Well, unfortunately, our day started a wee bit early than expected, at around 1.30 this morning. The shop my hubby is manager of got Ram Raided. After my mum came around, I joined hubby for a couple of hours cleaning up glass. I got home about 4 a.m, and got in 3 hours sleep before the boys started to stir. Hubby got home after lunch, and is now asleep on the couch.

Thankfully, the day has been relatively dry, and Connor and I tackled his garden. It was a great way to keep busy, and focus on other things. A month ago, this space was looking amazingly lush, and then the brassicas started to flower. Since the bees were loving them, we left them in. The Japanese turnips got huge (along with the radishes), and the broad beans have gone nuts. This is the first time we have grown the white flowered ones. The plants are taller than the red variety, and the beans are bigger, but they are not as prolific in terms of flowers and beans (well in my opinion). I think I will stick to the red ones next time. Tomorrow, I begin the broad bean dip making. I just need to grab some lemons from my mum first as we lost our much loved lemon tree last year.

After we cleared the gardens together, and after a quick demonstration on one bed, Connor took over the sole responsibility of mixing in a bit of fertiliser and compost. I showed him how to side dress the remaining plants, which is a new thing for him as normally he starts with a fresh garden. He is usually pretty good at side dressing with sheep pellets, or manure, but this combination was new to him. As we are still about 3-4 weeks from planting out, those plants can remain there for a bit longer.

Instead of putting the garden waste into the compost bin, Connor put some into the chicken coop, and the rest into the paddling pool. We then put a cover over it to speed up the process. We use this space for the kumara. We have been adding the straw and rabbit manure to it over the past few months too. We will let it mulch down a bit, and then turn it over to mix it in with the spent soil from last year. I am doing the same with the bigger grow bags. 

Tomorrow, weather permitting, my youngest and I are intending on tidying up the bromeliads and succulents down our right of way, and around our carport and garage area. Some of the ones that were overgrown on the driveway, have been squashed over the past month with the scaffolding trucks, so it is a bit of an eyesore in places. The driveway is a shared drive, so I am conscious that we aren't the only ones that see it. There is also more weeds growing in these areas than I have ever seen, so I am not expecting it to be a quick job.

While we do that, Connor is going to be helping his grandmother with adding compost to her garden. Unfortunately, she tore a muscle quite badly in our hockey final a week ago, and has had a few complications. His brother is on lawn mowing duty for her on Thursday if the lawn dries out enough. 

Photos: 1st row shows the four smaller gardens and the one larger one as it is now. The middle row was before we started. The bottom row shows the same garden from different angles.