Broccoli.

Way back in autumn I planted some broccoli seedlings in one of the shadiest parts of my veggie patch. They grew so slowly that I was beginning to worry that I might not get to eat home grown broccoli this growing season. As brassicas are such heavy feeders, I had to keep the food up to them and this took a bit of work. They dinned on compost, chook manure, and fertiliser for almost three months. 

All the feeding has paid off, as last weekend I discovered that those familiar green trees were beginning to appear...

Sam xox

Seed to seed.

There is something a little sneaky going on at your local gardening super store. Most of the packets on the shelves contain F1 seeds. These are varieties of plants produced under controlled circumstances, where two species of plant are interbred, usually to combine their desirable characteristics (eg. disease resistance, high crop yield). F1 seeds are the 'children' produced by the joining of the two plants.

So why is this so sneaky? Because the seeds produced by F1 plants cannot be saved as the seeds will never 'come true' (they are sterile). This means that every year (or more) you will need to buy more and more seeds to regrow your crops (meaning more and more cash for the big stores!).

What can be done about this? Well, that is where heirloom (also known as heritage) seed varieties come in. These are seed varieties that have been past down through generations of seed savers and have stood the test of time. 

Seed saving is a cost effective way of ensuring you have good yields year after year. As the years pass, the plants become accustomed to the local climate and soil conditions. Plants that produce a high yield and prove to be most disease resistant are preserved in the form of tiny seeds for future plantings. 

My goal for this Spring is two fold. Firstly, I want to plant out all my summer crop from heirloom seed varieties purchased from small companies, and organic where possible. Secondly, at the end of Summer I want to save the seeds and keep them for the following Spring (and gift some to fellow veggie gardeners in the family!). However, my seed saving knowledge is very limited, and I do not want to spend the next 5 years gaining knowledge purely through trial and error. For this reason I have decided to take a 'short cut' and purchased this book...

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners

By Suzanne Ashworth

There are over 70 positive reviews on Amazon regarding this book. So I relied on these reviews and purchased it online sight unseen. It should hopefully arrive within the next fortnight. The majority of the reviewers commented on the thoroughness of the information the book provided, so I am hopeful.

Tonight I will place my order with Green Harvest (recommended to me in a recent blog post by frogdancer - thank you for the tip!). I will be ordering only heirloom varieties, organic where possible. 

Do you save seeds? Do you have any tips for me?

Sam xox

Reading and doing.

Gardening holds so many complexities that I believe it is a skill that cannot be learnt purely from books. It needs to be developed (grown if you will) through contact with soil, water, and sun. A book cannot tell me where the sunniest part of my garden will be, that I will learn from spending hours tracking the sunlight's path across the day. A book cannot tell me what my soil conditions will be like, that can only be known through contact with the earth. A book cannot tell me which of my crops will do well this growing season, as that depends on a multitude of environmental factors.

Do not mistake me, books have played a significant part in my developing appreciation of gardening in the early days. As my interests grew so did my reading. I studied gardening books, magazines and online sources, soaking up the information that was offered and locking it away until the day I had my own patch of earth to work on. I still do turn to books when confronted with a new challenge, their pages regularly containing a wealth of information. Information that would take half a lifetime of trial and error to be learnt 'on the job'. Having this sort of information readily available really is like knowing the secret short cuts in my garden. And I definitely enjoy that part of it.

The place where books and practical experiences meet is where the real learning happens.

Sam xox

Oranges and lemons.

Oranges and lemons,

Say the bells of St. Clement's.

You owe me five farthings,

Say the bells of St. Martin's.

When will you pay me?

Say the bells of Old Bailey.

When I grow rich,

Say the bells of Shoreditch.

When will that be?

Say the bells of Stepney.

I do not know,

Says the great bell of Bow.

Here comes a candle to light you to bed,

And here comes a chopper to chop off your head!

A container of home laid eggs traded for a bag of home grown citrus.

Sam xox

In the garden.

~ Strawberry pot ~

~ Garlic ~

~ Thriving potato plants ~

~ Spinach ready for picking ~

~ Can you believe I am still weeding out tomato seedlings,

from last summer! ~

~ Home sown seedling planted out ~

~ Cambridge getting a hang of this 'free ranging' business a lot quicker than Oxford (the pen was wide open just to the left) ~

The weekend saw me attend to a few outdoor tasks. The duck pond called for my attention as Cambridge and Oxford appear to have had a field day over the past week, throwing all sorts of junk into the water and generally making a mess of it. They watched me curiously as I removed the brown water one bucket at a time. The noise of the hose filling the pond back up drew them closer, and as soon as I had finished and turned to walk away they were back swimming and diving for whatever I had managed to stir up at the bottom (I really prefer not to know!).

Sam xox

Because this is not a contest.

There is something making me a little bit uncomfortable and I want to climb up onto my soap box for a few minutes and talk about it today. The subtle undercurrents implied online sometimes are that those not living according to certain values are living their lives wrongly.

As a community mental health worker by day, I practice according to a framework which is fundamentally based on the understanding that every individual has their own set of unique personal values regardless of mental health concerns or not. My job is essentially to support people to live a positive, independent life that is in line with their own personal values.

When we discuss 'simple living' and we talk about how to achieve this, I do feel sometimes there is an element of judgement in the written voices. People are judged because they consume. People are judged because they never feel content. They are judged through implication that their way of living is the undesired way. Do we know why they live the life that they do? Maybe there is a reason behind the choices they make...

As someone who spends her working days exploring the values people have (the life experiences that have shaped these, the struggles, hardships, addictions, traumas, and illnesses they have had to face), I do worry that people are often judged too quickly.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I want this blog to record a snapshot of my life. A life being lived in line with, and staying true to, my own personal values. A life not recorded against a set of criteria, or compared to the lives of others. 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I read an article the other day by Angela Barton and her final paragraph struck deep at my core:

" ... Because this is not a contest. And it's not about being a martyr. Its is about living a thoughtful, meaningful, conscientious lifestyle and feeling like you are walking the walk and living your values.

And that makes me happier than new shoes ever could..."

Tread your own life path, even if the shoes you wear are a pair of old black rubber gumboots.

Sam xox

Which brand is best for seed?

Do any of you out there have a preferred brand of seeds? I have been looking at Eden , The Little Veggie Patch, and Diggers seeds, however I am yet to decide on a brand to buy Spring seeds from. I am having so much success raising seeds in my greenhouse over winter that I have decided that I will plant my summer crop  from seed. By doing so I will save a considerable amount of money and have healthier plants. Exceptions to this will be plants like herbs, where I only need one or two plants (I'll buy these from the local Farmers Market).

Two weeks ago I planted some radish seeds straight into an outdoor pot, and they are finally beginning to sprout.

Radish seeds are best sown into the place they will grow, as they do not like being replanted. This is similar to other taproot vegetables (carrots, beetroot, parsnips).

The seedlings in the greenhouse are ready to be thinned out. As you can see in the photo below, my basil is doing brilliantly! The garlic chives (in the foreground) are looking pretty lame. The parsley (back row) has been a complete disaster, with only two seedlings making an appearance.

A copious amount of broccoli and cauliflower. I read that you should sow more seeds than you need as some are likely not to germinate. Turns out this is not always true! I think some of these will need to be gifted as I simply do not have the room to plant all these into my veggie garden.

Broccoli and cauliflowers further along...

My plans for the next three days are:

- Clean out chicken/duck coop.

- Clean out duck pond and put in fresh water.

- Weed veggie patch.

- Spin two bobbins of wool.

- Sew at least 3 garments.

Ambitious? Possibly.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. 

Sam xox