Saturday, September 4, 2010

Busy garden day

This morning we were going to go to see the Namaqualand Daisies up the West Coast. However the drive is only worth it if the sun is out. Daisies are sun lovers and stay closed unless the sun shines. As the day dawned it went pretty quickly from clear to overcast.

Depsite feeling a cold coming on I rounded up the troops and we hit the garden at 9. Superman & Son hit the compost heap with a vengeance. They sifted out all the stones and twigs and handed over the most gorgeous compost teaming with worms.

A lot of it went into a awkward little space that was created when we changed our pathway a couple of months ago. I was busy clearing out an area that we had left to the nasturtiums and borage and found a whole lot of gooseberry plants. I uprooted them and after giving them a good trim, they were planted into this newly composted area.

More compost went under the A-frames and into the other two beds that have been lying fallow. Buddy boy, my youngest, acts as a go-fer on these days. He doesn't have the physical strength to do much heavy work so he fetches and carries. Today I asked him to mark out what we were planting.



In the bed that we cleared out (nasturtiums and borage) we planted courgettes in the centre. Against the A-frame at the fence I planted watermelon. Alongside the pathway fence I planted butternut. The A-frame against the wall has gem squash. I hope I have them all in earlier enough to avoid the milddew that hits in late summer.

Potatoes went in about 1 month ago in the first two beds. Behind them the A-frames have Hubbard Squash planted at their bases. The next two A-frames will have cucumbers. The next three stay empty until the broad beans, carrots and spinach are done. Then I will do a planting of beans, I think.

We also trimmed and transplanted the chili bushes to where the rhubarb was. This opens the bed at the front of the house up where I will plant tomatoes as soon as we have chicken proofed that area.

I am feeling more hopeful that we have enough time as two more days of work and we should get everything done that can be done before I leave on the 16th.

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