Category Archives: In the Garden

This blog post is mostly about vegetables but I thought I’d start with something prettier. This hydrangeas is the biggest of about six we planted in 2011 and 2012—they grow very well here. I grew the flax in front from … Continue reading →

Nothing quite says “spring” like asparagus. About a week ago we planted seven more asparagus crowns in raised beds. Three went into the one we planted asparagus in two years ago to replace a few that didn’t make it. Four … Continue reading →

Carrots all look the same from the top. Some are big, some are small, but basically they look alike. It isn’t until you pull them up that you see what was happening under the surface. Carrots take the path of … Continue reading →

A slow moving high pressure system is over the South Island. Most mornings we wake up to thick fog which begins to lift around 10:00 or 11:00 am. This morning the fog didn’t start to lift until after 11:00. It’s … Continue reading →

Last Monday, April 30, was one of those odd days with lots of sun and clear blue sky interspersed with heavy rain. When the rain comes when the sun still shining, we know there will be a rainbow. It’s just … Continue reading →

This blog entry was definitely in the garden, but certainly not in our garden. Thursday and Friday Cliff and I were volunteers at the Ellerslie International Flower Show in Christchurch. We were all set to go last year but the … Continue reading →

For over a month we’ve been enjoying fresh, ripe strawberries most days with our lunch. Occasionally they are overripe or have been nibbled by a bird or insect. The chickens get the imperfect ones and they love them too. We … Continue reading →

Because our ground is about 60 per cent clay and 40 per cent river stones it sorely needs the addition of organic material to enrich and loosen it up. Pea straw is excellent for this but peas grow in a … Continue reading →

A lot went wrong with our corn crop this year. It was planted a few months late, might have been planted too close together and wind knocked it over twice but what reached maturity was absolutely delicious. We enjoyed a … Continue reading →