I was thinking about my friend today and gardens in general, how its nice to just sit on my stool and be around plants, with the blue sky overhead listening to the birds.
She never got to see my garden, in person, but I suppose Paradise is something else again. Recreating the garden of Eden is a labour of love. I received a royal parcel today - from Kings Seed.
More green crop - crimson clover, dwarf broad beans and buckwheat. I sowed the first two, and have yet to decide where I would like the third. It is a good time to sow broad beans as they are a cool weather crop.
I also have - Morning Glory -Moonflower and Hazelwood Blues
Gourds
Viscaria
Heartsease
Viola 'Chicky Chicks'
Nicotiana (Flowering tobacco)
Nepeta (Catmint)
Echinacea
They sent me two wonder weeders as a thank you gift for ordering first in the month and also included two free packets of seed in my order.
I'm hoping that will be enough and once all these plants are growing and flowering and seeding I won't need to buy seed anymore. As you might be wondering what about veges?
Well I do have veges growing - carrots, spring onion, peas. I just don't have the space for huge crops.
Besides, I need to establish the flowers for the bees and beneficial insects before putting in the heavy feeders over summer - as well as green manuring the soil, fixing nitrogen and cleansing nematodes.
I think I know what I'm doing - at least, I know more than I ever did before. I used to plant and sow things randomly thinking, oh it's in soil, as long as I water it, it will grow. I didn't know how to fix or feed the soil. I didn't know what to plant when, or where. It's amazing how much you learn when you start gardening. Wwoofing helps, volunteering in community gardens help, doing courses gives you an understanding. But there's nothing like working your own patch. Growing what you want to grow because it gives you pleasure. You start caring more for creation and wonder at how God made all these different plants - and how clever and resilient they are. They couldn't have just 'evolved'.
Have just finished reading 'Common Ground' by two ladies Janice and Virginia who write to each other, one has a city garden and one has a country garden on a farm with sheep. I can't really say I live in the city, Henderson, west Auckland has always been a country town that was built on vineyards and orchards. Going to Hawkes Bay was like living in Henderson when it was the fruitbowl of Auckland, before it all got developed and suburban. Our land is on former orchard that grew apples..so I don't know what's been sprayed, and where our topsoil went - it's pretty much clay here. Anyway, it was an interesting book from a gardening perspective, those two ladies write to each other all year describing the changes in the seasons and the way they cope with country/city life.
It made me think that I want the best of both worlds, chickens to give us eggs, cats, enough land to run around in, but the convenience of having people around. I think I would get too isolated being a farmers wife in the country. You can't really do that, be a single woman running a farm all on your own. For a start if you tried to slaughter a sheep or sell cattle at the auction, all the men around would laugh at you. They'll think you are nuts and wonder why you not making them shepherds pie.
City girls can live on their own..no problems. But that means they have to work in offices or some other human factory. Ugh.
I am very glad I do not need to work in that environment anymore. Thank God!
