Edible ideas...
Aha! My edible gardening daughter requires me to have a pumpkin patch. Do I have anywhere suitable in my garden? Instant action - I cleared a large sunny area in the Hump Garden. Have only ever grown pumpkins by accident before (out of the compost).
Garden Area for Pumpkins
I've left a lot of Alkanet roots behind, but these will resprout for the bees in late summer. Hopefully they will not overwhelm the growing pumpkins. Alkanet is a bit of a plant bully. The Hump Garden area gets well irrigated, and the soil has been well enriched with organic matter. Perfect for pumpkins.
Furthering the theme of edibility (is that even a word?) I cleared forget-me-nots from another strip of soil and planted the last of my seed potatoes. The forget-me-nots just get thrown back onto the garden as mulch - weedy mulch, I guess!
Buster by the Obelisk
Then I went over to the glasshouse to say hello to (and water) the lettuce seedlings. Promised the beans I would plant them around the obelisk next weekend. This morning I am driving across town to get the pumpkin seedlings. This is very exciting, hee hee.
Later...
OK. I'm back with pumpkin and courgette plants, and some Roma tomato seedlings. I've just spent an hour and a half barrowing horse manure into the pumpkin patch area. Don't know why does this takes me so long. Am inside for a wee drink and a short break.
My car is full of potting mix (in bags, don't worry). My head is full of plans to produce, clear, spread, and plant. And water absolutely everything, as well as read my book sitting by the pond. What a pity I can't do all of this at once!
No visualisation, please...
Reminder to self. Never, ever attempt to visualise a finished garden task until it is actually finished. Then there is no anguish, no disappointment - and, obviously, no need for visualisation...
Spent the last hour potting up tomato seedlings (have put these behind the glass-house) and lettuce seedlings - these are now on the patio. Please, no late frosts.
Tuesday 20th October
Aargh! Late yesterday I saw an area of the Hump which needed a lot of robust weeding. So that's my morning's work already planned (results not visualised). Again, there's Alkanet to dig out, but don't worry, honey bees - there's lots more to leave behind for you.
Lunchtime
I've worked solidly all morning for three hours, no breaks, just serious weeding and planting. Here's what I've done. I have :
- Spread more horse manure and planted pumpkins and courgettes.
- Weeded more of the Hump path, dug out more Alkanet.
- Watered more of the roses in the Hump.
- Planted Cornflowers and Orlaya in the patio garden, put pelargoniums in pots.
Now all I need to do is finish weeding underneath the obelisk, plant my sweet pea seedlings there, keep on shifting the hoses, and keep on clearing the paths. Pumpkin details : the Ironbarks are near the obelisk, the Austrians (Hulless) are near the Shiraz Maple tree (whose leaves are a brilliant silly pink).
Shiraz Maple
Much, much later... oh boy! A big day out in my big garden, which looked bigger and weedier as the day wore on. I'm OK with that, though. I've sorted out the main path in the Hump, spread all the horse manure, planted Heuchera, watered, and watered, and then watered some more. And now I'm off to shift my little hoses again - they've been running for eight hours now.
Watering in the Hump Garden
I feel very proud. I have clear paths, happy roses, and hopefully happy pumpkins. My garden is going to be watered by the big irrigation later tonight. Yeay!