Garden

From desolate wasteland to something possibly resembling a garden

by Veronica on March 12, 2012

in Garden

When we moved into this house, the backyard was a wasteland of cushion stuffing, holes, dust and rubbish. It wasn’t fantastic and we’ve spent the last few years trying to get the garden up and running.

On one hand, SUCCESS!

On the other hand, now the weeds actually grow and my pumpkin vines appear to have taken over the path, fence and gate. Which would be awesome, except they’re also vicious, resistant to being trained and despite five metres of viney wilderness, there are only two pumpkins in there.

I’m contenting myself with the fact that where the pumpkin vine is growing, there aren’t too many weeds.

Which is more than I can say for the rest of the garden, which is growing lovely lush grass, while my greens get eaten by grubs.

Grumble grumble.

The mint is doing rather well however. As are the prickles and the couple of apple trees I grew from seed.

The best bit about all the work we’ve put in however, is seeing the return of the natural eco-system. My perpetual spinach is the favoured hunting place for my frogs, the pumpkins and tomatoes have drawn in the bees and there are butterflies coming in as well.

It’s nice to watch – even if the frogs now mean that I can’t cut back the (seeding) perpetual spinach that has taken over half of a garden bed.

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It’s the small things

by Veronica on February 24, 2012

in Garden

Sometimes, it really is the small things. You don’t notice them until you stop to look and then you wonder how on earth you missed them before.

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I really don’t feel guilty about this at all

by Veronica on February 3, 2012

in Animals, Garden

We were in the garden the other day when Amy spotted two snails having sex.

“Mummy, what are the snails doing?”

“They’re making babies.”

“How do snails have babies?”

“They lay eggs.”

“Oh. And then the babies will hatch and eat our plants?”

“Probably.”

Five minutes later, the snails were slowly going their separate ways (they must have been at it all night to be done so quickly) and the ducks were at the gate looking hungry.

So I picked the snails up and threw them to the ducks.

I’m pretty sure they died happy, if we ignore the moments of terror when first they flew, (snails are not designed for flight, by the way) and then were eaten by hungry ducks.

This means war.

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The state of my garden, and my headspace

by Veronica on January 1, 2012

in Garden

I don’t do resolutions and I find posts recapping the year terribly boring. If I like you, I’ve been reading your blog for the past year and know what you’ve been up to. You don’t have to tell me again.

I’ve been a bit stuck as to what to post about, everyone is writing the same thing and really, Internet? Do I really need to hear about how you’re going to lose weight and exercise and eat right and bungee jump?

How about you resolve to be happy instead. Surely happiness is easier to achieve than an arbitrary number on a scale that will jump up and down depending on what you ate for breakfast and how much you peed this morning.

Here’s my idea:

Do things that make you happy.

Hang out with people that make you smile.

Eat food you love.

I think Shae said something very similar yesterday.

ANYWAY.

My garden is surviving, despite the weeds that are trying to take over. I’m calling it an experiment, while I work out what is more weed-like. Grass, or mint? So far, they’re neck and neck, but I have high hopes for the mint. I can tell you that feverfew is tougher than grass however. Also tougher than the jostaberries, chamomile, apple tree (three inches tall) and strawberries it is planted next to. Like I said, it’s an experiment.

I wandered around this morning and took some photos. It’s sunny and warm and it made me want to get my camera out. Of course, the fact that the paddock is filled with bees and butterflies helped.

The blackberries have exploded and I gingerly stood near them taking photos, very aware of the fact that I could step on a snake at any moment. While I’m sure snakebite would make for a terribly dramatic blog post, it’s not something I want to experience. I also did not get stung by bees, which was nice.

And of course, there are weeds everywhere. But even weeds are pretty, sometimes.

Last season, I planted wild strawberries from seed. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but the plants are amazingly tough, they don’t produce runners, and the fruit is prolific and super sweet. I think I’m probably a convert and am planning on planting more, ASAP.

The blackcurrant bush this year has almost doubled in size and for the first time, I picked enough fruit off it to make jam. Sure, it was only 3/4 of a small jar, but it is delicious.

And my largest pumpkin vine is flowering. This year they’re in close to the house, and hopefully won’t be decimated by frost. I have no idea what type of pumpkin this is – I planted Sugar Pie and then a heirloom variety mix. They’re in a small bed, but I’m hoping I can drape them up over the fence to help with space constraints. Otherwise, we can add them to my experiment and work out which is tougher: pumpkins, grass, tomatoes, or peas.

I’ll keep you posted.

Happy New Year, Internet. Let’s hope 2012 is not all Apocalypse-y and stuff. That would be nice.

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I got attacked by an angry duck to bring you this post. I hope you’re happy.

by Veronica on December 4, 2011

in Animals, Garden

It is the fourth day of Summer today and when I went outside to take photos of my ducklings for you Internet, I put on thick socks, jeans, an undershirt, a t-shirt, a jumper, Nathan’s big furry coat and red gumboots. It’s cold Internet and the cold has sunk into my bones, leaving me wanting nothing more than to curl up with my book and unending cups of tea.

These are the sacrifices I make, in order to bring you ducklings photos. Of which there is only one, because while the ducklings regarded me suspiciously and hid behind their mother, the mother had no such qualms and instead seemed interested in eating my face.

For an animal that doesn’t have teeth and can’t really use it’s claws, mother ducks are rather vicious and attacky.

You’re welcome.

So, after wandering around after the ducklings and finding one dead (it got confused about which duck was its mother last night and despite my best attempts to shoo it back to its siblings, spent a cold night without its mum), I went into the garden.

We’re not telling the children that I know where the strawberries are ripening.

Blackcurrants ripening on my black currant bush. My two grandmothers gave me this cutting from my great grandmothers blackcurrant bush when I first moved in here. I’m glad that it’s not only survived, but thrived.

These are the sweet williams that I used to make my “aisle” for the wedding. I still haven’t planted them out, but you know. I’ll get there. Just as soon as I can make Nathan dig the holes for me.

It seems that miscarriages and exhaustion make bendy joints even worse and if walking has been displacing joints, I shudder to think what trying to dig a hole would do. At this stage, I’m just grateful for thigh high socks, which are not only keeping me warm, but are providing valuable knee support.

My children “helped” me plant peas again this year, which has seen little pea plants pop up everywhere. This one I found almost in the pathway, along with some self sown chives and a large amount of grass.

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