can’t picture it myself but hey? Who am I to point out the obvious!
Maybe I need another night of KGB’s and a lesson on WORM FARMING! (Watch this space)

So now we are off with a ‘hiss and a roar’!

Or should I say....the others are off with a hiss and a roar, I again was in Hosp (very convenient, but who am I to complain!) As soon as I was out I made sure I was at the second major push and to be shown all the work that had already been done! (Didn’t look like enough to me but did make sure I ooooohhhhhh and Aaaaaahhhhed at the appropriate points!)
They had WEEDED! YAY, mind you have you seen the size of this venture? Maybe I should be way more appreciative of ground gained!
Also a compost heap has been started; this actually makes sense to me! Ok saves on compost and also recycles food waste right? WRONG! Something that makes that much sense has to have a flaw in it (just to keep me on my toes!) No the food waste goes to the pigs! The WEEDS go in the compost!
So to be clear on this, we spend hours ‘weeding’ to get these annoying (looks like veggies anyway to me but apparently not) plants out of the garden, to only let them rot, so we can add them again later! Like we don’t have enough weeds without adding more, but again.......who am I to point out the obvious?
I also made the (stupid?) mistake of pointing out this flaw in the compost plan to Liz (Garden guru) to actually have a lesson.....it went something like this:
“Weeds go in compost ......blah blah yada yada.........hot.....blah blah yada yada............breaks down..........yada yada blah blah...........kills seeds...........yada yada blah.......making safe to use as compost!”
Thanks for the lesson Liz, but maybe next time I should get another KGB (or three?) first!