Moon waxing

Gosh look at that moon waxing.
Shall I sacrifice a sleep-in tomorrow for seed sowing?
Cucumbers, tomatoes, gourds, pumpkins, zucchini, capsicum, chilli, basil, early corn and beans in trays, sunflowers, zinnia, buckwheat, orach, cleome...
Ok I'm convinced.
Happy weekending

C'mon let's go have a walk round the garden. It rained yesterday.

Heaps of buds getting ready to burst on the Nashi, one of my best performing espaliers. It's pollinated by neighbouring pears.

Yay the asparagus is up, might be having it for tea tomorrow night. I like it wrapped in Proscuttio or lightly steamed then in with my sushi. Better pull out those weeds, they'll take off in this weather.I'm excited about this little purple one. I grew these form seeds three years ago so I get to cut and taste some of these this year.
Have you been saving your egg shells all winter? They're doing the trick for me to keep the slugs

off my sweet peas.

I haven't got many seedlings going yet. The purple Cherokee tomatoes I saved have had a great strike, but of my Money makers only two came up so far. Had a good strike of the Alderman tall Peas. Waiting for sunflowers, peppers, cleome, phacelia, basil, zucchinis and cucumbers to come up. Protecting them all from frost in the glasshouse. Haven't even thought about getting the spuds in yet or kumara, but have popped in a few onions and carrots.
Kids are looking foward to strawberries, plums and raspberries, cherry tomatoes and corn too I imagine.

Garden notes Sept.

I've had two questions about a picture of a fennel flower I took last year. I've replied here as I get sent a "no reply" email address when people comment. Do any other gardeners know about allergic skin reactions to umbeliferae plants?

Washing machine is still not well. Living on borrowed time.

The garden has had my full attention recently, so much so that I think I'm forgetting how to have conversations with people. We ventured out to the Steiner Spring Fair today, what a magic day for it! Does anyone else forget how to have conversation after only talking to kids and plants all week?

I've been much more strict about following the moon calender gardening this year and the seedlings sown at the last two first quarter moons are thriving. It's last quarter at the moment so I have to resist the temptation to do anything except cultivate and prune. I have little tomatoes, sunflowers, capsicums (more than half of them got eaten by slugs tho), cleome, dwarf and cannelloni beans, zucchini and pumpkins all waiting nice and warm in the glasshouse for the weather to warm up outside. In addition I put frost cloth over them at night too. They're getting feed worm juice from the worm farm but I have had to resort to a bit of slug bait as beer traps and pot ash weren't working. It's not ideal but it's still vastly better than bought veges. I can handle eating capsicum for example that I know have been all organic except for one slug pellet when they were babies. What I really need is a couple of hedgehogs but even they have their pitfalls they eat chickens given half a chance. Carrots still elude me, last lot were eaten by either slugs or dug up by cats as they sprouted. No worries peas are flowering and asparagus is doing it's thing. YuM.

This is my constant reference in spring, helps me plan where to put everything in the garden. Highly recommended.

It's a work in progress, hopefully in a few years the garden will be so well balanced I won't need anything inorganic thus achieving my sustainable goal.

My morning routine in spring includes feeding the chooks, watering and walking round the garden watching blossoms and leaves grow. Sometimes I spend so long outside that I forget the kids need their breakfast and lunches made. For the first time in 15 years I have some consistent child free days as the "red head" is now enrolled two and a half days at Montessori. Blissss!