... is lovely. Despite Autumn coming on the garden is still looking wonderfully green. This is mostly due to Chris's sterling efforts snipping, trimming, mowing and mulching.
I've tried to do my bit by planting lots of Green Mulch in our small designated Veggie patch. Woolly Vetch, Fenugreek and Fava Bean seeds were bought from Green Harvest along with Soya Beans for the Spring.I really had no idea what I was doing so I tried to recall the wonderfully productive garden of my childhood. We had a quarter acre plot that fed a family of eight, full of potatoes, peas, cabbage and gooseberries, but it required many hours of hard digging and maintenance. I read directions, checked labels, scattered garden lime and mushroom compost, planted seeds and crossed my fingers. This is just for a mulch!
In the Spring I hope to put in beans, tomatoes, basil, spinach and lettuce, not quite-self sufficient but enough to supplement the grocery shopping.
A bunch of the wonderful ferns in the bottom of the garden come from our neighbour in Bondi - we obtained from them 3 Dicksonia Antarctica that were used in a photo shoot then disposed of. They are thriving under the big River Gum and the Toona Tree, joining a Tasmanian Dixonia and a couple of Tree Ferns to make a Bower of greenery worthy of the New Zealand West Coast.
Out the front of the house is another little Dixonia. The smaller, less invasive fern replaces a large Cyathea Australis fern that was a hazard to the Gas Meter Reader. I was very sorry to see it go as it had a large sweeping crown of leaves that complemented the nearby Cabbage tree, again reminiscent of favourite NZ landscapes.
3 comments:
oh, so good to see you posting again; and photos of your lovely garden too!
You said your little veggie patch would "supplement the grocery shopping"; it will also give you flavour which seems to have been lost in the quest for ever extended storage time! Good luck - I hope it all works out as planned or better.
Things grow faster and bigger here than they would have in the South Island of your memory. I've grown quite a bit here without any of the digging etc that I remember from my childhood. I think that the warmer climate means that you don't have to do as much work on the soil. That's what I tell myself anyway.
Your garden looks beautiful...:)
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