Friday, October 17, 2008

Choosing to blog about happy stuff


As someone who tends to fall into the trap of dwelling on the negative, I have decided not to blog about the revolting day I had on Wednesday (involving another mother in a 4WD ploughing into my open car door at school dropoff, a husband in bed with flu and a toddler with worsening tonsilitis). I choose, instead, to concentrate on the pleasant time I had pottering in the garden with my little girl earlier in the week. So...here is a brief garden update....

The veges in the first no dig garden are going great guns. The tomatoes are shooting upwards and the silverbeet and eggplants seem to be doubling in size every time I look at them. The coriander has gone to seed (as it always does) but I don't mind because it looks pretty, and hopefully, some baby coriander plants will pop up eventually if the seeds are happy where they fall.

The second little no dig garden is progressing in stages as I never find the time to put all the layers of ingredients on in the one day. So I do a layer of sugar cane mulch one day, scatter on some manure or blood and bone the next, water it in and then next time I find a spare ten minutes, I add the next layer of lucerne mulch. I'm also putting on some compost from our compost heap (very exciting to have one's own compost).

The compost used to be a messy pile near the back fence but is now cooking tidily in two beautiful black plastic compost bins that I bought last week at our gorgeous local garden centre. It's the perfect place to visit with small children. (The garden centre, not the compost heap). It has all the benefits of that ubiquitous fast food place - an undercover playground, cafe, clean toilets with a change table - but is so so much nicer and has added benefits like ducks, a cat or two, lots of huge water dragons and, of course, miles of beautiful plants and garden things to look at. Plus free advice about no dig gardens and compost bins.

I'm tempted to put flowers in the new no dig garden as I have a lavender and two gerbras in pots waiting for a good home, but I think I'll plant some more veges and herbs so we can eat more of what we grow. I have two friends who have made beautiful herb spiral gardens which have included lavender and nasturtiums so perhaps I could do that.

My little garden gnome with tonsilitis has woken up and is sad and feverish, so, to paraphrase the Two Ronnies, it's good bye from me and good bye from Hester's Garden.

4 comments:

Le said...

hello honey - well done for finding the silver linning ...

but I have to say I think 4wd should be BANNED this side of teh great dividing range - booo hiss

Hope babes are well soon - I will call this weekend hoepfully - hugs le

ps must get me a no dig garden - we have had to encase ours in a metal cage to keep the damn theiving possums off - ack !!

Danielles Garden said...

cute photos. thanks for stopping in to my blog.

CT said...

Hi there! I'm sorry you had a very poor day, but I am proud of your anne-ish approach of looking at the brigth side... I hope your little one is doing better.

Barbara said...

Hi! Hester
Nice to meet you. Thanks for dropping by and commenting. Always interesting to see what is happening currently in gardens on the other side of the world.

Hope y our family get better soon.

Anne of Green Gables - my favourite books when growing u p. I would love to read them again.