Potatoes!

My little box of pre-ordered "Buffelspoort" seed potatoes arrived in the post this past week! The 8 "Mondials" that have been chitting for some time are ready to go in too.

I now need to earnestly decide where they're going! Spuds take up quite a bit of the Veggie Patch for a long time. I'm thinking maybe the remainder of the old Veggie Patch as the beds are ready (just need a bit of weeding or mulching to smother the unwanted weed growth). I've designed this plan using the free trial software offered by GrowVeg. It's really a great, easy to use programme that saves lots of time helping you figure out how many plants fits in an area etc.

I would love a yearly subscription (it's under R200) as they are geared for the southern hemisphere and send planting reminders via e-mail amongst others ;-)

 I've learnt a few things so far concerning chitting: Don't chit potatoes in a dark dry place but in a light cold place if you want healthy green growth. And secondly don't chit them at all if you want a staggered harvest. I'm thus going to put the "Buffelspoort" in as is.

Two more things to remember when planning the potatoe patch: Potatoes and legumes (beans and peas), mealies (maize) and also Lovage and mustard (herbs) are good companions. The legumes add nitrogen to the soil and the mustard deters pests. Tomatoes and pumpkins however are bad companions, do not plant them in the same bed as your potatoes as they will stunt each other's growth.

And finally, potatoes need to be "hilled-up" (in Afrikaans "op ge-ert" = "ertappels") to ensure a good crop. Planting them in stacked tyres and specially designed wooden boxes all help make it a little easier to do so, however there is speculation that tyres leach zinc into the soil. These remain helpful if your Veggie Patch is small as they can be put on paving or even the lawn as long as it's a sunny spot and they are kept well watered.

A mini harvest!

Yesterday I thinned out the spinach (chard) to give them some space to grow nice and big. Some of the baby leaves found their way into Joe and Lola's breakfast and the rest was saved for supper (I ended up adding it to a beef lasagne).

Then I set to work feeding the veggie patch, the lavender seedlings, strawberries and some of the potplants using homemade liquid fertilizer. This I made nearly two weeks ago.

 I put horse manure courtesy of Joy and Siam into two plastic mesh bags  (one bag inside the other - those used for pockets of oranges or onions), tied it to the side of a large bucket filled with rain water and let it steep.

The result was sifted and diluted 50/50 (one could dilute it even more) in the watering can before being applied to the plants and I can really see a difference today! Some veggies, especially the brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbages), tomatoes and chard are heavy feeders and need a little something every two weeks. The only guys that would not appreciate it are the root veggies like carrots. Give it a try, it's a little smelly (only if steeped for more than a week) but cheap and effective and very, very organic!

The garden today

Take a quick tour with me while the sun is still shining as tomorrow yet another cold front is forcasted...

The first dwarf Sweetpea flower is out!

The strawberries have blossoms

The cabbage seedlings planted in June are looking good

The beetroot and broccoli seedlings

The chard, lettuce and onion seedlings that were nurtured under the shade cloth with the others
through frost and snow are starting to shoot up now!

The last of the oranges in the orchard are ready to be harvested

And a Mock Plum has burst forth in full blossom!

One man's trash is another's treasure!

A few weeks ago I ran into the wife of the owner of a local sawmill (they "farm wood" to make palettes) and enquired whether they sell slats to the public. She wanted to know what I wanted to do with them and after explaining about the raised veggie beds she suggested I drive through and have a look on their "scrap pile" as she thought I might find some useable pieces there. I was welcome to take anything I wanted free of charge she said as they regularly burnt these piles when it rained. She also told me that I could have as much sawdust as well as composted sawdust as I wanted. My interest was peaked ;-) So last week The King of Avalon left me his little workhorse and The Princes and I drove through to the mill, this is what met our eyes...

The scrap pile

The sawdust

We were bowled over, what TREASURE!!! We did six trips in total and this is what we have constructed so far...

A fence, well okay fence posts, but it is a sign of something great to come...

The Veggie Patch Gate

And a quarter of the raised beds

The gate was proudly designed and made by The Princes (it was constructed in the garage one evening and presented to me the next morning as I was asleep by the time it had been completed). All it's cost us is fuel to haul the wood, nails, hinges and quite a bit of time and energy. The latter The Princes were quite motivated to contribute, I'm so proud and excited!

Finding alternative fuel sources

Today the King of Avalon managed to buy a bottle of gas for the stove after running out over the weekend. He was one of the last customers to be so lucky, and this was the last supplier in the whole of East London to still have gas. Stutt has none. Apparently there is a gas shortage and the suppliers don't know when to expect stock. Yesterday I had to be rather resourceful at meal times as both gas and electiricity were low but it also got me thinking about self-sufficiency again.Why not consider a wood stove (Aga) and geaser (Donkie) as a viable solution? Problem is where would one find them and at what price? Why aren't clever young (green) entrepreneurs making new ones? Also started considering the sustainability of our "wood source". Right now it would be the millions of unwanted, invading Black Wattle in the commonage across the road, but just how long would they be considered "invaders" and "unwanted" if they became a major fuel source? Suddenly the fact that they grow so easily, mature so quickly and even add nitrogen to the soil wasn't such a bad thing after all. Who knows in a year or two we might be farming Black Wattle in the paddock totally unaffected by the gas and electricity crisis (how does one spell the plural?) of the world!?

Quotes that made me sit up and listen...

Last week on holiday I heard these two quotes. The one was on TV (something we don't have at home) and the other on the radio and I think they are both profound.

The one went something like this: I don't feel that I'm in ...'s (insert famous TV personality's name) shadow, I bask in his/her light. You know what if you are comfortable with who you are other people's light reflects off you in a good way. You will always meet someone that is skinnier than you, prettier than you, richer than you - if you are happy with you, then all of that doesn't matter". How true?! This is something I want to impart to the young Princes: Be happy with you.

Bloom where you are planted

The other was during an interview with a past Idols winner. A very genuine, likable guy that I'm glad I had the privilege to see perform live in concert. The interview was closed with these words by the presenter: "You sir, are a gentleman". Aren't those some of the most awesome words a stranger could ever say to a young man? What a well deserved compliment.

So, I leave you with two questions: What something makes someone a gentleman (or lady), so much so that a stranger picks up on it and feels compelled to comment? And, are you happy with you?

The sun is shining!

It's another glorious day! The sun is shining and it's warm (below 20 degrees but above 15!) We returned home from holiday to a cold front and forescast of snow (and I'm sorry I just can't stick my hands into cold soil) but yesterday and today are just wonderful. I've walked around inspecting the garden and I can tell Spring is in the air. Flower buds are forming everywhere and my yellow Clivia that my Dad gave me has just produced it's first flower (after two years I think).

Yesterday I pulled back the shade cloth over the Veggie Patch and weeded. The little seedlings have done really well and are looking so promising and beautiful! I also planted out some Impatients that I bought for a whole R5 per pot while away, hope they are happy  ;-) I can't wait to get veggie seeds planted but I know I must wait a little longer. I did however in my search for info on seed saving (I'm going to try not to buy every season) find a great website that has a novel approach to winter sowing, go have a look at www.wintersown.org (lots of great info!). Hardy seedlings are started outdoors during Winter using mini-greenhouses made from recyclables; there are no heating devices, no energy wasting light set-ups or expensive seed starting devices. Here they use ziplock baggies:

And talking about greenhouses isn't this just inspiring?

 

These greenhouses are made from plastic colddrink bottles. How green can you go :-) So if you're still drinking cooldrink, start saving those bottles (you need about one thousand!)!  Here is a link to step by step instructions. Hopefully we might have time next winter (and enough bottles!) to tackle a similar project ;-)