How things are going here...

The butter beans are yummy and we have had several feeds from them although they often don't make the dinner table if I leave them on the bench.  I expected there to be a difference in their performance as to where they are but there isn't, although the ones by the drive cope with more wind their roots don't dry out like the plants in the pot in the backyard.

We are enjoying strawberries on a regular basis too. I can't believe that the stalks of the strawberries can support the weight of the fruit like they are, as they are holding them upright into the air and the fruit is large.

The potatoes are flowering and are all doing well. The ones behind the garage seem to be doing the best, getting enough sunshine without drying out too much at this time of the year.

Potatoes in pots.

Seeds and things ...

I have had these sample jiffy pots to try for a while and I decided the other day to give them a go. I have to say that it certainly makes things easy and there is no mess. Yes, I would definitely use them again. 

Isn't spring and watching seeds germinating exciting? And don't bean seeds look like some prehistoric plant emerging from the ground?

I had forgotten how exciting sowing your own seeds can be. I was gifted the bean seeds, they should be butter beans. The other seeds I have sown; peas, corn and sunflower are seeds that had expired beyond their useby date however a lot of them have germinated.

What seeds are you sowing?

Let me know in the comments below.

Donna-Maree

Spring is here...

This is a photo of my bed at the allotment which was taken near the end of August. It was a take stock time, looking to see how things were going and what needs to be done to get ready for spring planting.

I had clearly missed some garlic last season and they are growing well. I had also planted some onions which are doing well too. Since this photo was taken I have tidied up the bed, removing anything that I don't want or need any more and weeded it all. I harvested four cabbages which have been shared with family members and we have been enjoying those.

I then put three wheelbarrows of compost on the bed just going around what is still planted. The compost was made on site in the bins for this purpose. I thank everyone who does the work making the compost for us. As gardeners we just fill the appropriate bin with garden waste, and remove it from the one marked as for use now. There are four bins at different stages of composting and the whole system works well. I then liberally coated my bed with sheep pellets which the rain has broken up and I have to say that the bed is looking very good and the produce growing in there at the moment has seen heaps of growth.

Yesterday I took up some leeks and red onions that I had growing in bunches here at home in the garden at the end of the driveway and planted those. These plants will need checking on today as we have been having beautiful sunny days this week and they might need some water plus I always like to check my babies when they go into the garden.

I have been sowing some seeds but will save telling you about that for the next blog.

Until then happy gardening everyone.

Donna-Maree

Small steps ...

Sometimes you have to take small steps to achieve your goals. This garden is a good example of that. Hubby has chipped away, doing what he can, when he can to get this done and it isn't totally completed yet. If you look to the right in the photo you can see that the corner bit hasn't been completed. I will share a photo when it has been, although I don't know when that will be.

This garden is across the end of our drive at the back of our property, it was a funny space which gets a fair amount of sun - too good a position not to do anything constructive with it.

This end is all completed - there is a grape in the corner with a few herbs and vegetables planted. I like to over plant to make the most of space.

Red spring onions and red onions in this piece, with some violas that were in the specials bin at the local garden centre. Nothing like a little bit of colour amongst the veggies.

I was very lucky to get this planted today as the forecast was for rain and lucky for me, it rained after I had completed the planting which also meant I didn't need to water everything. I keep finding myself going out to have a look, I am sure that this garden is going to get a lot of use and I can't wait to get some more things planted.

That is all for now, thanks for checking in. Please make a comment as I love getting some feedback.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone.

Delicious scents....

I just love delicious scents both in my home and in my garden...

Here is the daphne bush that was in an earlier post at beginning of July - boy has it grown and the flowers are plentiful and smell delicious. It has definitely been worth the wait to see this plant flowering.

We have had several days of continual rain and wind and with the sun shining today it is a perfect opportunity to be outside letting the sunshine and fresh air invigorate everything while giving us the opportunity to take stock of how things are doing.

This hyacinth is filling the kitchen and living room with its beautiful scent. These are bulbs that I bought last year and I have done absolutely nothing to them since then apart from bring them inside when I saw that they were starting to flower.

I finally pruned our standard roses this morning, I have been looking at them and wanting to do it for a few weeks, so it is now done. I will have a tidy up in the garden beds around them and feed them. There are three standards and the one in the middle isn't doing as well as the other two, I suspect due to there being less plants around the base of that one which means that the roots are more exposed to the sun and the wind - and possibly the cats. I have some annuals that I will plant around it to give it a little more protection and see how much of a difference that makes.

Until next time - happy gardening everyone 

Donna-Maree

Daphne

Wow my daphne is flowering - I have been watching the buds as they get bigger and bigger. The smell is just glorious. I haven't had a daphne bush since we left the Waikato in 2001. I purchased the plant last winter and have been waiting patiently for it to do its thing.

Hope you are managing to stay warm and dry in our awesome winter weather. How is the planning for your spring garden going? I am starting to think about what I am wanting to plant this coming spring and summer.

Please leave a comment as I love getting your feedback.

Cheers Donna-Maree

Anticipating spring...

I haven't been down to the allotment much at all for a while and while I feel guilty life can be like that sometimes. I visited today and was the only one there for a while and I enjoyed getting the garden back under control and seeing how everything is doing.

I came home with a few potatoes that I had thrown in the plot a while ago, one Kumara, beetroot and a broccoli, better than returning empty handed. I did have to shelter under the shed verandah through one shower of rain, but that just gave me a chance to catch up with Percy and check out information that I need for the up and coming garden ramble.

I really miss my mums gardening ability and the resulting yummy smelling flowers and I have taken to buying some spring cheer to brighten our home.

Hello, it is 2014...

Hi there 

I started working full time during October and was putting in some really long hours up until Christmas - boy does that have a huge impact on everything. As a result of that the gardens got a little neglected. That doesn't mean to say that I haven't been enjoying them at all though over our summer, it does mean that they haven't been as productive as they could have been.

Frangipani flowering - we have never had so many flowers on one stalk before, quite remarkable as this plant got quite a bit of damage when transported to Tauranga from Whangarei last year.

The rhubarb plant that was in earlier photos - well I have harvested two lots of stalks from that plant and it has developed more crowns. I know you shouldn't harvest during the first year however I had no choice - it was absolutely huge. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the plant before the harvesting as I didn't have my camera with me.

The stalks were a lot greener than I thought they should be and googled whether or not they were safe to eat as I didn't want to make my family sick. In warmer temperatures the stalks don't go as red as I remember and we have enjoyed the cooked rhubarb for breakfasts and I still have some in the freezer as there was so much of it. The rhubarb being greener in no way impacted on the flavour.

Here are some photos that I took back in spring showing the trees in blossom. Such a fantastic sight. These are taken at the community garden where I have a plot.

It is nice remembering these photos as summer has now passed and we are definitely seeing signs of autumn. We are still having nice sunny days but the evenings and mornings are definitely crisper.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone.