kate5kiwis: switched on gardener

kate5kiwis

“If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other, the joy of challenge, the joy of growth.” — Mitsugi Saotome

Monday, October 27, 2008

switched on gardener

nope, we're not growing the green stuff.
we've just been doing that thing we do - the twice yearly one-hour-gardening-trick.
yep, we've finally found the Elusive Garden Gnome.

THIS TRICK IS *SO* EASY, I SHOULD PATENT IT:
the first half hour:
Bulldog drags the knee-high weeds outta the garden and mows them up.
the second half hour:
Charlie and I plant little 'erbs and spinach plants.
this year we spent ten bucks on veggie plants (from the local market - yeah, supporting the neighbours) buying JUST THE STUFF WE'RE GONNA EAT:
italian parsley, basil, pizza thyme, spinach and silverbeet. (miraculously, last year's rhubarb and rosemary and parsley and mint are still surviving.)
yep, we have given up on the annual *fifty bucks* outlay. cos LAST YEAR we planted all that AND courgettes AND poh-tay-toes AND watermelon AND tomatoes AND something else which all got completely neglected by moi dug up by the cat and eaten by aliens.

and... for the first time in my life, it felt so good to get my hands in the soil. now we've just gotta remember to water it... and eat it.

11 Comments:

Blogger CC said...

snap fellow greenthumbs wannabe, we worked on the garden today too. It is our 2nd year attempting to keep a vege garden. This year we have vege boxes in the front yard so that will hopefully mean they get watered!

11:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is going to be so fun to watch your garden grow when my own ground will be covered with snow and ice!
a.

1:18 AM  
Blogger Mrs. G. said...

Your garden gnome is a doll.

4:21 AM  
Blogger Our Home Schooler and Jen said...

is it really that easy
if so we need to get our acts together
Jen

8:57 AM  
Blogger Barb the Evil Genius said...

I wish we could have a garden but ya can't do that in an apartment (or do ya call it a flat?) We did grow a green pepper and tomato plants in pots.

9:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Haha, I was just thinking yesterday that I hadn't seen a gardening post from you ;)
I guess we had a similar epiphany, I decided not to go all out and plant after last years dismal failure. So all I'm doing is sunflowers (because I want to photograph them) and the girls got a swan plant each yesterday. That's it. I decided I as just wasting $$$ which I should just spend on veges that are actually already grown.
xxxx

9:37 AM  
Blogger skatey katie said...

cc
oh way to go on the veggie boxes. i have such a short attention span. which is why i thought that this year we'll grow stuff that takes care of itself lol X

andie
my ground has never been covered in snow and ice. i'll show ya mine if you show me yours lol X

mrs g
yes he is! now i have Gimli in my head, "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" lol X

jen
i think it's easy if ya start small. i usually get all gung-ho and plant the entire back lawn. and then it's overwhelming... but not this year!!! X

barb
i like apartment lol. in NZ we say, "i'm going flatting." which is usually a three to six single people all in one house situation. and an apartment is in a multi level building, each apartment has two to three bedrooms. oh i s'pose you could "go flatting" in an apartment lol!
way to go on the Pot Growing!!!
hahahahaha X

hay
oooh, cos i saw andie's sunflower photo - that is SO gorgeous. can't wait to see yours...
when woozie was wee, she loved eating sunflower seeds. she called them FLOWER SEEDS as in "i am eating (some)flower seeds!" X

10:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome, last year was the first year I didn't plant a garden in almost 14 years. We missed it, won't forget next year for sure.

1:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Must have been the weekend for it as we were out planting too - tomatoes, strawberries, peas, basil... and lots of other delights that we shall eat - I'd love to be more ambitious and do more. We've also planted sunflowers from the seeds collected from our best last year and I'm hoping they'll grow between my peas to provide a colourful support - here's hoping! It's such a wonderful feeling to plant baby plants and nurture them (though I sometimes get a little too busy to give them the full love and attention they deserve!).

Good luck and hope you get a yummy crop! xx

Right... must get on with updating my blog tonight on all things green !

4:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

we have done the vege garden thang this year. Two raised garden beds made by Merlot and getting fuller and fuller of veges and herbs. Watering system where you just have to turn a tap on and it gets watered. yay. Roll on fresh veges/salads.

7:38 PM  
Blogger skatey katie said...

anna
yes, it's a childhood memory for me - Dad digging over the garden every year, planting, watering - some of my kiddos love gardening - i hope they all catch something good about it. i am slowly falling in love with it! X

sarah
oh YUM! strawberries! we have a fabulous place just down our road that we go strawberry picking in - and we LOVE it!

kate
MERLOT! you crack me up!
yes, i read about all the Garden Gnoming in Fractured Thoughts.
forget about Pimp My Job, tell Merlot that he should become a WRITER! serious talent - he has me in stitches EVERY READ!!! X

7:22 PM  

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