Til the end of 2013

I read on Foxs Lane blog that less frequently she blogs the harder it becomes to write a post. Gosh ain't that the truth. The whirlwind months of November and December have come and gone. 2013 is all done and 2014 is rollicking along already.

The two cubic metres of garden mix I shovelled into the garden beds has given us a good space for the growing season. The hard yakka of that day is easy to forget and already I am keen to order more to fill and replenish other areas of the garden.

The space was very neglected throughout late December and early January as we headed down to Southland to get married. (It was an amazing day but will regale the tale in another post). We had the lovely and incredible Brylee and Tony mow the lawns and tend the patch while we were away. Both deserve gold medals and certainly have a big piece of our hearts.

This is what the space looked like last week.

We have been enjoying squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, celery, carrots and beetroot since our return. The flat leaf parsley had gone crazy.....it had a severe haircut resulting in a bucket of parsley. Mr Fox was kind enough to help me remove the stalks. It was then processed into a few jars of pesto...so scrummy.

Planted recently: spring onions, silverbeet

Sown recently: sunflowers, rocket

The weekend coming will see some seed potatoes sown and some more carrots. Oh the possibilties. I just love this gardening lark.

July to October

Well our wedding is just over 7 weeks away and although things are pretty much all set to go the anxiety is building. Nervous excitement but a some fretting does go on. Planning parties is not something Mr. Fox and I do often so planning a big and very special one is a big ask. We are hoping for a fun and relaxing day. It is shaping up to be that way.

The garden is doing well from my nerves...it has never looked better. I unwind completely there and forget all my cares. This Saturday I put in 2 cubic metres of garden mix by wheelbarrow and shovel. It was a sunny day and when you are doing such physical work it hones your focus on to nothing but dirt, shovel, wheelbarrow! It is great to see a big pile of dirt turned into useful surface area for growing yummy food.

The winter crops are still providing lots of greenery and should tide us over til our summer crops are ready. The Broad beans are growing fantastically and survived the blustery winds we have had. Garlic and potatoes are quietly doing some growing too. The wee flowers dotted about are keeping the bumble bees busy.

Clearing out the flax bush, making room for a compost bin

Tools of the trade

New to me terrarium...must plant out and bring inside

Broad beans in August

August winter garden

Newly filled boxes from a roadside find. Great spot for lettuces etc that tend to bolt in full sun. Just enough dappled light here for growth. Mmm yummy Basil, Coriander and lettuces seeds in

Friends with chainsaw cleared the privet tree and the tree pushing on fence. Great usable space for fruit trees and berries

Broad beans in late early October and strawberries forming

Toby's seeds all planted out

Yay for a sunny spring day

The weeks whizz by. Our lovely friend was up in Auckland with her dear wee boy. Her little one was very unwell and in hospital but is on the mend now. It was wonderful to be able to spend so much time together despite the circumstances. Coincidentally a gorgeous family friend's little boy had to have an operation and I also got to catch up with her, so great to sit in the sun and chat. Not much of a summary of the past few months but the night is going fast...will post another time soon.

Busy Sunday

We had some dear friends stay over last night after a quiet evening.  Mr. Fox and I were more than a little jaded after bottling 20 litres of home brew beer just before they arrived. What a very messy caper bottling was. Quite a lot of the brew ending up on the kitchen floor.  The bottles are now all cosy, tucked away in the hot water cupboard....I have my fingers crossed that none of the tops pop off! It was certainly nice to sit down after the clean up and chat into the wee hours.

The sun has been shining today with a nice breeze so we got out in the garden.  The area at the rear of the house is rather a jumble of big flax, Lily and fallen tree trunks. It is very boggy in the winter and is not a very productive space.  The plants are all about 1.5 metres from the fence which means there is a large area of space waste. Our aim is too grow as much of our own food as possible so we set too work clearing some of those plants away. Every bit of land will have to be functional to help us reach a more sustainable lifestyle (and hopefully save some money too!)

View of the jumble at the back of the house

The pile of felled trees and a huge Lily

A lovely Lily that was way too far from the fence

 It didn't take long for the two of us too get this space cleared.  Mr. Fox dug out the small tree in the corner and we both yanked out the Lily. It was full of snails, centipedes and other creepy crawlies. The base was sodden with water and it stunk! Glad to get this out.  It is lovely for cut flowers so we replanted a small one in the corner closer to the fence. Hopefully it will grow into a lush big plant.

The space clear. I think we will get a composting system going here in the future.

A bit of a surprise at how much space was left behind. 

 Looking at these photos reminds me how badly I want to water blast those fences and paint them black. The brown paint is everywhere in the suburb like some kind of infection. Ugh it's even the choice of colour for the trims on our house.

Our garden has no flowers in it apart from a few violets and geraniums at the back.  We don't like to use sprays or chemicals in the garden. At the moment we do use natural sprays/powders as there are soo many slugs. By increasing the biodiversity in the yard we hope to attract some beneficial bugs in.  The bird table has been such a success at attracting birds so it would be nice to see a few more ladybirds, bees etc. With this in mind we thought a small flower/herb bed by the clothesline might help. It is close to the vegetable garden and can be seen from our lounge.

Waiting for plants. Off to the garden center tomorrow!

I have been researching flowers that can handle clay soils. There is about 5cm of topsoil here before hitting clay.  I think Asters, Chamomile, Carnations and Marigolds will go here, hopefully the garden center will have some suggestions too.

We have decided that the area by the letter box through that gate will be planted out in flowers for the bees and butterflies. There are too many roaming dogs for me to be keen to eat any veges that we could have grown here.  It is very boggy and too wet to plant in at the moment. We have given up conditioning the soil out there. Will pop some hardy plants in here and encourage survival of the fittest.  Once we get a functioning composting area we will add lovely compost to the top of the soil and let worms do the work.

The vegetable garden is recovering from near death by slugs and very wet weather. Despite it being attacked so ferociously by slimy thieves we have been eating quite a bit.  With more goodness on it's way soon. I can't wait for those cabbages.

Spring onions, lettuce, spinach, silver beet and some parsley

Mmm look at that cabbage and broccoli

 Mr. Fox commenced the annihilation of the cabbage tree stump today. It is huge and by all accounts very hard to kill. He drilled some holes into the stump and poured in the recommended poison. I hope it won't take too long to die. It will be good to get some soil in the big planter box and cover that sucker up.

A bit hard to tell but that wee spike is in the middle of a big stump about 1 msq.

It was so great to get out in the garden today. Such a sense of satisfaction and a whole lot of hope for the future goodies to come from the garden to our bellies. I hope the sun shone wherever you are today. x