garden share collective: august

This month reflects not so much what I have done around the garden, but what my Dad has done (if you need reminding of just how capable he is, read here. And here).

 

Though I may have the Garden Share Collective to thank for prompting these achievements, as I casually mentioned to Dad how good it would be to provide an update on the water tank situation mentioned in the previous post … so here goes.

This kind of rigid plastic tank with its supporting metal cage is usually used to cart water. It holds 1000 litres. Dad bought it (second hand) for about $100, so a very cheap option. I'll bucket the water out for my vegies and backyard pots

So, Dad came up mid-week and finish installing the tank. No help from me this time; he came over while I was at work and refused my offers to take a day off. Truth is I think he prefers it when I’m not with him, because then I’m not reminding him to wear his ear muffs or eye goggles or leather gloves or to just be careful Dad, be careful!

While it may have made more sense to place the tap on the other side of the tank, away from the garden, clever Dad reasons that one day I might get another tank (!), so this configuration will work better when there are two, side by side.

The base is also haphazard (we’re all about making do – I have piles of house bricks and pavers sitting about), but come summer I shall paint all the supports white so they look a bit more uniform.

Dad also delivered a great quantity of ‘vegie mix’ – fortified soil for the vegie garden. Thanks, Dad.

Thank you too to the weather gods, because on the Saturday after Dad’s work, the weather was drab but fine enough for me to sweep around the tank, brush some more sand into the new paving strip, neatly stack the leftover bricks and pavers, and generally tidy up what has been a building site for quite a few months. All ‘infrastructure’ stuff but sometimes this is what gardening is about (and I get more obsessed with order as I get older).

Then I set to distributing that vegie mix about (well, I made a thermos of tea and then I went back to work). First I transplanted some self-seeded larkspurs from the garden beds - their vibrant cobalt flowers are stars at attracting bees to the garden, but I don’t need them within the vegie patch - and I set aside the last two bean trellises.

I then bucketed the vegie mix around (Dad, you would be so proud of me: I even raked it smooth). I’ll dig it in closer to planting time; probably September or October, once the soil and the days start to warm up. Not only will this improve the soil, but it will raise the level: the middle patch is reclaimed from the lawn, so is not very deep or good a quality. This stuff adds a couple of inches as well as some better substance to the soil.

These few hours in the garden were a pleasant task; I spend my working days sitting at a desk so physically moving like this is good for my soul and my muscles. And it was good to get this ‘infrastructure’ stuff done ahead of spring’s planting and sowing. And it gives me something to report to you.

Thank the heavens again, because on Sunday, we had steady, drizzly rain. Enough to start filling the tank - it was lovely to hear the water trickling down the pipes and into the tank - and to wet down the vegie mix (the weekend after this, we had torrential rain; that thousand litre tank is now completely filled). With a break in the rain, I decided to cut back my neighbour’s pittosporum (see second photo). It looks – looked – soft and pretty, but I plan on placing a passionfruit against that wall in spring. Getting the overhanging branches off now allows any rain to fall onto the ground and keep the bed moist.

Garlic growing well in the bag

So this has been a much more positive update than I had anticipated. I had originally drafted a fairly depressing post – driven by some gloomy days – that would have had you all sending me prescriptions for anti-depression medication. But, a turn in weather means a change of heart and an opportunity to get outside and achieve something. I am buoyed by getting this major work down. It’s good to look out the window and see neat, orderly progress.

To do this coming month:

• Start dreaming about spring seeds to buy and sow

• Phone the nursery and ask about passionfruit vines

• Keep feeding and harvesting the greens that are growing: tatsoi, silverbeet and curly kale

• Stay positive!

Rosemary sprigs for a future rosemary tree, to be grown in a more convenient location of the garden 

Don’t get forget to see others in the Garden Share Collective who are being far more active in terms of growing than I am! Click on the logo in the column at right to find more green thumbs.

Dad even popped this broom holder up for me, so it’s easier to sweep up leaves without having to move all these tools first