Everything including the kitchen sink.
Phew, I'm pleasantly tired! Nothing like a spot of gardening to get some good, productive exercise. This weekend I have been sowing up a storm, rifling through my seed packets and dreaming of winter greens and root vegies. The detailed list of my plantings is in my garden diary, but suffice it to say that this weekend's sowings included spinach, mizuna, endive, corn salad and chicory, cauliflowers, onions, bok choy and cabbage, kohlrabi, peas, leeks, lettuce and silverbeet. I think I have "leafy greens" covered LOL, although I had my dates stuffed up and missed the optimal moon planting window for them. C'est la vie.
Another exciting event is that I've passed the 50 kilo/110 pound mark for our garden harvest so far this year! I'm so glad I joined the Freedom Gardens challenge and started weighing all our food - I would never have estimated that we could produce that much food from such a small space! I'm rather proud of myself :-) We'll see how we go in winter though LOL.
In other garden news, I found my first starfruit fallen from the tree this morning. I hadn't realised there were any ripe ones yet, so that was a pleasant find. No, I didn't share it ;-)
I also picked the remainders of the pumpkins (all Butternuts) and composted the vines. They were quite prolific but all the fruits were very small this year? I put it down to not enough fertiliser and water as it was very hot and dry this summer, and I don't remember digging very much manure into their planting beds when they were planted out (as I was desperate to just get them into the ground before they keeled over LOL). The one at the front has weird patterns on it - I think it's snail damage? I suspect it is just superficial skin damage and the pumpkin underneath is OK though: pumpkin risotto is on the menu this week.
The most exciting event in the garden this weekend though, was the arrival of this little lovely!
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had bought a second hand kitchen sink for use in the garden, rinsing vegies: it's been at my father-in-law's place being fitted to a frame and some legs, and DH picked it up for me yesterday. Cool huh?
We were going to attach it to the brick wall with brackets but this way I can move it if it is too awkward where it is now (I suspect I am going to head butt it when I go to turn on the garden tap which is underneath). Now it just needs a plug and a bucket underneath the catch the dirty water for reuse in the garden. I am also going to look for a tub which will fit neatly inside the sink bowl, so that it can double as a potting bench (I'll use the tub for holding potting or seedling mix). Neat-o!
Happy gardening to all the gardeners out there :-)
12 comments:
Great work Julie.
Please forgive me for being a tad jealous, I'm still unable to do any bending, so my garden planting will be quite late this year.
Hi Olive,
It must be hard as a gardener having to rest up, but geez you won't know yourself when you do get back in the garden! A new hip! All the best for your recuperation.
Cheers, Julie
i know im getting old when i get litchen sink in the garden envy. thats very cool!
star fruit yum!
I love the kitchensink - the bucket is a great idea
I can't say I'm a fan of starfruit. I've only had the grocery store variety though, never fresh-picked, so I don't know if I'm eating it at the right time. They do look lovely though.
That bench/sink is wonderful!! I love it! This will be my second year with my garden - four small raised beds. I'm looking forward to learning this year again.
I love the idea of your "kitchen sink" in the garden area! Hmmm.... I'm going to have to work on DH and see about trying to find one (as well as a place to put it) for our garden. I could really use one out there to rinse off the veggies before bringing them in. And, we could use the spent water in the garden! Much better than going down the drain inside the house.
Hi Kel,
LOL, that must make me 'old' too ;-) 10 years ago I'd have been horrified at having a manky old sink in the garden !!
Hi Melissa,
I can't lay claim to the idea, I stole it from a permaculture-style garden I saw on TV! It's very cool though.
Hi Peggy,
Starfruit can be quite astringent, and some varieties are sweeter than others, so perhaps it was the variety, but then everything homegrown tastes way better than the fruit at the supermarket! Good luck with your garden, it's a steep (but exciting) learning curve, isn't it?
Hi Judy,
Yes that was my thoughts exactly - all that dirt and water going down the drain inside seemed such a waste.
Cheers, Julie
Well done on reaching the '50kg of produce' mark!
My current plans are to get stuck into the garden once school holidays start and all the "activities" cease.
Hi Kez,
Thanks :-) Not long until the holidays now, and after the rain today everything will be nice and moist for your autumn plantings! Did you get much?
Cheers, Julie
50 kg! Wow! Beautiful sink, too :)
Love the sink idea!
Yes, quite waterlogged here as well!
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