Long Time... No Blog... Garden In Progress!

Pretty Peony!

Well its been One Of Those Months.

Lots of Garden progress though.

The good weather has been interspersed with lots of lovely rain, that means we have plump growth and already we have had several salads!

I love Homegrown!

So, without further ramblings... Some photos.

Tomato *Chocolate*

Lemon Balm

Mizuna - Lots of it!

Things have grown quickly, this was last month

Garlic, raspberry cane and seedlings

Berries, Lettuce, Tomato and Comfrey

We have growing - Tomatoes in the following varieties, Albenga Oxheart, Bloody Butcher, Jaune De Coeur Pigeon, Chocolate, Red Russian, Siberian Speckled, Baxters Early Bush, Sub Arctic Plenty, Missouri Love Apple, Large White, Yellow & Black Cherry... Black Krim and Purple Calabash.

Also growing Herbs like Chamomile, Basil, Chervil, Coriander, Parsley, Mint, Comfrey, Chives, Thyme, Lemon balm, Rosemary, Sweet Cicely...

And Calendula, Sunflower, Aquilegia in two diff colours, Marigold, Geranium, Poppy, forgetmenot,... still to add more seeds into the mix to attract bees!

And then theres veggies - Lettuce, about seven different varieties, Iceberg, a red cos, frilled green cos, buttercrunch, freckles, and a couple of others. Onions, red, white and brown. We eat a lot of onion!
Carrots - solar yellow and nutri red. Mizuna, rocket, corn salad, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, celery, corn though not as successful as I like! Radishes... hmm thinking...

And Berries/Fruit - Lemon, Boysenberry, Raspberry, Red currant, Black Currant, Alpine strawberry, Strawberry, Rhubarb - Victoria & Perpetual. Oh and Olive trees, the newest edition, but already one of my favourites...

miners lettuce

Raspberry

Thats us for now.
Hope all is going well in your neck of the woods.

EB

Dreams and Aspirations...

Night Light

Im grumpy.
Ive just spent the past day trying to organize my thoughts into an online forum for self reliant gardeners. It didnt work, and Im annoyed with my lack of skill, and that I spent so much time to amount to nothing much at all. Oh it looks pretty. Thats it. I cant decide where I have gone wrong.

So... Scrap that idea for now.
Ill continue when Ive done a bit more learning. Im quite keen to have a NZ based board to network with other gardeners who want to get some self sufficiency going. Know any? ... Id love to hear from you. I want to network with other people who are struggling to make their food budget stretch. Those who eat from their gardens... any tips, ideas, sharing experiences would be fantastic. Theres a growing trend of people going *back* or moving forward towards utilizing their gardens again. Fruit and vegetables are so expensive. Amongst us gardening folk, that doesnt have to be so. We gather seed, we could share it. We can share our bounty, or perhaps take a look to guide the hand of a new gardener... It doesnt take much to share your expertise, your skills to help someone who isnt so sure of whats what.

The library is a good place to start if youre a newbie to gardening, but then, so is the internet these days...
I love reading other peoples blogs about their gardening passions. It can be a small garden plot in the back yard that they pluck their herbs from, or a self-made brewery that makes cider from their own apple trees they propagated and grew themselves. It is all awesome, and its exciting to see the progress. We can empathise and commiserate in the losses, but celebrate in the successes! Nothing like watching your own sown seed grow into something you can harvest, or drink, or bottle, dry or sell... Or donate, bake, cook... The list goes on.
Ok, so now Im finished my bleat, and now that I have *talked it through* I dont feel so bad about my lack of success. Perhaps I ll stick to Gardening in the Real World, instead of trying to take it into the Cyber World. 

I love my garden. Oh wait, you knew that.

But I do.

Peas (Easy Peasy)  and Beans (Borlotti *Red Rooster*)

Seedlings - Radish, Beet, Carrots & Lettuce

Onion, Coloured Chard & Lemon Balm

It is still in its infancy, but it is starting to take shape. Not a definitive one yet, it would probably be classified as a Blob. Not a Square or a Circle yet. I still have to shape it to perfection. But I think that is the goodness of gardening, it is always small snippets of perfection - never the entirety, just glimpses... that make you want more...

Garlic on the Up!

New Raspberry Cane

Rhubarb

Roll on Spring, we have daylight saving which turns the bodyclock topsy turvy for a week
Then Wha-lah!! Time for planting, long days, crisp mornings... sunny skies.

Red Currant

Alpine Strawberry - Yellow Fruits

Rhubarb

So there we be.
Tomorrow is the start of another week. We are counting down til school holidays again...
I hope all your plans are fruitful, and you are keeping safe and well,

Til next time!
Love and Violets
EButterfly

Winter Again ... Gardening On The Inside

Its freezing cold today. Arlais has just told me the *Scary Sky* means the clouds are chasing one another, and I think, given the wind, she may be right. The grey/black clouds are chasing the big billowy snow clouds away. Its rained, hailed and blown all day.
It hasnt stopped The Process though!
Im having computer issues, and havent got a clue how to fix it, so I ll stick to what I think I know - Im Gardening On The Inside today - the dreaming, scheming, reading and planning... From the warmth of the lounge, with the awesome bank of knowledge I can find in others books, Mr Google and similar...
Real hard work I tell ya!

Ive also been checking the pots... We have some more little shoots rearing their heads... I feel like an expectant parent, but theyre making some good progress...

So Onward We Go - Snow if you will!
It wont stop the Creative Juices flowing.
Our fenugreek seedlings have set their next lot of leaves, the Tomato Gang - Albenga Oxheart, Black Zebra and Yellow Cocktail are going strong. No sign of Russian Red and his mates Bloody Butcher or Chocolate but Ive just noticed a little elecampane stretching up from its soily bed, - whose going to be next I wonder?

So Im going back to the gentle rest of my chair to sit and peruse the pages of someone else's wisdom
I have on my knee The NZ Organic Gardening Handbook by Brenda Little... so away I go.

Rest Easy,
Hope youre safe and warm

Love to All
E Butterfly
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