Little Helpers

Gardener:Northland Backyard Gardener

Date:16 Jun 2024

Blog Type:Vegetables

Listening to the torrential rain outside of house tonight made me stop and think about all the changes that have happened around here over the past year. It also made me go and grab a torch and peer out the window.  No stream (yet). And despite the rain last week, I was actually able to walk on my lawn today and not have water squishing between my toes. My bark in the back gardens has not been washed to one side, and I don't believe the chickens are paddling daily. About a month ago, the neighbour's in front did some drainage work I believe. What a huge difference.

While all that is definitely something to celebrate....my garden is not. My little and often approach doesn't work so well in winter when it is still dark when I get up, and dark not long after I get home. 

Despite lack of daylight hours during the week,  I did actually manage to empty most beds about a month ago and have had corn stalks trenched into beds, with lawn clippings on top. Today, with no camps to pack for, no sports to go to, and washing done from the last camp sorted yesterday,  I did finally get some time in the garden and dug them over. The beds were a deep rich colour. So while ive been absent, nature has done its thing. I've planted three of them out. These are my ones by the neighbour's brick firewall. With some assistance from my youngest, I've  put my little greenhouse back over one, and put four of the little tomatoes I grew last year in there. I will get a few more going in the porch just encase these don't work. I also have a few salad greens in there. I've also put in a full bed of potatoes. In winter, I use my raised beds for potatoes so that they don't become water logged. 

Z also helped put up my cloches in two beds ready for some brassicas to go in. With the garden prepped today, hopefully I can grab 10 mins here and there to plant out a few seedlings, and sow a few rows of seeds. 

I also thought I would share a pic of my two little helpers. The lawn was still damp when hubby let them out this morning. Needless to say, after they joined me in the garden both the dogs and my house needed a good clean.

 

Little Helpers