June 2019
My word, it got cold!
With May being a lot drier than it should be, we selfishly
enjoyed the warm days and perfect evenings knowing full-well what was coming…
and boy has it been bittersweet! Much needed rain and that bite-y great
southern chill straight off the Antarctic meant that the gumboots and rain
jackets were dusted off and put to good use, and a lesson in good old perseverance
for the youngin’s was the order of the week.
This week in the patch has been delightfully
chaotic! While we’re probably a bit overdue with our patch tasks (we actually
bought seedlings instead of sprouting them ourselves! Eeep!), the imminent
forecast of rain had spurred us into action with weeding, feeding, and planting
of all the cool season delights (well, what can fit in the beds anyway!).
The perennial bed has been finished - it already
had around 30 strawberry plants in it, and we’ve now added 3 globe artichokes,
a mix of purple and green asparagus, garlic, sage, and calendulas!
Our broad beans that went in a few weeks ago are
loving life, and have established beautifully where the corn once stood proud
and tall in the summer sun. Some have even begun flowering! Woohoo!
Did you know that legumes replace nitrogen in the
soil, and are ideal to plant after a hungry and demanding plant like corn? (Hilariously
enough, this was actually an afterthought for me; it was the only sizable spot
left for the beans so that’s where they ended up! The Lord really does work in
mysterious ways!)
Hello babies! Our broad beans loving the late autumn sunshine xx
And just like that, the weather turns!
Miss P tucking the babies in with a good covering of hay xx
Bed number 3 is a rowdy raucous mess, and I just
can’t tame it! There were plenty of old, frost-damaged late summer cherry
tomatoes that went to the chooks and ducks (who were happy as pigs in mud!), a
lot of random last season silverbeet that sprung up out of nowhere –
some of which had to be donated to the sheep (they were much obliged to assist us
in disposal of said silverbeet, thank you Lammie and Lahmette!), a rocket plant
whose seeding process is more like a royal wedding ceremony, and a bunch of
*something* that has sprung up from last year! Not to mention the WEEDS!
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A local legend making the most of the seeding
rocket!
Thanks little guy! x
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Call Sherlock! The mystery clump -
there's 6 of them too.
I'm guessing cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, but then
broccoli was flowering in the bed next door last
season too...?
And cabbage further
along?
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So, we’ve tidied it all up a bit, and managed to
add some new brusties (our name for Brussels sprouts), spinach, and artichoke,
as well as a bunch of lemongrass, and tucked it in with some hay.
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Two new beds at the front here, and
the original 4 behind.
To the left is a big empty space with some even bigger
plans!
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We’ve also
built two new beds and dug through some compost (purely because we had to move
the bin to build the beds!), but are still waiting on the magic and elusive
tractor man (husband/father) to fill the beds with soil and manure - there’s no way we’re
filling those two beds with a shovel and wheelbarrow!
...And all in preparation for
the winter onslaught. With anything from 23mm to 40mm expected over the next
few days, our babies had to be planted and tucked in with a nice blanket of hay
to keep them warm… and we’ve done not too bad a job at all i must say…! There's still some more spinach, cabbage, silverbeet (anyone out there actually call it swiss chard??), cauliflower, and kale to plant out, as well as loads of seeds to sow for the next succession of food, oh and more garden beds to put in because I'll be out of space again soon... so a fair bit to do, but I love it!
And, you know what?
When you take time to notice the hairs on a bee covered in pollen as he skips between flowers, or watch an earthworm dig his way back into the soil after he was accidentally dug up, or feel the soil through your fingertips as you carefully plant out a seedling, or smell the thyme as you pinch some off to add to the bolognese on the stove, or enjoy the magpies playing in the bowl of water you leave out for them every day - you see your whole life differently.
You learn to see God in your daily activities.
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