Exciting Day... Planning Stages

Today has been inspiring.
Great weather, the wind a little cool, but Ive been out with pen and paper doing some planning... It is looking good!
After meeting with Ann, I have some directives on what is required for the School garden, and we are starting with the children tomorrow to compost and plant. Cauliflower, Lettuce, Onion and Beetroot, Corn and Sunflowers, Cornflowers, French Dwarf beans, and Parisian baby carrots. These will go with what they had last season and some self-sown goodies, also a hearty looking rhubarb plant that could easily feed a class! There are plans for custard and rhubarb which can be cooked in the class kitchen areas - this school has an amazing setup!
My helpers and I will be planting thyme, sage, rosemary, chives, lavender, oh and strawberries, and weeding the class beds next week. We have plans to make pots ourselves, and the children are really keen to have a Sunflower growing competition! Russian Giants love compost, and can grow to 7 foot tall, so this is spurring them on!
Next year, it might be a pumpkin growing competition, that sounds like fun!?

We have one large feijoa tree  at the edge of one of the beds, that needs a really good haircut (prune) and Im picking will not be any good until it has another couple of feijoa trees planted nearby, as it has not had fruit in the time it has been there, and it is a good size. Some of the newer feijoa varieties self pollinate, but I think this one does not.
I have a lone feijoa tree in my garden, so Im going to dig it up and replant it over there so we can produce some fruit if we are lucky!
There are plans to build up the soil and get regular plantings of easy and short-growing produce growing so the children can benefit from their garden.  The second part of the plan includes longer term growing, such as pumpkins and squash, and berries, fruit trees etc. Ann has expressed an interest in having Chickens. It can be done, but not yet. It  is something to work forward to.
The longer term is to have a self-sustaining community garden, but this is months/years away. The plans are underway, and talking to the Principal, they are very proactive.
We are talking about planting a variety of companion plants - herbs and flowers, and introducing permaculture ideas in as we can. A worm farm,  and they have bokashi units and a compost heap already. It is exciting to see the wheels in motion!

Hope to include some photos of the area as it changes, but my camera ran out of battery power just as I took the first photo today. How typical is that?

Back into it,
Reading, Planning... Dreaming :-)

Love to You,
E BUTTERFLY
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Planning and Planting - Almost that time again!~

Its almost planting time again!
I love this time of year.  The days have been very long while it has been wet, but Ive dug over some of the front garden and Ive made a list, and checked it twice (or more!)
I just cant wait to get out there, seeds in hand.
Im waiting to see if some of the cuttings Ive taken will actually grow, and Ive sprinkled some seeds around the place in the hope theyll spring forth and liven up the bare spots in the garden as companion plants (marigolds and calendula). I see borage is coming up already, also bulbs - some narcissus, to remind us that Spring isnt far away. The hollyhocks and poppies will be fantastic.

I cant wait for tomato season. I miss fresh tomatoes, basil and lettuce... but it wont be long and the lettuce will be back... I have frilled cos raising its head already, and buttercrunch have just sprouted. The new mesculun bed is looking promising amongst the little sticks Ive also planted, to keep cats out.

If we get some harsh frosts, I have made little cloches out of drink bottles, so ... hopefully theyll help.
Im starting off seeds inside too. The school are doing Scarlet Runner beans, per child, and a Sunflower plant, per child as they learn about seeds, Spring and nutrition.  Im glad I can pass the seeds along, its a good thing. Just wish I could do more.
The class gardens are going to be dug over at the end of the month, and then we can get going with the planting!

I had some lemon and kowhai seeds in the fridge, and have taken them out to get them started. I nicked the end of each kowhai seed, and will they take off quite nicely after that. I have about a dozen three inch high seedlings from last Summer, so maybe I will make good progress with these ones too. The lemon seeds are a bit stubborn, but they seem to kick off once it gets warmer. Last years lemon pips are now small but healthy trees - about two inches tall. Yes, I know... slow. But hey, Im not going anywhere, I have time to wait and watch them grow...
Then theres the Quince seeds. Theyve started to germinate. Fingers crossed I can get them to grow too.

Not much else happening on the gardening front...but its a time of promise. Soon, little butterfly, soon!! :)
Loving the sunshine, even these cooler days with no wind are great.
Watching the Olympics is a good excuse to stay inside :-)

Love to all,
EB
XX

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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Everything on The Lazy A is A-Oa-K ....

With the gorgeous weather we have had so far this week here in Christchurch, New Zealand,
Ive been outside tidying up the yard. This is what I found below the elderberry tree. It was as if it were sheltering them from me...

 Mr 13 owned up to having planted a rather large handful of acorns in the Autumn, and today I separated out some of the new little oak seedlings. Theyre rather precious,  thinking about their future potential size and not looking too bad at all. Varying sizes and shapes, some will not possibly be suitable as big trees, but Im learning as I go...

Firstly, transplanting oak seedlings isnt as easy as I first thought. Oak trees have rather large straight tap roots. These would be about four or five months old, and are between 20-30 cm long, half of that is tap root which extends from out of the base of the acorn which is, in most cases, still attached to the seedling, possibly as a food supply? for the new growth. Planting them in long containers (in my case cut down coke bottles or milk containers) was fine as long as the hole was deep and the tap root was as undisturbed as possible.
They are all looking peachy at the moment, so maybe I was lucky! A little trip down the road to have a look at the parent tree meant I could identify the trees as Quercus Alba.L which is White Oak. Beautiful!! I just might end up with my grove of oaks... OK, maybe not me, my grandchildren might :)

Did you know you can eat acorns? Have a look here if you're interested - COOKING WITH ACORNS
The Sioux Indians use acorn in their cooking because they were plentiful and easy to store (away from squirrels!)
I didn't know much about this, but these kinds of things fascinate me, being interested in self-sufficiency and survival skills...
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OAK TREES - Oak trees live for up to 200 years. I guess that means careful consideration before planting is essential!

And in case you want to try planting your own acorns... heres a page that explains it all ... Gosh I love the internet!! :) HERE - COLLECT AND PLANT YOUR ACORNS

And on top of all that replanting, transplanting, repotting etc... The Aloes got some division to do - I got time yesterday to split up three of my bigger plants, and netted another 12 from them, they are splitting nicely, and growing strongly. Light, not heat is what they prefer. They go rather reddish brown around the edges if they are too hot. To use the aloes medicinally, they need to be rather larger than what I have yet. Im looking forward to making some burn cream when the plants mature considerably...

We have some seeds in pots, waiting for them to rear their tiny heads... Some motherwort, tansy, cabbage, lettuce, sunflower, pumpkin... Ive never had much luck with seeds, but hopefully that is about to change :)
Well thats all my garden news for now.

Thanks for listening :)
Take care

E Butterfly
Christchurch by The River