This Old House... Clearing the Way... Spring Forward!

This Old house indeed...
It is full of cracks and this week, it seems to have developed a squeak - it now has an identifying squeak when theres a truck going past or theres an aftershock. Its been quite audible overnight and it sounds like we have mice. Better than Bats in the Belfry, I say :)
We are all concerned about the excessive speeds down our street of late, and I see one of the neighbours has sprayed big *30* signs on the road in spray paint,  to encourage people to slow down, but it doesnt seem to have worked. We have more traffic than ever before, given our main thoroughfare is blocked off and down to one way so crossing over our street, is like playing Chicken.
It isnt surprising, about the squeaky house, everywhere you look we have road works, diggers, noise, dust etc - on all sides at the moment, even our side road is blocked off with people rearranging road cones, leaning on shovels with their bright orange vests and hard hats on.
They may be filling in the crater that appeared after last weeks eq. Its quite an impressive size. With all this rain, it has filled with water, and I do wonder when we will get our own water feature. You know, you want what the neighbours have, right?... not so much, in this case :)
Its a familiar site around Christchurch though, those deep holes in the road, surrounded by road cones... theres no forgetting where you are, especially when you drive into one!

Things to be grateful for, there are a few - AWESOME WEATHER - it has taken on good form the past couple of days, and it is glorious to see the sun! We have got out and about, and taken advantage of the heat. It wont be long and it will be seed planting time again, how quickly it comes about.
I have started PLANNING THE GARDEN for this season. And clearing out the weeds that have grown over the cold snap. Im sure there will be other cold bits, but I might as well get ahead while I can.

Its nice to see some of the SEEDS COMING UP already. (self sown ones) We have a fine crop of 3 kinds of lettuce, some kind of onion and beans, and the silverbeet has survived well. I cant say the kids are keen about that :) but I am.
The berry plants have buds and are growing away quickly. Black currants, red currants, raspberries... We also have lots of self-sown plants, I love discovering them all. Strawberry, Borage, calendula and chamomile, marigold and some native trees. Ive also found some bits  I plucked off trees and bushes have grown, so  Ive got myself a fine start on a forest :)

We have been FEEDING THE BIRDS, and love watching them out the window. The bird feeders we made have been great, the birds come back again and again - carefully dodging our clumsy cats and their efforts to catch either a tasty bird treat, or climbing the tree to see if they can reach the fat with seeds in it... No luck, thank goodness theyre all far too well fed.  We have wax eyes, starlings and sparrows as usual, but also a family of three magpies, which have ventured over from the park. Theyre very polite, and wait up on the lines until Ive put the bread out before they come down.

Back to the Garden... Let is Spring, I say!
Thanks to some kind friends, I swapped some lavender for some vege seedlings, and I have a good bunch of seedlings and some mint to put in. Im going to isolate this mint, given it grows here like crazy, and we have some already that just takes over... it doesnt even mind the concrete, it just pops up through the cracks, but I have found that boiling water takes care of that. I also have an eau-de-cologne mint, which is lovely. I really like the smell of it, and have just recently been shown how to make a tea with lemon balm, the mint and honey. Very nice!

On My List of Must-haves this year - more carrots, more onions (more than I planted last year!) more potatoes in several varieties. Oh and Yams... Parsley, Basil and Coriander in successive plantings... and Im sure there will be other things later :)

Everyone is KEEPING WELL, despite the Winter chills. Its been a really crazy SCHOOL HOLIDAYS, but we are managing to use our time together wisely... Baking carrot cake, doing some art classes with Miss B, Reading, visiting, walking, taking some cool sea photos, packing some seeds, going to Kaikoura, going fishing (and catching a SALMON! wahoo!) and catching crabs on a handline. Lots of neat stuff. Making up for the time we spent last holidays in the hospital or at home, waiting for news.

Lots to get on with, and it looks like today might be another day outside, around in the garden.
Yes, thats why Im up early.
Roll on July!
Hope you are all safe and well,
Keep Warm
E Butterfly
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Practical Prepping... Saving Seeds, Preparing for next Season.

“The consequences of today are determined by the actions of the past.

To change your future, alter your decisions today.”

 ~ Anonymous



Tansy



Some Practical Prepping
Given we are almost over Summer, the Garden needs some long-term prep for Winter and the new growing season at the end of it. Everywhere is getting some compost & horse manure, the shrubs and trees are getting a light trim, and Im ripping out things that are long gone and dead.

There are a few of my plants in the garden that have been seeding their little hearts out. Ive kept them aside instead of ripping them out by the roots, and theyre now setting seed. This year Ive collected quite a number of varieties, which helps hugely to keep the costs down for gardening next season.
Sunflowers are starting to die down, the seeds are still hard, but will come out in the next week or so. Three large heads are going to collect around 300 seed if all goes well :)

Sunflower seeding

Seeds of Mizuna, Mibuna, Rocket, Mustard greens etc, all from a Mesculun mix, are all set and collected easily once the heads are dry. They seed in their 1000s which is awesome if you like to resow your own mesculun. Yum! We collect the seeds and I store them in handmade paper envelopes with the name, date and amount if known, on the front. Cool and dry storage, in something like a shoe box works for us. Some people freeze seed, but at this stage, I have very limited freezer space.





Front Garden in Full Colour

 

Pyrethrum Flowers repel Flies

Happy Blue Borage flowers attract Bees



Anise Hyssop edge the drive with Balm of Gilead (pink)

 Tansy, Pyrethrum, Figwort, Balm of Gilead and Anise Hyssop are all giving of their seed at the moment. Pyrethrum is valuable for so many things, especially alleviating flies and other pests, a spray can be made from its leaves. Tansy is a great companion plant for Raspberry, and Anise Hyssop attracts bees.
Balm of Gilead is an unusual herb, very pleasant scent, and smells lovely when brushed against. These herbs once planted are a little like Borage, they are hardy and often spread easily (meaning root cuttings by divison are easy), they are often difficult to get rid of once theyre established, but theyre well worth it for their medicinal and herbal properties. Borage is such an attractive bee plant...
Then we have other attractants like Poppy or Hollyhock, Marigold and Calendula that seed like crazy. Have one poppy one year, the next year you have 1000s!

Hollyhock - Bumblebee haven, seeds easily

Tomato - If you have 1 tomato, you have seeds for many!

Not so easy to get seed from - Carrots

Easy Seeds - Giant Lemon Marigold

Fenugreek - Great for many medicinal uses

So thats what we are up to at the moment.
On the Emergency Kit prepping, we have just added some more bits and pieces - some solar powered garden lights, some rope, tarps, an emergency wind up radio, and torches. It doesnt have to be much at a time, just a little bit each time you see something you can afford. The rule with groceries here, is when you buy something, ie 4 rolls of toiletpaper, 1 goes into the kit. If I buy Shampoo or Cat Food, I decant a small amount off the top so I can keep it aside, JUST IN CASE :-) Collecting up small bottles and containers all the time... So there we go.

Off to check the Tomato bushes like a big over-bearing blackbird, in the chance that with this sun today, some of them have the will to colour up and need picking!

Will catch you up later,
Take care and Enjoy Life

E BUTTERFLY
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