What we laughingly call a (Veggie) garden (3))

And the Bragging Rights on naming the Red Campion flower in my previous post goes to OULIN ....:O)   Thanks for that :O)  

A number of our potatoes suffered a lot in this humid weather and despite efforts to save them, the leaves developed tell-tale brown spots then started to die back …. The affected tubs with affected potatoes in them were harvested. A moderate number of new potatoes were bagged and the plants disposed of to stop any spread. Some potato types were more susceptible to the disease than others.  The mixed varieties of jersey benne and Nadine potatoes in the raised border showed this well with the JBs ravaged with the blight but the nadines still green and healthy. The Maori purple potatoes we also have in tubs etc have been ok.  The JB plants have been cut back to just above ground level and the tuber will be left in the ground for a while hopefully without any fungus attack into the tubers themselves. 

Maori potatoes in a babies crib we got from a recycle shop at the tip ..... my babies are growing well and I'm looking forward to seeing a good harvest of round purple spuds soon .....    







Potatoes in a half barrel... we since moved them to another spot away from a bed of tomatoes to the right ...... these are still growing well are are just flowering



Our Broad Beans have been exceptional. This is both the transplanted ones and the direct sow plants … the heirloom red seeded broad beans are a favourite. I love them cooked with the Egyptian onions we grow, a clove of garlic and a little butter …. We cook them up into curries and stews etc – just the best …. They are still growing strong and we are picking a big basketful of pods each week ..But have stopped flowering of course and have been knocked about by the winds we’ve experienced. So by the end of January they will be pulled out and the bed prepared for the next crops. ..Something for winter ….   Though come Feb/March I could plant some more Broad beans again …

 

broad beans Growing tall to the top right of the picture.. these have since been pulled up due to them getting plagued with orange rust .... The border is now being prepared with home made compost in readiness for the next crops to be planted ... 

A year in My garden September (3)A year in My garden September (3)

 

 

I just realised the clocks go forward tonight... So now it's after 2am and I've started this ......Better not ramble on too much then :O) 



I've had Job interviews last week  !!!! ....

 

 

 

So here's the rub ...Within the same 1/2 hr I was offered a job and turned down for another job ....Turned down for being too senior and too experienced for the role..they Thought I wouldn't enjoy the operational focus of the role (??)

 

So I've a certain company who have offered me something - The role isn't as 'chunky' or as senior as I'm used too... but looks an interesting role and probably has good potential (seeing the state they are currently in)....Not only same company but same department as where McD works !! (expected that to go against my being hired...) The money really isn't great which bothers me ........The job market here even in IT isn't boyant..I have another possible opportunity coming up but no guarentees of getting it...Then the possibility of nothing else Or something else more suitable ...who knows when though ...... what to do - what to do ...

 

 

 

Work on  the raised borders continues albeit slowly. Spring is a time when every day you witness the miracle of life....Seeds little more than dust are bursting out with new life. And sprouting at an incredibly rapid rate....I've Planted far too many seeds of some …whoops … Interesting how other seeds  take that much longer to sprout…. But one thing you have to have in this gardening game is patience …

 

 

I’ve also potatoes and Maori purple potatoes and yams to plant out – maybe … I’m starting to run out of space – even for dustbins etc … we’ll see… Meanwhile we have harvested some of the broccolini we planted over winter which was very nice. We also have a couple of squares of bright-lights beet and some squares of kale that provide a regular and abundant supply of green vegetables …

 

 



Don't mention the fence - it's on the list "o) 

 

We never plant things at the right time – always something that gets in the way …Broad beans that we bought from the garden centre have grown, but not grown particularly tall and judging by the seed sown ones next to them are probably quite spindly as well …. But they are flowering profusely  …. We bought some lavender bushes in pots and flowering. We’ve put those around the broad beans in the hope to bring in the bees … The early flowers haven’t set …. True to form the bumble bees are working the lavender but I’ve not seen them on the broad bean flowers yet ….

 

 

 

I’ve also had to start on the flower borders …Too overgrown and full of weed and grass (above picture)… I’ve pruned the silver ferns as well that are at the end of the border …as well as the small almost bracken like ferns that are in front of them… they are already shooting up new fronds and looking good …..



Much to McDs horror I cut down some 'scrub' bush at the back edge of the border. It’s changed the look completely as you can now see down into the forest that surrounds the garden.

 

 



The 'after' picture but see how there is now a pleasing depth to what is a very narrow border - comments please :O) do you agree or is the 1st picture preferable?? 

 I think she is happy with the result though. 

















From the edge of the garden there is a 6-12 foot drop down onto the lower hillside. Our patch of the forest continues then down to a small trickle of a stream. The whole area is a mix of the giant and very prehistoric looking Black Tree Fern and our native beech trees … It’s nice to be able to see into the forest and indeed further across to the next hill that starts up from the stream ……..





These fronds are huge ...So impressive



One year that will be my project – to renew the paths through there and extend them properly down to the stream …If we stay here … Some debate on that

End of one gardening Year - Start of the Next

For the Maori of New Zealand the Shortest day (same day as the longest day in the northern hemisphere) heralds the start of the new year ... For the gardener this is especially true . From that day on as the days start to legnthen, Camelas start to flower and buds of trees start to fatten and the sap starts rising. It's a short dormancy in New Zeland for plants.



It's been a strange winter in that despite the unusually cold weather it's been patchy and in between we've had some reasonably warm days ... Plants are confused with some Rhodos and camelias flowering earlier than usual .. We have at least one native Kowhai tree in flower in the area ..These normally flower in September. We have Daffodils on the roundabout that begins our township already starting to flower... Put this into perspective - It would be like daffodils in January in England ........







Being out of action with my back problems, I didn't get to plant any vegetables in the autumn for winter cropping .. .We do have a few cabbages and pak choi and celery and chard to pick at. It's all great for stir fries or even just adding to stews and casseroles ....







We've planted a heap of garlic this year after last years wonderful heritage crop. So different to the shop bought garlic ..Very pungent.. wonderful taste ... We also planted a small crop of Elephant garlic this time ...Just to try it ... The garlic did try and make a break for freedom pushing itself up and back out of the ground ...Soil a little light ?? Planted too shallow ?? One heck of a good root system produced already - We tucked them back into the soil a little deeper this time with a good pat of the soil on top...







Strawberries were not only a great success last season fruit wise they shot a load of runners out that snaked their way across the raised beds. We've made use of a few of them  to extend the population ...Now having 8 squares (2 rows) at the end of each of the 3 main beds ... Already trying to flower I must get some decent compost for them with potash to get them fruiting .....







I was caught out at the weekend ...We saw some Broad Bean Seelings in punnets at the local garden centre ... Bought a few punnets as we planted nothing in the autumn ... Only to find out in reading that they do not grow well this way ..Not liking transplanting .... What can I say - I'd always planted seeds previously. I just never thought it would be an issue with seedlings ... Never trust a garden Centre ........ However they are in and we shall see ....But will be planting seeds as well very soon for my Christmas lunch harvest...







Another semi failure  story ...I'm trying to build a polytunnel over one of the raised beds (maybe two) .. We bought the tubing at what turned out to be about 3 times the cost we could have gotten it for AND what we bought was too flimsy for want of a better word ... But we will see what we can do with it and some wood or cane supports .... 







In one border wit hthe polytunnel I want to plant some potatoes ... The jury is out on this, As to whether the winter is mild enough to allow the spuds to grow .. One NZ gardening magazine  editor tried to gow them a couple of months back only to have the frost turn them black ... Maybe in a poly tunnel we can do it ....







I Quite like the idea of this 

Kitchen garden Design

Planting a raised border for a specific requirement...Not sure how practical that is ...Especially with the square foot gardening as you do tend to plant what you can and what wasn't there previously for rotation cropping...... 







More Bad news at the Dinzie household...Pepsi Dog (picture in last post) has ruptured both knees of her back legs ..Old age sucks eh .. She's on painkillers now but they want to operate ...$5,000 for the ops alone, never mind the pre/post op charges  ... She's almost 12 years old and life expectancy of up to 14 ......  



Well that is number 4 of the bad things that can happen to the dinzie household in 2009 .. And it's only July .....