Slow and Steady

To be honest I think the brick saga has had more of an impact on my #MakeMayCount timeline.  Up until the bricks entered my world, I was making great progress, but collecting them was a huge effort and then they sat in the back of Hubby the Un-Gardener’s vehicle for a couple of days while I recovered and then mustered the strength to unload them.  He didn’t mind using my car for a short while but one of the teen lads is now newly driver licensed and wanted to borrow my car when Hubby the Un-Gardener needed to be somewhere too. It couldn’t be avoided any longer and I set about unloading the bricks.  I managed to move 430 of them before I got a bit of help.  There were 655 all up so should be more than enough for the project I have in mind.

These bricks can stay put for now – I’ve done moving them about the place for now.

I didn’t want to completely rest and recover because in the spirit of the month I wanted to be productive, so I kept up with path hoeing and rock making, and it is becoming a nice little routine at the start of the day.

Not a bad first picking of peas, even if they didn’t last long!

On Thursday I made the first picking of the peas for the season and brought them in and popped them on the bench to pod them and get them ready for the freezer, but the kids came home from school and pretty much demolished the lot!  At least they’re eating their greens.

There is nothing better than a rainy day in the dome

Friday was another slow day as I recovered from the brick moving and I took it easy by preparing a presentation for a talk I’m giving next week.  I got some more rock work done and that was about it.

My autumn seedlings – mostly onions but also some lawn chamomile, and some other bits and bobs look like they needed potting on.

Today – being Saturday I don’t normally garden, as weekends are for time with the family.  But this weekend is Mother’s Day Weekend, so I was able to indulge in some guilt free weekend gardening and I felt like it was a bit of a catch up from the brick drama.  The skies have been spitting and spotting all day, which is good as we haven’t had a lot of rain lately, but it isn’t enough to really make a difference.  I may need to drag the hose out next week.

I love repotting plants, when there aren’t too many. The results are so satifying

I had several lovely hours in the dome that disappeared in a flash.  I decided to transplant my seedlings.  My lawn chamomile, needed for the project, had come up quite thickly so I separated them out into small clumps and planted them out in pots. I’ll probably be able to separate them out a couple more times as they get bigger before I eventually plant them out.

I know where my iris bulbs are to go, but I’m not ready to put them there so its pots for now.

The onions also looked like they could do with moving on from the seed raising mix into some more nutrient rich potting mix so they could continue to grow on in strength.  I did have them all in seed trays, but they can be a bit fiddly to plant out, so I put them together in groups of 7 in individual pots as that is how many I need to put in the rows in the garden beds when the time comes.  This should make things a lot easier.

I’m not sure where I want to put my ranunculus as I bought them on a whim so I’ve soaked them and planted them in pots to give me some time to think about them.

I also popped the iris and ranunculus bulbs and tubers into pots to buy me some time before I prepare where I want them to go, and I gave all my rosemary cuttings a soak in seaweed mix to help strengthen them up.

I’m beginning to really understand the needs of my rosemary cuttings. I’ve lost a few, but not recently.

I think this will do nicely for now.   A week in with the intention of being as productive as possible has helped me to find my limits, but at the same time has helped push me forward and getting the most out of the last month before winter sets in.

Come again soon – week two is like a fresh start and all going well will be as productive, if not more.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)