Child of the Planet

I've only been gardening for a few years now and I think I've become a 'wild and woolly' type, rather then a 'prim and trim' gardener. During the winter, this sprouting broccoli appeared in an unused section, between two piles of pruning that were destined for mulching. I bought and planted the seeds elsewhere a few years back, but it feels like free food ha ha. I'm leaving some sprouts to flower for next year. I was clearing some mustard and found this celery.   

Much wetter this year. Fungus is the new black.

Half the crop was good enough to to cure The rest I'm giving away to neighbours, friends, and guess what my reli's are getting for Christmas presents! Last time I did garlic I dried it out on a mesh raised above the floor. This year I'm hanging it from the garage roof.

Dug the garlic up. Not as good as last time but better then a kick in the head.     Trying a new configuration with the cucumbers

Update on this post... A week later and I've now mulched everything. The tomatoes and zucchini seem to be bouncing back. Next step is to wait for those peas to die off and then plant some cucumbers.

Scored my first bit o food for this summer. A lonely zucchini. I don't think I'm going to end up with a lot of produce this year. Everything has been very late. Maybe we'll get a long summer to make up for it? Had some more help this week and got a bit of infrastructure done. Prepped the area for the third garden bed out the front. Lined the driveway with more bird excavation minimisation. Finished off the third hole out the back and started filling it with green waste.     Moved a couple of flax plants from next to the house to the berm out the front.  The intention is for them to help in slowing down the wind that rips through the front garden Started cleaning jars for bottling.

A mate has fishes the beach with a net and gives me the leftovers for the garden. I line the bottom of the hole with mulch, then dump in the fish, and finally a layer of coffee grounds. Use it if you got it!

It's so bloody typical. I'm not even all that upset. Three days after dropping my plants in the ground, the wind hits Otaki. I’ve had these plants sitting in pots, hoping to wait it out. We get thumped regularly each year and it looked like the ‘big blow’ wasn’t going to happen this year. It's like the universe was waiting for me to do it! People all over town are reporting flattened gardens and wind scorched leaves.    My winter project this year is going to be more wind mitigation. Last year I planted these banksias to protect the apple trees out the back. Now it’s time to do something about the front garden. I'm pretty happy that I didn't get a chance to plant everything earlier in the week. This is my forth summer and the first that hasn’t been suffering a heat wave at this time of year. I haven't needed to hand water at all. The tanks I had installed have sat there un-drained.

Update from this earlier post Plenty of leaves spreading across the patio.... ... but not a lot of fruit developing.

Update on 'verge planting'  The area outside my house now looks very 'meadow like' with these fuffy stalks. The neighbours little garden is going very well and she is encouraging the local kids to raid it for snacks.

I've had these things siting in pots waiting for the weather to 'get it's shite together'. Looks like that's not going to happen so in they go.    I'm very happy with how dark and lustrous the soil looks. (Update: later this afternoon) Huge electrical storm dumped buckets onto the fresh planting. I stood in the window and watched over the plants, wondering if they were getting pummled to mush by the torrent. They seem to have survived.

Got a few berries this year. Update to post here... The two bushes look like they are finally established and I'm hoping for a better crop next year.

What is going on out there? Update of post from Nov I reckon it must be the heat and rain. Feels like I'm living in Singapore some days. Something is attacking my lemon hedge. Lot's of fruit but the leaves are curling and the ends of the stalks are dyeing off. Last week I hit them all with Neem and a copper solution.

Not happy. Rust has finally struck. Update from Oct post I've clipping off all the infected leaves and collecting them in the burner for disposal. Thinking of blasting it with copper solution.