Saturday 4 September 2021

Flower gauge

 The spring temperature now stands at 31 - 31 flowers out today. I have been counting all the different flowers out in the garden and every day it rises by one or 2 flowers. The latest is the yellow dutch iris, which will soon be followed by the purple.

Spring is finally here! 

We are still in lockdown level 4 till 13 September. It has been a time of rest for me mostly and an appreciation of spring and all that is to come. We had our heavy rain, one of the second heaviest since my dad began recording the rain but records are always being continually broken in one way or another so I am not surprised,  spring weather is MEANT to be unpredictable. It has still been a bit nippy some nights but I don't expect too much cold or frosts to return though to be absolutely safe I am holding off sowing vege seeds until later in the season, even till October. 

Meantime I have sown flower seeds to get the bees in and even more flowers - this time, a four packet of Annabel Langbein's pollinating plants. It has sage, purple tansy, Queen Anne's Lace and borage. The seed packet expired about 5 years ago, but they were in foil, so, I expect at least some to germinate. 

Mum and I have been down to the community garden to harvest some green veges for dinner, there's cauliflower, broccoli, kale, asparagus and cabbage. We are eating all the contents of our freezer, although Dad hasn't stopped buying his sausages and chips. He just needs to wear a mask when he goes out. I had decided its better that he does the shopping because then he can get what he likes (junk food) whereas I just baulk at buying food I won't really eat. He still drinks milk, though I kind of think milk is a baby food we all ought to be weaned off by now.  It's no longer delivered, but that hasn't really stopped the milk habit. 

Staying at home means no free school lunches for me but I was kind of tired of eating carrots everyday! Though it also means no pizza too. Oh well.

My sugar snap peas are still growing up and I have cleared a patch where the kumara were to plant perhaps pumpkins, buttercup or maybe sunflowers this season.

Today mum and I replanted the fig tree (the one dad nearly destroyed..remember?) in the front bed where Mary is buried. I didn't dig TOO deep in case we accidently dug her up. But it seemed like the soil was pretty good and even had plenty of earthworms, which is a good sign. Mum was feeling sorry for the fig tree which was becoming root bound in the pot. I was a bit iffy of planting it in the front bed because every tree/shrub I had tried to grow there had died...but now the neighbour's tree is no longer, it might have a chance as it will get more sun.  Plus who know what benefits Mary's body had bought to the soil?

Still had nowhere to plant the lemon tree that Cenny gave me (it still has scale) or the lime Ben offered me (it can stay in the pot). When I suggested the backyard Mum said if I planted it there Dad would kill me.  If he did that he'd have to bury my body in the backyard and plant the tree on top of it.