Garden, Guides

SUN SETTING ON PAPER BEANS

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Chook rotation garden plans for different seasons

Watercolour garden plans

Close up of watercolour garden plan

2012 garden diary on homemade paper

Watercolour bean thank you letter

Watercolour calendar garden task list

 

The perfect summer weather is mocking me while I work, the upstairs study becomes a hot house, while I dream of being at the beach! This, my friends, is a lesson on the importance of passive solar design and insulation!

I have been wickedly slack with a hard drive full of Christmas photos to put up, but it’s funny how delightful things become a chore when there is an overwhelming number to go through and edit. Just wait until I have to clean my room or do something productive and I shall fill your lives with beach and Gracie dog and a little bit of David Holmgren too.

In the meantime I have been catching up on my thank you notes and garden diary. It’s amazing how much less work I’ve had to put into it since the Permablitz, when we had the chook rotation, the planning that had to go into the beds and planting and harvesting just at the right time was ridiculous. I’m all for the new chickens roaming the orchard in winter thing, now if only they could learn how to use their new Red Comb Chook Feeder…

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Garden, Recipes

REMNANTS LIKE SPECKS OF PAINT

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Broccoli Waltham in the nature strip

Cauliflower in the nature strip guerrilla garden

Broccoli Waltham in the nature strip guerrilla garden

Broccoli on the chopping board

Broccoli, chilli, lemon zest, bread crumb and parmesan pasta

Globe artichoke and orange marigolds in the nature strip guerrilla garden

Grape hyacinth flowering in the nature strip guerrilla garden

Spider in the broccoli Waltham

Broccoli and broad beans in the no-dig garden

Aquadulce broad beansgrown from seeds from the Diggers Club

Blue borage flowers

Garden diary watercolours and colourful specks of food on the plate to match

Our little nature strip guerrilla garden has burst into life as winter and spring fight it out (looks like the last week of 20 degrees and glorious sunshine will be battered down to 11 degrees and dreariness by the end of the week. Sigh.). The broccoli has formed beautiful heads and the cauliflower is shyly following. After hearing about the local naughties raiding nearby community and school gardens, in some cases departing with whole strawberry plants, I have been delighted to see no one has taken anything. Sure people seem to think it is a good place to dispose of junk mail and empties but otherwise people have left it alone. More surprising, as is technically public land people have more of a right to have a nibble, but don’t tell them I said that until after I have harvested my first cauliflower, he’s just so cute.

Here is the recipe for the Broccoli and chilli pasta with garlic breadcrumbs.

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