The Patient Gardener or The Gardening Patient

Being a gardener helps with developing patience. It takes time for plants to grow, and there's not much, apart from making sure the plants are watered, fertilised and protected from the elements or predators.



Wattles in Spring



This has been reinforced for me recently after returning home after a couple of weeks after a short hospital visit. The need for fresh fruit and vegetables has become important for me, but there is not much that can be done to speed up their growth.







As we head into spring, however, I can look forward to some of the work done earlier bursting into life. Some examples:


• Broad beans that have had flowers for weeks now should start to set their pods soon. I heard some bees  buzzing around them today, and should get some pollination going.

• I can't keep up with the snow peas. I have to give lots away.
• The grape vine around the back  shed are starting to shoot new leaves.

• Blackberries are also shooting new leaves. The young plants looked dead all winter.
• I discovered a Chaste Tree (very small at this stage) buried in the weeds, and it has leaf buds about to burst.
• The olive trees planted months ago are also shooting.
• Flowers are forming on the orange and lemon trees.
• And more.....

I'd better stop writing now and get out there to do some more of those jobs that Spring weather produces. Weeds!

Tomatoes for Christmas.

Well Maybe!

There is tomato seedling in there!

The first tomato seedlings are now in place in the ground. I cheated and bought a couple of Grosse Lisse at Wirrabara Farmer's market this morning. They are now in the ground, where they will get morning sun, and protection from the hot afternoon sun in summer.

To protect them from possible (or is that probable frost in the next month or so, they have a cut down plastic bottle over them. That will have to be upgraded when they grow. A frame is also in place to cater for them climbing and to keep potential fruit of the ground.

 What else was happening in the garden today?

This afternoon's weather was perfect for spending some time in the garden, and there's plenty to do.

• Weed pulling. The ground is so soft from the winter rains that the weeds just fall into your hands when they are given a little tug.
• Ground preparation for some future plantings.
• Plant out some shrubs that have been waiting months for their time in the garden.
• Clearing a path to find a way down to end of the backyard.
• Talk to the neighbour as she was going down the street.
• Enjoy a cup of tea while soaking up some Vitamin D
• And best of all, discovering a lost plant that got covered with weeds, and find that the buds on the almost dead looking twigs are about to burst into leaves.
• That's just some of things that were done today, out of all the possible jobs to do.

I wonder what's in store for tomorrow?

My Useful Weeds

The weeds in my back yard have grown incredibly well this winter. Heading into spring, I am sure that they'll take off even further.

Rather than let the work involved in getting rid of them get me down, I thought I would see if I could get them to help me in the garden.

Fertiliser From Weeds

Firstly, I have made some fertiliser/plant food from the stinging nettles. Well, some of the stinging nettles. I've far more than I can use to make the nettle fertiliser, or containers to make it in.

To make the fertiliser, I filled a plastic rubbish bin with nettles, covered them with some of my excess rainwater, added a little Seasol (fish extract plant food) to kick the brew along a bit and sat back to wait.

Well, actually I left home for 2 weeks while it did it's bit, leaving any smell for the neighbours to suffer through. Sorry no pictures, of this one, it's just too gross looking, almost as bad as it smells.

In a few days I will separate out and bottle the liquid, for adding to my vegetables to give them a nutrient boost.

Straw For Mulch
Secondly, I have started to cut down some the grass type weeds, like barley grass, rye grass and wild oats. They have been put in a couple of places in the yard to dry out and form the straw that I can use for mulch when the weather warms up.

So weeds are not all bad. Now I just have to work out ways to use the other weeds, like marshmallow and the horrible prickly ones with milky sap.

Any suggestions?

Back Home Again. And It's Raining

After 2 weeks away from home for a minor operation, I arrived back home to find that the weeds had grown another 30cms or more. I just had time to have a quick walk around the yard before the rain set in, AGAIN!

Every time I come home it seems that the rain starts immediately. At least this time I think the gutters will hold up and I won't get any overflow into the bathroom.

This is what it looks like out my back door. I can't get any further, it's too wet!

The Back Yard.

The weeds are almost hiding the vegetables. Broad Beans (on the left) are the most visible, because we cleared the garden beds in front of them just before our time away.

In the centre, the telephone peas are just peeping over the weeds, but everything else is hiding.

There are 2 wheelbarrows in the yard. Can you spot the second one?

On my quick trip around the garden I found:

• 
  
  The Broad Beans will need support around them to stop them swallowing up the vegetables nearby. The poor old Globe Artichokes can hardly be found. The Beans have lots of flowers but not much evidence of setting pods yet.
• 
  
  I have about 10 or more meals of Snow Peas to pick, when the rain stops.
• 
  
  The Rainbow Chard are doing well. Growing in size and showing great colour.
• 
  
  The Telephone Peas are starting to set their pods, and there are lots of flowers. They got battered around in the storms when we were away.
• 
  
  The Rhubarb is starting to develop new leaves. We thought we might have lost them in the cold, wet winter.
• 
  
  New leaves are developing on the Thornless Blackberries. They also went quiet in winter.
• 
  
  The bugs still love the Tuscan Kale. I'm not sure we'll get much from those plants this year.
• 
  
  The Broccoli is starting to flower, so it looks like I'll have a few meals with fresh Broccoli in the next few days.
• 
  
  The Horse Radish has sprung back to life.
• 
  
  In the Wicking Beds, the Rocket has gone to seed, Lettuce has reached maturity, Broccoli (planted later) are growing well, new plantings of Rocket and Lettuce have stablished themselves. See the photo below.
• 
  
  I have some Tomato and Capsicum seeds that have germinated. Now to nurture them to get started with this summer's crops.
• 
  
  And that's just the vegetable patches!

Wicking Beds in the Rain!

As I was coming into town I just had to check what was happening under the bridge, and YES the Rocky River has water in it!

With today's rain I guess that it will get some more, so I'll have to get out in the next few days to take some photos.

In the flower beds, we have some progress too. A couple of Nasturtium plants have flowers, so I'll be OK if hay fever sets in soon. I chew a Nasturtiun flower at the first sign of hay fever, and it seems to work a treat.

The Herb Robert Geranium is going crazy, as is the Fruit Salad Sage. These are 2 plants that we have had difficulty with in the past.

I just can't wait until tomorrow to have a closer check of all that is happening as Spring starts to make its presence felt.

How Are Your Duck Feet?

That's what the barber asked me yesterday.

Obviously he was referring to the current constant rain that we have been getting in our region. This has been most welcome, although a little frustrating at times when I want get to work in the garden. And it seems to be encouraging the weeds to grow even faster. I am waiting (and dreading) to see how a few days of sunshine will help speed up that growth.

I have asked a few neighbours if this winter's rainfall is normal or a bit above average. The feeling that they have is that this year's rainfall is about the same as a few years ago, and they seemed happy about that.

What I am hoping for is that there will be enough rain to to get the currently appropriately named Rocky River flowing. I heard someone say that there is some water in the upper reaches, but will that flow get further downstream is the big question.

Winter In Full Swing

It's more than 2 weeks since the last entry, but the last fortnight has been a tricky time.

A few days in hospital waiting for a diagnosis for the severe stomach pains I felt, and then a trip to city to have the specialist blast the stone that was a major contributor, meant that there was no time for working in the garden.

I think the weeds must have known something. they have grown tall and thick. Especially the Stinging Nettles. I have never seen so many in such a small space, but at least the rain we have been having has kept the ground soft, which makes the nettles easy to pull. Some of the nettles will hopefully made into a soup for fertilising the garden.

Those weeds that I am not pulling by hand being cut down to ground level using a second-hand scythe that I found at Crystal Brook last weekend. I was not expecting to be able to find one so soon after deciding that it might be a suitable tool for the job. Good exercise and no fuel or fumes.

It has been raining most days for the past week so the makeshift water storage containers are overflowing. I really must get another rainwater tank. But it  has been great to sit inside on those rainy days, listening to the rain on the roof, especially when there is a loaf of bread being baked in the breadmaker.

Although it's winter, and sometimes the range of vegetables to harvest might be less, we have enjoyed the salads that we had for lunch in the last couple of days. Thanks to the Snow Peas, Lettuce, Italian Parsley and Rocket that have been established. Now is the time to get some more going, because they won't last forever. I also had the first of our Brocolli from the garden yesterday. It was only tiny but at least the caterpillars didn't get it!

How come the bugs in the garden only choose the vegetables to eat and leave all the weeds alone? And it's hard to catch the little critters, although the evidence of their presence is obvious.

As I'm writing this, the rain is falling again. I'm wondering if the amount of rain this winter is typical of the location.