Garden Diary #1

The sun was shining, the air was clear.
We spent the day in the yard. A very productive day was had by all:

J and O6 concreted in the fenceposts for our "Keep E20 months from escaping" fence.

All four kiddoes grabbed their kid sized gardening tools and helped dig/weed/ transplant etc.

I decided that the flower garden really was getting past its prime...dug out the summer annuals and dug in the winter colour.

O6 and J found all manner of weird and wonderful bugs/larvae and other slimy things hidden in the freshly tilled soil and pondered together whether the white grub was an earwig larvae or some kind of insect queen.

We walked to our local garden centre...500 metres down the road, got the third batch of winter vegeseedlings to plant out, identified that yes indeed the flower gardens were full of self seeded Calendula and that the huge glossy fronds under the neighbours rimu trees were not weeds and could be rightly considered an ornamental plant....and began to make decisions about the fruit tree plantathon happening next weekend.

So far we have decided upon:
Feijoas- 3 different varieties which will double as a hedge to screen the neighbour's driveway.
A range of berries- and over winter we will design and build a netting thingymabob to cover them when they start fruiting.
Lemon, lime and mandarin trees.
An Apple tree which I am going to attempt to espalier on the fence.
I would like to put in some olive trees and a plum tree
J really wants a nashi tree also.

Lavender (already planted) with random leftover brassicas filling the gaps until the lavender grow. I resisted buying a cushioned kneeler pad and found a cardboard box works just fine.
My herb/salad garden with flourishing rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley and perpetual spinach, getting there mesclun (under the netting at the end) and barely-hanging-on-cos-it-has-been-ripped-out-by-the-E-monster-numerous-times basil. New plantings to fill gaps of Pak Choi, and silverbeet.
The square foot garden with established silverbeet, small broad beans growing, carrots just beginning to show, last minute hopeful peas and some grimly determined brassicas that I grew from seed and planted out a bit too early. New plantings of bigger brassicas to fill the gap until the seeded ones take off, more silverbeet and New Zealand spinach.
Flower grden at the front of the house. Calendula which self-seeded, transplanted to one area by the step. New plantings of violas, primula and polyanthus for winter colour.
The leftover patch... J dug out a very sad looking carpet rose and I dug over the empty spot and threw in all of the leftover brassicas to fill the space that I am still deciding what to plant out with permanently.

Now if only gardening were a once every few months all out endeavur rather than a daily tending and nurturing I'd be set. I can do the gung-ho get it all planted bit great...still working on the ins and outs!

P.S. If anyone has an organic, no dig way of getting rid of every kind of broad leaf oxalis you can think of pleeeeaaaase let me in on the secret!