Around The Farm And Garden | August 2017

It feels like ages since I’ve shared an update from our garden. Probably because it has been largely neglected these last 8 months while we focused on getting the farmhouse renovated. However, now that we are settled into the house, we are turning our attentions once again to the garden. When I say we, I mostly mean C who does all the hard work. I’m good at giving opinions about what I think the garden should look like, but less good at doing the actual garden work. As you can see, the front garden is overgrown, and we really need to get some edging around the beds.

Our winter vegetable garden hasn’t been as abundant as previous years. We’ve had a few cauliflowers (and made this delicious roasted cauliflower salad!) and broccoli stems, a few carrots, and a bit of kale, but nothing like the amount we’ve had before. The onions and garlic have been planted, however, and we have just run out of fresh garlic from last years crop. We’re relying on our preserved garlic until we harvest the new crop in November.

Besides the vegetable patch, the extension has set off a total redesign of the rest of the garden. We’re talking about new paths and garden beds, and pulling out old bits and pieces so that the garden helps the house to settle into the landscape. Grass needs to be resown where the ground has been dug up for the renovation, if only so that less dirt and mud gets trampled into the house. C is in his element drafting out plans and researching plants. I offer suggestions of plants that I like; most of which are met with an eyebrow raise as they are either not suitable for our climate or plants that C does not like particularly. I might try to sneak a daphne or a gardenia in while he is not looking (seriously, who doesn’t like gardenias??). So far a few plants have been purchased, and are awaiting planting, and some big boulders have been manoeuvred in between our two south facing verandas, making some stepping stones between them. Next up are some plans to plant some tall grasses all around them.

In the coming few weeks, Spring will start to emerge, and then (hopefully) we can begin to get the garden in order.

The Spring bulbs are beginning to poke their heads out again. These white jonquils are my favourite. The kids like to pick me a handful every now and then and pop them in a vase on the kitchen table so that their beautiful perfume fills the whole room.

Around the farm, C has been kept busy feeding sheep and doing all those jobs that he tries to get done over the quieter months. After such a wet year in 2016, this year has certainly been dry. We are keeping our fingers crossed for a cool, wet spring, but we’re not holding our breath for it. Over the school holidays (which feel like a life time ago) and on the weekends, I sometimes keep C company as he feeds the sheep – helping with the gates, and then chatting in between. It’s one of the few times I get to go around the farm, as work takes up so much of my time these days.

The days are getting longer, and just today, C planted his tomato seed into the seedling trays. He puts them in the sun on the veranda during the day and brings them inside at night until the frosts have finished. Before we know it, the Spring rush will be upon; time to hustle and get things done.