A Year in My Garden - September (2)

Pictures today are from our garden. Spring has definitely arrived in New Zealand..

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

On the 15th of every month a group of bloggers, headed by Carol from Indiana, celebrate Bloom Day.

http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2009/09/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-september.html

Today is the day that they all display photos of what is currently in bloom in their gardens. I Have opportunistically add this entry to the list as it contains a large number of Spring flowers (being in the Southern hemisphere....

Me and McD

Woke up yesterday morning to hear Paul Henry our breakfast TV presenter announce the time and date - 14th September ... Blearily I started to wonder why it seemed a significant date....Family birthdays - nope.... A song - Nope ... And then I remembered. My head shot up and I looked at an even blearier eyed Jill !!



"Happy Anniversary Sweetie !!!! "



It was indeed our 9th anniversary!! 9 year ago We moved in together.... And nothing has been the same since ..:O)



Anyway, By the look of Jill's eyes I could tell that it was an 'Oh Fudge" moment and that she hadn't remembered either :O)



Have to say it's not the first time this has happened over the 9 years .... But at least it's just not me :O)



Later on I got a prezzie - A vegetable peeler and a measuring device for the kitchen....I've warned her I'll get too used to this domestication lark...I'll not be able to get back into work mode soon!!!







And the Name of That Moth Is



The black and white moth, mentioned a few entries back with picture, is a Lichen Moth !!!! A native to NZ ...First I'd seen ..Common to the north Island I read .. .Maybe Welly is a bit too south of the north ....



The Garden



And so it all starts here at this point, this week..... I've planted the giant pumpkin seeds ....Plans are to have them outside around the 3rd week in October after the frosts have gone for sure ..... So more stress now to get the pumpkin patches built and filled ......











work work work work work.......



I spent a few hours planting seeds ... I won't list them but in the main they are the standard vegetable fare .... I'll write up about the 'non standard ones a little later but even there, those in other countries will see them as fairly common as well ...







I've planted a number of heirloom varieties of tomatoes again ... Hoping for another good crop and for us to make some good sauces & chutney's later on ... And of course to find what are the tastiest for us when eating them fresh ....







Finally, the TV Living Channel over here have started showing a decent gardening programme !!! Finished are the Ozzie shows (OK really) and gone, thankfully, are the awful American shows ( Sorry guys, I'm sure we just get the cheapest ones and not the good ones ... ) And what we are now able to watch is the BBC Gardening world !! Yeah !!!! :O) Based around a huge project is turning a large field into a show garden including vegetables ... A must watch from now on every Sunday teatime -ish ...







But the biggest BIGGEST annoyance is that they won't allow the video clips from their site to be viewed outside of the UK ....Bad Form BBC ...Shame on you ,............







Actually before that was a repeat on a show competition for Britain's best allotment site... Bit of a surprise as to the winner but again great viewing ...Especially for me who wanted an allotment way back when I lived in the UK .... They just don't do them over here .......







The vegetable garden is coming along .... As per the picture steps have been completed and weed matting and bark has been laid ....Well at least for the borders built last year ... Time now to get soil and more planks of wood and build and fill the borders in readiness for all these new plants in all too few weeks time ......







Funnily enough it's getting harder to get bark chip!! The garden supplies chap tells us that they now have new machines that uproot and take the bark and branches off the trees in the forest ... then it's left there to rot ..... The start of a new business maybe collecting the stuff ....







But it's starting to look good I think :O) Jill and I put 4 hours into doing the steps and bark last Sunday ..





Still a heap to do ... Want to paint the wood on the borders sometime as well ...Maybe :O) ..... As you can see we've brought up some lavender bushes. Also started to grow the herbs in pots ... Hoping the lavender will attract more bees. they are strategically placed around the Broad beans some of which are in flower now (The seedlings I bought by the way) ....







At present the weather is warm .... The air a little cool, still but this is open doors of the house weather and drink mugs of hard earned tea out on the balcony ... Maybe even a cold evening beer as a reward :O) For the equivalent of march in the northern hemisphere this aint bad really ....







If the cats would let me that is ...... George cat is in 7th heaven since the seat suddenly appeared yesterday .... This is now George's daytime sleeping spot .... I wish it was mine .....