Footprint 35: One of the thieves

I finally managed to get a picture of one of the thieves.  The pigeons who come into my bedroom to help themselves to dog biscuits are becoming quite tame.  They no longer leave when I go into my room, which is amusing, but a bit disturbing:

Pigeon perched on bedroom door

I am starting to wonder at what point I am going to have to move out to make way for them :)

Footprint 34: Experiments

Nowhere can I find anyone in South Africa who is growing shallots.  Shallots are onions which grow like garlic.  In other words, they are a group of bulbs produced by the same plant, rather than a root.  Their flavour is more subtle than root onion, more delicate, more like a spring onion.  Shallots are highly prized in Europe.  Thanks to a very kind friend of mine, who got export permission for the bulbs, I now have some shallots growing in a tub in my back garden and they are sprouting!

two shallot sprouts

The bulbs that I have planted to date have been most interesting.  The veggies that are growing from seed are very fragile.  The bulbs, when they sprout are vigorous from the time they emerge from the soil.

What I am learning about gardening, is how very important it is to observe.  Each type of plant has its own idiosyncrasies, growth rates, site preferences, soil preferences.  A classic example of this is the carrots that I have planted.  Almost my first planting more than two months ago were carrots.  Those that I planted first, into good quality, well composted soil, in pots that were only just deep enough, have grown very, very slowly.  Carrots that I planted about a month ago, in poorer soil, in a much larger and deeper pot, and in a less sunny position, have leapt forward, and are now larger than their older peers:

Carrots in large planter

The difference is a small one, the lesson learnt quite large.  I now know better to pay careful attention to advice on each crop type.

Footprint 33: Painting the Square Foot Gardens: Waterproofing 101

Yesterday was sunny.  So I put on the first coat of bitumen:  

Boxes with first bitumen coat

 I am using a bitumen that is used for koi ponds, and which cannot poison the plants growing in the boxes.  There is a 2 - 3 hour delay between this coat and the next coat.  Today it is raining, so coat 2 will have to wait for better weather.  At least with the first coat, the wood will have some protection from the rain.

Footprint 32: Wwoofing

Today is wet and rainy.  So today is a research day.  I am very excited.  I have joined WWOOF [World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms].  You can find my profile on World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms  Thanks, Dani... I joined :).

If I had not begun my journey into growing food, gardening, organic gardening, permaculture, I would not have been introduced to this organisation, which may just prove to be one of the most exciting things that I have ever done.

However, it remains baby steps.  One day at a time, one step at a time.  Each day brings new insights, new ideas, new growth, both in me, in my tiny garden, and in my ability to make a contribution.

It is true.  God cannot hand one anything new until one has let go of what one is holding.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  Having lived the corporate life for so many, many years, and having experienced all the fear that locks one into what one knows, I have finally take that big step, and let go of what I have clutched for so long.  And now, life is pouring in new experiences and new opportunities.  Without letting go, I could not possibly know, through experience, the incredible wonders, and options, which life so abundantly offers.

Footprint 31: Painting the square foot gardens: Primer

Here are the tools that I will be using for painting the square foot gardens:

Tools for painting

In no particular order, above are: 

a)  A tin for mixing bitumen and water for primer;

b)  Bitumen;

c)  Paint;

d)  Membrane;

e)  Brush soaking in water;

f)  Watering can for water.

Nothing happens without water.  The first coat is a 1/2 mixture of bitumen and water.  This is to get the bitumen to soak into the wood.  Here are the boxes painted with primer:

Boxes coated with primer

This is going to be a slow process.  The primer needs to dry for upwards of three hours.  Subsequent coats need longer.  I will give the drying times as I post each coat.

There were some casualties along the way:

Shorts with primer splatter

One of my favourite pairs of shorts for the beach are now re-assigned to painting and home shorts.  I very much doubt that those stains are going to come out.

Paint bespattered feet

Hopefully these will come right with a long, well-deserved soak in a nice hot bath, with loads of bubbly stuff, with the bubbly stuff being shop bought gifts from family.

Footprint 30: More plot clearing

Once the boxes were complete, Comfort and Alex 'trimmed' the brazilian pepper so that it no longer interferes with the overhead electrical cabling:

Here is what the pepper looks like now

Trimmed pepper tree

I thought I had a problem last weekend with the syringa that had to be removed.  I think I have a bigger task now:

Pepper trimmings

This is going to be a long task.  The greenery needs to be removed for inclusion in the compost heap.  The smaller branches need to be cut into tiny pieces for compost and mulch.  The larger wood pieces that cannot be reduced with a secateur will need to be lugged to the municipal dump.  I figure there are more than 10 trips in that pile!

Footprint 29: Building the square foot gardens

Today was an exciting day.  A lot of preparation has gone into this.  We are building two gardens.  We started by fitting the pieces together to make sure that everything fitted correctly:

Pieces loosely put together to ensure fitting

This was follows by screwing the pieces together:

Screwing the pieces together

Here is a close-up of one of the corners:

A corner join

 Note that the inner piece is longer than the two outer sides.  This is so that things can be attached to the box.  Things that might be attached include frames for staking, net for climbing, shade cloth, wind protection fabrics.

Here is a picture of the inside of the box where the soil will ultimate be placed:

Completed box except for drainage holes

Drainage holes in the base of the box

Once the boxes were complete, we transferred them to the sunniest part of the garden, which happens to be my front lawn.  I figure it is a worthy sacrifice.  Besides, the lawn needs to be completely re-established anyway, so should I want lawn back in due course, I will start it again:

Boxes on front lawn

The boxes are currently upside down in preparation for painting.  They are extremely heavy, largely owing to the shutterply base.  I may have to rethink bases if I build more boxes in future.  It is not possible for one person to carry one box.  It takes at least two people, preferably nice strong men.

It occurred to me quite late, that it would be a good idea to put primer onto the boxes in case it rains tomorrow.  So there was this crazy lady, already decked out for bed, painting boxes in the dark.  And it is jolly cold too.  There is an icy wind swirling around.  My poor neighbours must wonder whether alzheimer's has set in.  If it is not raining tomorrow, then I will complete the primer, then add the first coat of bitumen and onwards from then.  I will blog progress on this so that anyone who may be interested in building their own boxes know what needs to be done.

Footprint 28: Progress!

There has been progress with other plants in the garden.

Seven garlic plants which have germinated

The six ginger plants in their lowly dwelling

 The leaves of the ginger look a little tatty.  I understand that this is normal.  And after all, it is not the leaves that I am interested in.  It is all that yummy ginger root which is secretly swelling under the soil.  It is almost time to move the ginger into the garage.  It goes dormant in winter.  I live in a winter rainfall region, and do not want the plants to become waterlogged.  Although I must admit, with the sever shortage of rain over the last few months, there seems to be minimal chance of that happening for the next few weeks.

The lettuce which is looking so lush

And the ever growing compost heap:

Compost, layered with brown and green

And my indoor windowsill:

Pumpkin, sunflower and rocket

 I am not convinced that I will do sprouts this way again.  They take as long as any other plant to germinate and grow.  The limited space in which they have seems to stunt their growth.  It was worth the experiment anyway.  I might try again, this time adding nutrient to the environment and see whether that makes a difference.  The pumpkin seeds on the left in the front don't seem to mind the fact that there is no nutrient besides water.  They are quite bitter to eat.

Basil

The basil fascinates me.  I place water in the trays at the bottom at least twice a day.  Whenever I look again the trays are empty.  Both plants grow at a faster rate than I can consume them.  I have taken to making a bottle of marinade which I use often, and keep adding basil.  It ensures that the marinade remains constantly fresh.  Other additives to the marinade are the basic olive oil and vinegar [whatever is at hand], chutney [Mrs Balls at the moment, until the apple chutney is ready], a small addition of honey, some mustard, loads of garlic and the basil.  One can, of course, add anything else that takes one's fancy.  I don't add salt or pepper.  I add this separately, depending on what I am cooking, and how much salt and pepper I feel like at the time.

I am waiting for the shallots to sprout.  I so hope they do.  The garlic was slow to sprout, so I am hoping that all that is required for the shallots is patience.

Footprint 27: Some new additions to the garden

Over the past few days, I have been acquiring additional plants for the garden:

Strawberry

A strawberry plant is a bit like 'Hen and Chicken'.  The mother plant grows long tendrils which develop new strawberry plants.  The above is one mother plant with lots of babies.  I figure I am going to have to leave it like this until the babies root.  Then I will move the mother plant to a better looking container and hopefully more tendrils with more new plants will develop.

Chocolate mint

 Now this is an interesting mint.  It smells just like peppermint crisp!  It is waiting in a pot outside my back door in a place which is part shade and part sun.  Mints need to be potted as in the right environment they grow like weeds, and can become a nuisance.

Perennial basil and comfrey

Behind the perennial basil is some lemon grass.  These are waiting to be planted this weekend.

Footprint 26: Staking

The wind howled today.  This must be a gardener's worst nightmare.  One can do something about too little water, and one can do something about poor soil.  It is much harder, without building protection, to do something about the wind.  The peas and beans are getting bigger, and I noticed that the stems were starting to move enough in the wind to make a hollow around the stem in the soil.  So it was time to stake the plants:

Staking beans and peas

I bought long and medium bamboo stakes at the nursery - long for the beans, and medium for the peas.  I then used cable ties to attach the plant to the stake:

Staked bean

Why cable ties?  So few people are actively interested in their gardens today, that plant ties are very expensive.  So many people have computers today, that cable ties are very cheap.  It is about supply and demand.  In essence plant ties and cable ties do the same job.  One has to use a bit of lateral thinking if one wants to find reasonably priced items that work, even if they are out of context.

Staked Pea

I am intrigued to see whether the pea's natural climbing supports find the stake by themselves, or if I am going to have to guide them.  I will leave them for a few days and see.

Next time I do this, I will place the stakes sooner.  I have read that placing the stake later can damage the roots. 

Footprint 25: The start of the square foot gardens

The wood was delivered today, well part of it.  Some of it needs to be collected in the next few days.  What am I using to build each square foot garden?

a)  4 pieces of 22x220x1.2m planks for the sides of the box

b)  1 piece of 1220x1220 shutterply for the base of the box

c)  4 pices of 32x32x300 planks for the corners of the box

d)  however many decking screws required - they come in bags of 50.

I bought enough for two gardens.  The next activities are as follows:

a) Mark the positions for screws

b) Drill the holes, both for the screws and for drainage

c) Screw the screws

d) Paint with an undercoat 

e) Cover with a membrane

f)  Second coat the undercoat

g) Paint with an attractive top coat

h) Let the boxes dry and air for a while

i)  Position the demarcation lines to divide the box into 30cm sections

i)  Line the boxes with Landscaping Frabric

j)  Fill the boxes with Mel's mix

k) Plant the seeds

These will be my activities for the next few weeks.  I figure it is going to be fun.  Hope you join me by following the progress.

Footprint 24: My haven

My back garden is not only an experimental veggie patch.  It is a very safe space.  With the trees and tall shrubs all around the border of the property, I have complete privacy here:

My haven

In the corner are some pots, one of which has pretty plants in it, and one with the first garlic plantings.  Between them is my milk crate with ginger in it.  There are now SIX ginger plants.  It is clearly happy in its home.

Corner Tree

Above is a picture of a very pretty tree which is growing in a corner in the back garden.  I really must find out what it is.  The large florets which are made up of literally thousands of tiny flowers are a major attraction for bees.  The tree provides cool shade for both the rooms behind it.

Footprint 23: The hadeda

With the burgeoning 'farming' activity in and around my property, I am starting to acquire some more interesting wild life.  I have already shared some of the adventures with caterpillars and a rat.  I have also noted the increased butterfly and bee life.  A new, and rather interesting friend is a hadeda.

Hadeda

This fellow is by no means shy.  When I am at home, I feed my dog in my bedroom with the door leading into my back garden open.  The pigeons, and now the hadeda, have taken to wandering into my bedroom to help themselves to Bolle's dog biscuits.  There is nothing quite like a rather large hadeda poop on one's carpet.

Footprint 22: Dumping garden refuse

We are quite fortunate in having a municipal dump for garden refuse about 10 kms away.  Having said that, I realised how little my old way of life supports my new way of life.  I have a small, zippy, economical corsa which works extremely well for commuting in and around the suburbs and to and from an office work environment.  

It is not the perfect solution for removing heaps and heaps of garden refuse.  So here is what I came up with:

A bucket, a bag and a wood pile

All of the garden refuse for removal is syringa, which, incidentally, is in full berry season.  Millions and millions of sticky berries.  So, into the bag went the smaller branches laden with berry bunches, and into the bucket went loads of berry bunches.  The bigger branches remained loose.  The bucket and bag went onto the back seat of the car, and the branches into the boot.  This is going to take at least ten trips.  Fortunately the trips are on a very exciting piece of road with loads of good places to get fresh produce, baked goodies and gardening things.

At the dump

Here is what returned with me after dumping the refuse:

Two bags of hay, a box of discarded lettuce leavings, naartjies

There really is no point in having a compost heap with very little in it.  On my way home, I stopped off at a farm shop and bought the two bags of hay.  The lettuce leavings were picked up at the fresh produce shop, along with the bag of naartjies.  It is now citrus season in South Africa, and naartjies are a hallmark of the winter in South Africa.  At R5 a bag, I figure one can't go too wrong.  

The lettuce leavings went into the worm farm and into the compost.  Half a bag of hay also made it into the compost heap.

Well fed worm farm

The growing compost heap

Footprint 21: My first vertical garden

I have a small garden.  One of my plans to 'acquire' additional space is to build vertical gardens.  Here is my first one:

On the wall, at the start of the corridor

Rain gutters ready for planting

I purchased three metres of square roof guttering, cut into two 1.5 metre pieces, four gutter ends and four brackets to hold the gutters.  These have been 'hung' on the wall.  They are not very deep, and can therefore only be used for plants with short rooting systems.  I am going to fill them with Mel's mix [see Square Foot Gardening], and then plant baby spinach, violas, strawberries, radishes, marigolds and one or two 'experiments' to see how they do.

Footprint 20: The compost heap

The long-awaited compost heap is now in place in the corridor between my house and that of my neighbour.

The corridor, with the compost heap at the end on the left

The compost heap is a fairly simple construction.  There is a hole about six inches deep which is then surrounded by chicken wire held up with fencing posts.  This is to help stop unwanted intruders, like stray cats, large birds and rats.  What is fascinating is that I had saved up stuff for the heap for several weeks - a bag of hay, compost in a bucket, kelp in a bucket, grass cuttings, and I had all the trimmings from the wild dagga and indigenous violet.  It was barely enough to fill the hole.

Compost in the compost heap

The story of collecting more will be posted in the later post.

Footprint 19: Plot Clearing

This weekend was very busy.  I am starting to expand out of my little experimental patch in my back garden, into the 'big' world of my front garden.  This process started with plot clearing.  We had to do a lot of trimming in the corridor between my house and that of my neighbour.  It is in this corridor that the compost heap, and some larger plants will go.

Here is some of the bush removed from the corridor:

Indigenous violet and wild dagga

These have already been picked over quite extensively for inclusion in the new compost heap, which will be featured in a later blog.  I am still working through the pile at the back, and putting the stripped branches in a pile in the front.  I have my work cut out for me to chop all of this into fine pieces for the compost heap.  And NO, wild dagga is not what you think it is.  Both these bushes are indigenous plants in South Africa, and both are quite legal.

Syringa trimmings

 I have syringa trees running down my driveway on the other side of my plot.  These had started to interfere with the overhead electrical cabling.  So whilst we were plot clearing, these branches were trimmed off.  Because syringa is poisonous, these will not go into the compost heap, but will go to the municipal dump.

Footprint 18: How quickly time passes

I can't believe that more than a week has gone by since I last posted.  Some days are not days for being creative.  Last week was full of them.  When there is a backdrop to one's life which is causing pain and confusion, it is difficult to do more than just turn life over.  Last week was like that.  The vestiges of this particular trauma in my life will soon pass.  It has been very disruptive whilst it has been happening.

Footprint 17: Lazy days

Today, a lovely Sunday.  Weather slightly overcast.  Not in the mood for gardening.  Besides, for the time being, I have planted what I want to plant.  I want to wait a while before planting repeats of what is already planted, thereby spacing the harvest in days to come.  And I eagerly await some very special bulbs from a friend of mine.  The pot is filled, awaiting the arrival of the parcel.

The spring onions are germinating, as are the dill and coriander planted ten days ago.  I have yet to see something of the garlic and nasturtium planted at the same time.  The rest of the veggies are growing.

So I took myself off down to the beach to see what was happening there.

People, dogs and boats - what a beach should be

Buoys being set up for a boat race, with dogs helping

A trek fishing boat, returned from a morning of fishing

Body Boarding

Kayaking

A brown pigeon???

And then home, to find Miss Pig in an interesting position on a cushion.

Miss Piggy

There are a plethora of sofas and chairs around the house, several of which have blanket nests specially for the cats.  But no, she has to perch on top of an upright cushion.  I wonder sometimes what goes on in this little cat's mind.  Miss Pig is not well socialised, so it is a gift to see her on top of something instead of underneath, or in a cupboard, so I have left her on her uncomfortable perch.  She chose it.  She must be happy there.

And Bond, as always, in my face :)