This blog has been bought to you by the letter P

Peas, peppers, pumpkins, peanuts and preparations and presents and a ‘P’eetroot.

I need to apologise in advance as this is a little long but I have had a huge weekend in the garden. I now ache a little in all the usual places that hard work brings aches.  I should be used to it by now, but doing a little moaning can still bring some sympathy and often that comes with a cuppa tea.

What a glorious day

After the storms and rain and wind and general yuckiness of the last week you wouldn’t think it would be possible for the sun to come out at all, but it did, and with all its blue sky magnificence and not a cloud to be seen.  Now it is almost hard to imagine such yucky weather was possible – except for the fact it is still fresh in my memory.   It is getting a little cold outside.  I think we are being a bit wussy as we have had the  fire on a few times already even though the temperatures are nowhere near zero, however it’s the cosy factor that we are looking for.

This weekend was best because it had mother’s day in it and I was truly spoilt.  I was given a lovely thermal cup so I could drink my cuppa teas outside without them going cold and a hat by the thoughtful Joeyosaurus, Tim the Helper gave me beeswax moisturiser – which I might add he made himself at boy scouts and it is really amazing – perfect for a gardening mum like myself.  And the big present was also pretty cool.  James Wong’s Home Grown Revolution.   I have been eying it up for ages but could justify the cost.  I want to read it cover to cover on an upcoming break, but it is taking a lot of self-control not to read it now!

My kids think I’m the best mum in the world!

So we have this upcoming break – well a working break, I have to do some speaking about my book and my garden and stuff.  Who would have thought writing – which is a solitary occupation causes you to stand up in front of people and talk!  To be honest I am really nervous about it, but I love my garden so much, once I get going I think it will be difficult to stop me.  I think the whole world should garden, so maybe I’m just the person to tell the whole world they should.

So anyway, my garden is being left in the hands of a more than capable garden guardian – my mum, but I still need to prepare as it would be a little rude of me to expect my wonderful mum to be the one to do all the chores that leave you with that gardeners ache, so I got stuck in and prepared the garden for my absence.  I harvested a load of peas and sowed some more.  I transplanted some free range spinach into a straight line – I must have order in my garden.  I cleared out the salad bed and in the process discovered a beetroot I didn’t know was there, but I’m not sure I will be able to eat it!  I planted out a new row of beetroot, but if they get anywhere near as big as the one I found then I haven’t left them enough room!

In my garden I can grow food as big as your head!

I also sowed some succession crops in my garden for the winter – more kohlrabi, turnips, parsnips, lettuce, radish and some fennel.  Then I repotted my leeks and spring onions and celeriac into larger pots, as they will just have to wait until I get back before they see their new homes in ‘the patch’.  Then I turned to the basil.  Frost will be here soon and I don’t want to lose my leaves, so I harvested them by clipping off the stalks, taking them inside and whipping off all the leaves, washing them in my super salad spinner and chopping them up in my food processor and flat packing them into snap lock bags and popping them into the freezer as fast as I could so they don’t lose all their goodness.  Now if I want basil over the winter I just need to snap off a chunk.   But the thing is – the plant in the garden had a thick woody stem – nothing like the stems of the live basil you buy in the supermarket.  So I wondered if it was something that will come back in the spring – so I left it… watch this space.

The remains of my basil plant. What do you reckon… will it come back in the spring?

With the impending frost in mind I also harvested all my peppers and chillies.  Some chillies I put in my dehydrator, some have been put aside to make the last batch of hot chilli sauce for the season and then all the peppers were chopped, de-seeded and put in the freezer for the winter.  The freezer is now pretty full.  We shall be eating like royalty over these next few months! But I forgot to wear gloves – don’t do that!  Oh my goodness my hands were very ‘warm!’ Luckily it was a cold night, so I could get some value from the intense burning!

Just a few peppers….

While I was harvesting things I thought I’d dig up my peanuts.  I’ve never grown them before and so was curious to see what I’d find.  And guess what I found – peanuts!  Loads of them.  I grew peanuts!  I am so stoked!  Next year I am going to grow more because The Joeyosaurus wants to make peanut butter!  How cool would that be!

I actually grew peanuts!!! It’s the coolest thing in the world!!!

Then I thought I’d better dig up my cheeky late crop of potatoes and so I grabbed a large bucket in anticipation.  I needed have bothered with the large bucket…  a coffee mug would have done the job of holding my harvest.  I got more peanuts than potatoes!

Hardly worth the effort – but I shall eat them nevertheless

The last thing that needed my attention was the pumpkins and it became a family affair as I told Hubby the Un-Gardener where they all were to pick up as some were heavy and he took them to Tim the Helper who hosed them off and then the Joeyosaurus washed them in a bleach solution and Hubby the Un-Gardener stored them in the shed.  We have a lot of pumpkin to get through.

It’s a shame Hubby the Un-Gardener doesn’t like pumpkin soup!

It also became obvious that now was the time to judge the Annual Giant Pumpkin Growing competition for 2013.  But due to the drought and neglect – seriously they are all talk when it comes to the sowing and planting, but then they forget all about their pumpkins for the greater part of six months.  I don’t think I’ll make gardeners of them – but I won’t give up trying. Any way there was only one misshapen pumpkin as all the others had stopped growing and rotted away.  So there was a lot of argy bargy about whose pumpkin it was, so I carefully followed the stalk back to its roots and it stopped at the foot of the label belonging to The Joeyosaurus, the undefeated reigning champion of our Annual Giant Pumpkin growing competition.

The winner … again!

Oh and I mowed around the veggie garden – It takes longer now as I have brazenly stolen more land!

This new bed looks silly all by itself… what it needs is to be part of a row!

So as you can tell by the amount of words, it was a huge weekend with a lot achieved. That should hold you for a while – while I do my speaky thing…. Wish me the best of luck.

Come again soon – my garden will continue to grow and on my return I’m sure there will be loads to do.

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

I feel ever so slightly violated

Actually that’s a bit harsh – possibly quite harsh.  But I have had my shed broken into and there was damage and things have been taken, and they have left their poop in my shed and so now it stinks!  There could have been more than one, I’m not sure, but I have seen them loitering around.

Sleeping on the job

I lay the blame fairly and squarely at the feet of Toast the Cat.  I mean she actually sleeps in there.  Although it seems to be more a case of sleeping on the job.  While she has been blissfully warming her poor old body in the sun trap that my shed can be, mice have been nibbling away at my window sill, making a small gap big enough for them to squeeze through and then they race about the frames, tossing their poop about with gay abandon – I mean there is poop everywhere, and I only cleaned it all out a few weeks ago.

Damage!

And who do they think is going to have to clean THAT up?

They have stolen all the artichoke seeds I put aside, but I think that was more a crime of convenience as I don’t think it was their targeted item.  Luckily the few other seeds I have in the shed are locked up tight in a tin or in plastic or they just don’t like them.  And they have left my onion and garlic alone.  I was going to store my pumpkins in there but now I’m just not too sure – do mice eat pumpkin?

At least the seeds in here are safe

The main target of this repeat offending appears to be my wheat.  My cover crop / mulch grand plan, where I shall be growing wheat over winter in the empty beds, to save them from becoming weed infested, then in early spring I’ll harvest them, dry them and when my baby seedlings are ready I will lay the wheat straw about the place as a mulch.  I did a test patch last year and it worked really well.

The mouse equivalent of a Jackpot!

So my problem it seems is storing the wheat until I am ready to use it.  I may need to buy something – a lead lined concrete box?! But until then I need to empty my shed out again! And clear out all the evidence, fix the hole and remove all edible temptation and I may even put down a little spring loaded peanut butter – but I do hate doing that as there are implications and complications with that course of action.

I think this is how they are getting in…. I’ve since moved it!… how far can mice jump?

But what I do know is this intolerable state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.  Something must be done.  And I will be the one to do it…  Experience has proved these things cannot be left up to a cat, especially not a well fed house cat.

Come again soon – I’ll shall take care of this wee problem and then carry on the important task of gardening so I can inflict turnips, cabbage and silverbeet on my family all winter long!

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

Oh and for those of you who are wondering what my garden looks like RIGHT NOW…  I have put a short video on You Tube and you can watch is by clicking >HERE<

Looking towards the future while remembering the past.

Today has been a huge day in the garden in more ways than one.  I put in some hard yakka, but there was also an emotional edge to my time with my hands in the soil.

Last year I asked the family to dig me a flower garden for mother’s day so I could fill it with loads of pretty things that smell nice.  However it has nearly been a whole year since the soil was lovingly turned by my blokes and it turns out flower gardening is just as much work as a veggie garden with all the weeding, watering and dead heading.

Nana’s flower

It hasn’t been too much of a disaster as I have some pink cosmos, and some dahlias languishing in the remaining warmth of a weakening sun.  Then there is a pink plant that its name escapes me right now, but it was my nanas and I inherited when she moved into the old folk’s home.  I feel blessed to have it in my garden as she is no longer with us.

There is also hiding beneath the soil some gladioli bulbs that I hope will grace us with their presence this year if I promise to stake them so they don’t end up with all their faces in the mud.  I honestly didn’t know that would happen… they looked so strong.

That’s some pile of weeds!

But this morning I looked out at the garden and despite the splashes of colour all I saw was weeds and I couldn’t have that – not today, so I spent a good couple of hours scrabbling about in the dirt ripping out weeds, without damaging the existing plants.  Shame prevents me from showing you the before photo as it really was a weedy mess that no one would be proud of, especially after the effort that the boys went to, to make it a nice garden for me in the first place.  I managed to haul out a large pile that I sent off to the compost pile.

The next thing I did will bright my day in months to come.  I planted my spring bulbs.  I planted 40 daffodils, 40 tulips and 20 ranunculus.  It should be an amazing display.  I have to say it was really nice to have somewhere to actually put them in the ground this year, as in the past I put them in buckets with holes drilled in the bottom as our ground is too damp to put them in over winter as they would just drown.  My flower garden has been created on higher ground so no chance of rotting bulbs.  I am so excited; I can’t wait to see them.

Gorgeous spring colour

The final thing I did was more of a tradition to mark respect.  Today is ANZAC day and it is a day where we all stop and remember the brave soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.  The day always makes me feel really emotional.  They did that for us!  They didn’t even know me.  Here we are in a tiny country at the bottom of the world and when we are needed, we step up to be counted.  We, as a tiny country in the bottom of the world, paid a really high price in World War 1 and World War 2 and wars since and we are still stepping up to be counted today.  I am so proud to be a kiwi.

Lest we forget.

The Flanders Poppy is a symbol of that sacrifice and a wonderful way to pay our respects is to sow the seeds today, then when they flower in the summer we can think of that amazing sacrifice all over again.  We all scattered seeds into my freshly cleared flower garden and then stood for a minute to remember.  It is always really moving.

Come again soon – there is still loads of stuff to sow, grow and harvest in the veggie garden.

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

Summer is over… well… almost.

It’s not summer any more

Today I faced facts.  The tomatoes needed to come out.  They were brown and mostly dead.  There will be no miracle springing them back to life.  They had lived a long and healthy life since they emerged from their seeds ten months ago and now tired and exhausted they have given up but not without producing an abundance of delicious tomatoes for us along the way.  The best part was – they died of natural causes and not the dreaded blight.  Not this year my friends.

The rain finally stopped and a sun that doesn’t quite have the energy it once did, but still able to warm the air, came out.   I looked about the garden for something to do.  There is always things to do in the garden no matter what time of year and some things are just a mere trifle of a task that would take no time at all, and would probably have an insignificant impact on the overall view of the garden.

You can’t turn back ‘thyme’

Today I was after a job I could get my teeth into.  One that would be noticed.  One I could say “look what I did!”  And there is nothing like removing dead plants especially when they are big and there are loads of them.  So I dragged my one armed wheelbarrow (with a cracked pan) over to the tomatoes.  I say dragged as it also has a flat tire.  I really need a new one, and I fancy one of those four wheeled ones that look more like a trolley.  But for now I only have my poor old barrow and it is still up to the job, surprisingly.

I then carefully set about chopping up my plants, removing any late tomatoes as I went.  I chopped them up into short lengths and put them in the wheelbarrow, taking care not to drop any as hygiene is essential with dead tomatoes.  You really don’t want next year’s crop ruined because last year’s tomato lurgies were left hanging around.  I put all the old ties in the bin because they weren’t recyclable and they are also the perfect place for lurgies to hide.  I couldn’t believe how much I actually used.  But then again most of it was for repair jobs as the wooden stakes I used were – hmm thinking of the right word to use in polite company – disappointing.  They rotted off at the base early in the season leaving my precious plants flailing about in the wind.  So the whole lot needed to be lashed to extra stakes.   My tomatoes really weren’t all that pretty this year.

One cold and frosty day I’ll be warming my fingers with the remains of summer

We still have a fire ban in the area, despite the last few days of rain, so I loaded all the chopped up bits and pieces into our braziers waiting for the day when we get the all clear and we can start burning things again.  I’m not even tempted to put this lot on the compost heap, just in case.

Ready to go again with a different crop in a couple of months

Then I gave the bed a bit of a weed – not that there were many in there – just a dozen or so small thugs with a try hard attitude.  But I soon knocked them down to size with my handy dandy wee hand tool.  Then I gave it all a rake over, leaving it looking all lovely and ready for re-enriching for the next crop which will be the onions and garlic in a couple of months’ time.

The last fresh tomatoes we will see in a while

I managed to salvage two kilo of tomatoes that was to become part of an annual ritual – The Last of Summer Relish.  All the previous batches of tomato relish were done with a ‘chore’ attitude.  “It’s boiling hot outside and it’s the last thing I want to be doing, but fresh is best…”  This batch is different.  It is the very last one.  The next time we see tomatoes is a long way off.

8 Jars of Last of Summer Relish

So there it is – summer is officially over… there are no tomatoes in my garden.   Well… that’s not entirely true.  The Yellow Brandywine didn’t look dead. In fact it looked quite vibrant.  There is every possibility that the tomatoes held within its branches could make it to vine ripened.  But I’m dicing with the frost…  And then there are the cuttings I took in the hopes of growing them on in the greenhouse and keeping summer alive all year long.

A picture of health

Come again soon – I think I need to begin harvesting pumpkins next.

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

It’s raining again.

It’s quite funny because I seem to go on about the rain a lot and so anyone would be led to believe it is a very soggy autumn.  But alas this is not the case.  Since the seasons changed we have only had a couple of decent rainfalls and not really enough to undo all the damage of this summer’s drought.   The boffins have proclaimed that this rain will be the one to quench the soil and break ‘the big dry’ as it is now being referred to – however it’s not looking likely.  It is that annoying rain that gets things wet and makes gardening not so pleasant, but I can’t see any puddles forming.

The ground doesn’t look as dry, and there is still enough luscious growth despite the downhill slide towards winter

So – to clarify – it hasn’t been raining constantly.  I have done loads in the garden, in the blazing sun and working up quite a sweat – well I would have if I wasn’t a lady.  Ladies don’t sweat – they glow!  Well I was positively glowing.  The garden has been weeded to within an inch of its life; which wasn’t too hard as the dry conditions have kept most of the unwanted interlopers at bay.

I still haven’t managed to remove the summer plants that are on their last legs, but the way I see it – is if they are on their last legs, they are still standing so there is still hope.  Although I was forced to harvest the popcorn as some miserable creature had attacked it and eaten half my crop.  I have words that could be used to describe that unwanted varmit; however we are in polite company so I shall just refer to the thieving swine as an undesirable inconvenience.

At least we will have some home grown popcorn to eat while we pass the time on long winter nights watching movies

Another task I had to tackle was sorting out the greenhouse.  Once all the spring seedlings had fled the coop I kinda abandoned the greenhouse, leaving it in a state of total chaos.  The spiders spun some pretty impressive webs and somehow through the weedmat and the sandy gaps between the paving stones some pretty healthy weeds were flourishing.  Seriously what is up with that?  It has been like a million degrees in there over the summer, with no water and yet they thrive.  Any plant I put in there in conditions that aren’t as harsh and are pampered like princesses are petulant primadonnas who will get in a huff and curl up their toes at the slightest perceived discomfort.

And the sad, tired old-before-it’s-time greenhouse is put into service one more time.

But the weather is changing and my autumn sowings – that have been basking in the gentle warmth of autumnal sun, needed a change of scene.  They needed to be in the greenhouse to protect them from the early morning chill that has crept upon us and has me looking for socks the minute I get out of bed.   So I moved them into the warmth where they will reside until I face the fact that summer is well and truly over and rip out the dregs of what was once a thriving, vibrant summer garden, and free up space for cabbages and cauliflowers and witloof.  I don’t even know what witloof is – but I’m gonna give it a whirl!

My orchard will be a shining example of good orchardness by the time I have finished with it.

When I planted my orchard, I decided the best place for it was at the far end of our property, so we would have an excuse to go to the far reaches of our land.  But sometimes the trek (it’s not actually that far) seems like too much effort and so my poor orchard has only really received intermittent attention.  Well this year that is all about to change.  I have decided I really need to fix this situation and take proper care of the trees I planted so they will bear me the best fruit.  With this new found enthusiasm for my trees I looked up what I needed to do and sprayed the peach leaves for peach leaf curl and pruned the plums – it’s a bit late for the required summer prune, but I figure it’s closer to summer than winter so close enough should be good enough.  Then I got all enthusiastic with my pruners and went around the whole orchard and removed dead and diseased wood which was really easy to see, as these were the branches without leaves.  I am so proud of my orchard efforts.

So things are ticking away nicely in my little horticultural paradise, but having said that there isn’t really much that needs doing.  It is quite a laid back season and it is a time to enjoy the fruits of my labours.  Although I do keep asking myself – surely there is something that needs to be done?

Hmmm…. maybe I should do something with these windfall quince….

Come again soon – I’m sure there is something that needs doing…

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

Who flipped the switch?

This time last week it was hot and muggy.  So hot we slept with the door open (if you are reading this and you are a burglar contemplating robbing us blind – we very rarely sleep with everything  unlocked to don’t waste your time coming over to our house).  It was a restless night’s sleep after a balmy late (extremely late) summer type day.  We have become quite complacent and assume that it will be warm again each day.

Dill reaching up into an endless blue sky

Then on Friday we had some friends over for dinner and we did what we usually do when we entertain – we ate alfresco.  (It always sounds so much posher when you say alfresco, but it was just a BBQ with steak and burger patties and a salad I whipped up, nothing fancy.)  As the sun went down we fired up the patio heater – but once again there is nothing unusual about that and often have it on when entertaining on a summer evening – we are in New Zealand after all, not somewhere tropical!

Essential BBQ tools?

So it wasn’t until we got up to come inside that we realised just how cold it actually was.  The contrast between inside and outside was considerable.  All of a sudden my feet felt cold and I had to go and look for socks!  Then I got into bed and realised the duvet wasn’t going to be enough for the night and so I went off in search of further bedding and chucked a couple of extra blankets on the kids beds too.  If mum is cold then the whole world must be cold too.  My feet never really warmed up again.

Can’t really argue with the numbers

The ultimate nail in the coffin of summer is the clocks have now gone back and that one hour has a huge effect on seasonal perception.  Or coincidentally there is a cold front moving up the country.  Either way the nights are definitely getting longer and colder and I can no longer kid myself that it is still summer…  but….

A heavy dew clings to my wheat

I have one more trick up my sleeve.  I still have tomatoes in my garden and while there are tomatoes in my garden, no matter how manky the plant looks then it is still summer in my world, even if I have to wrap up warm to go and get one for my tea!

A little ray of sunshine and not the last tomato

Come again soon – there are still loads that need harvesting so things are still as exciting as that first ripe zuke back in early spring.

Sarah the Gardener  : o )

Normal is actually good, even if it means you may get wet!

For the first time in a long time the garden is looking a little soggy

I’m sitting here listening to the sound of a steady, but not too heavy rain falling.  It just seems a little odd.  We have had very little rain since December and there are all these reports about how dry the summer was, breaking records all over the place.  But I won’t bore you with details about the drought as I could go on forever because in extreme weather there is so much information available.

With ‘normal’ weather, no one bats an eye.  There aren’t news reports about how we have had normal weather for more than 10 days in a row.  No one talks about it when they meet up in the street –“Oh what normal weather we are having…”  People take it for granted.

I have more peppers than you can shake a stick at!

But we gardeners are in tune with the weather because the plants tell us what is going on – a limp looking tomato plant soon lets us know there hasn’t been rain in ages and it wants a drink, carrots floating away tells us there is too much water.   But drought aside, my summer garden wasn’t too bad and I have a freezer full of fresh produce waiting for a cold bleak winters day to remind us all of how lovely summer was.  Having said that I think I took the endless sunny days a tiny bit for granted as now that it’s raining I am disappointed that I can’t go out and garden whenever I’m ready to.  I have to work around the weather.  But I have things to do and I might not be able to get out there when the rain stops.

Now that last statement may seem a little selfish, being as this is exactly the kind of rain needed to break a drought and heal the earth – a soft steady rain that will slowly soak into the parched soil, restoring it to normal conditions.  It’s just after over three months of gardening whenever I want, I’ve been a little spoilt and some may say I’ve become set in my ways.  I need to adapt again.  I need to add weather watching as part of my gardening routine, not just to avoid the rain, but as autumn creeps on by there will be that inevitable first frost.  Although that seems a million miles from now.

So pretty – should brighten a dark day

So as the rain continues to fall, I need to plan what to do for when there is a break in the clouds.  I need to hang up the new hanging baskets I made.  The summer ones had completely given up the ghost and so I have made winter friendly ones with alyssum, viola, and primula’s .  A nice splash of colour for those dark days ahead.

Nearly ready – but will my bucket ever be the same again?

I need to continue harvesting the pumpkins and get them stored away;  the chillies and peppers show no signs of letting up and harvesting is required regularly;  I have winter crop seedlings that aren’t all that far away from being planted in “big plants garden.”  The cooking apples and the quince are nearly ready so I’ll need to figure out what to do with them and the orchard has things that need doing to it.

There has got to be more uses for quince than jelly                                                           – there is only so much jelly a girl can eat!

I need to take down the tomatoes – although this, as always, is the last job on the list because while there are still tomatoes in the garden – no matter how manky, I can still kid myself that we are having an extended summer and winter is miles away! There is loads that needs to be done, and heaps that can be done.  But for now I will patiently wait for the rain to end and be grateful that the drought appears to finally have broken.

I’m sure that I can hold winter at bay – just so long as there are tomatoes in my garden.

Come again soon – we are well into autumn and I’m OK with that – I can still garden, but I may just get wet!

Sarah the Gardener  : o )