What a day!!!!!!!

Woke to clear blue sunny skies and evidence of a night's hard frost. The picture on the left was taken by Na'imah while I was outside I thought the composition was pretty good so I have decided to share it.


Friday is my laundry day and has been for years but I was not about to let this beautiful spring day go to waste in the garden, so I endeavoured to do both.

My week's seed sowing had been completed since Wednesday so I took this opportunity to pot on some young plants that were overwintered in my mini greenhouse. Some were freebies from A4A swaps and others were plants I had sown last summer.



The day was going great I was staying on top of my washing schedule and I was also achieving lots outside while Na'imah enjoyed the outdoor playing in the sandpit, then the electricity board decided to throw a spanner in the works and cut the current!!! Washing definitely stopped, Na'imah at this point had just gone inside to watch a little television which would have bought me fifteen more minutes before I needed to give her lunch allowing me to complete a task I was right in the middle of.

All that went to pot with "mummy I'm hungry and the TV isn't working" being shouted to me from the kitchen door and me not hearing her well coming to said door to be told by my neighbour that the power has been cut. So I tell Na'i I'm coming just let me finish this, I get to finish but of course there is no microwave to use so I have to reheat her lunch on the stove and " no mummy I don't want a sandwich, why is it taking so long mummy? I'm hungry". Finally she got her lunch about half and hour later than she would have wanted it, I'm too fed up to warm any for myself by this point so I have a sandwich, then its get dress to go get Nathifa from schhol......

Roll on three plus hours we are back home from music lessons and the daylight is fading fast, mad rush to tidy scattered toys and get dinner on the fire before we have to crack out the candles, news at seven o'clock on the radio says no power to be expected till after nine at night, Nathifa is upset about something that happen at school, she has also twisted her ankle and said the darkness is getting her down as well.

Dinner is ready mummy gives Na'imah a quick important bits only wash as there is no hot water, we eat and Nathifa and her dad plays a few games of dominoes, I fall to sleep on the couch, Na'imah comes to be nursed to sleep Nathifa goes to brush her teeth, Na'imah falls to sleep the light are back on its 9.30pm, Thifa has a bath and is in bed at 9.45pm record time but is complaining she wishes it was still dark and can't she have a candle to sleep with in her room. Washing has recommenced, yes I know its late but Thifa needs her drama uniform for tomorrow.

Any hoo! just a quick update on the germination progress:

Garlic bulbs which I planted on the 11th of Feb, signs of growth were seen yesterday on inspection.

The lettuce, pak choi, mizuna and the turnips which were sown on the 2nd of March have started germinating as of today.

I thought I would also show you a couple pictures of what is growing in the vege beds and would be ready for harvest soon. On the left is early prple sprouting broccoli and on the right is pak choi and chinese cabbage.



I saw lots of wildlife enjoying the days sun rays first one of them was a young frog swiming in the pond (sorry didn't have my camera with me) and we were also visited by a male and female great spotted woodpecker today, I was lucky to get a picture of the female.

I Declare 2009 Growing Season Open.

Woke up to a clear sunny day with hard frost on the ground, so I had no excuses for not going out into the garden today.

First I cleared the frosted celery from last year to provide an area for the garlic to be planted. The spent plants were thrown into the compost bin, the area was raked over and some blood, fish and bones was added to the soil. Then the garlic cloves were planted all 31 of them, there were some small ones which should not be planted as the resulting bulbs will turn out small but since this is for home use and not for market I figured I would plant all, waste not want not they always say :)

In my wanders around the garden I came across some spring flowers in bloom. They were in containers that the kids use to display their spring flowers in front of their playhouse. So I took the time to top up the pots with more compost and then placed them in their flowering positions.

The last job I did today was emptying the kitchen waste into the prepared bean trench which has a layer of shredded paper in the bottom. The paper is to facilitate moisture retention and the waste is rotting down and adding its nutrients to the soil right where I will be growing my beans and peas.

Well I can certainly declare the 2009 growing season open with the first plantings/ sowing done today.