Everyone in lockdown is gushing it's Spring - in the southern hemisphere, it starts on September 1. I kinda think it's wierd to think that an arbitary date marks Spring, because a date doesn't tell me it's Spring, though it likes to think it's the authority on such things. Spring, says the bees, is quince blossom,, the nectar in the fresh banksia and purple rosemary. Spring, says the birds, is blue skies and dry twigs for nests, and heralding all the day. Spring, says the flowers, is insect tickles and human sneezes. We have been telling you it's Spring for weeks, the maggies say, strutting across the lawn. Weeks, say the rosellas, flashes of red amongst the wattle.
We've let the rootstock from the plums sprout up and grow, because we have too many plums and we'd rather give more flowers for bees than stress about pruning plum trees we struggle to look after anyway. I have soooo many seedlings coming through in the greenhouse - tomato jungle, here we come! I'm kinda running out of room and need more shelving.
Many of the native grevillea and banksia are coming into flower again - the bees and birds are just loving it. I adore the buttery colour of this grevilla, gifted by a friend who's really into natives. The photo of the purple and pink one isn't mine, but if you know your grevilleas, it's quite an unusual colour! When lockdown is over I hope to go for a tour of his garden in flower - or maybe I'll just sneak over there anyway. I owe him a jar of marmalade in exchange for the horseradish he gave me.
The purple broccoli didn't quite form the heads I would have liked, and I was wondering if any Hive gardeners know the secret to a good head? No, that's not a euphemism, don't be rude.
Lots of fennel this year - it always self seeds which is great. Less work for me! My garden is terribly haphazard on the vegetable gardening front but it works for me! The garlic is going great too. I can't wait to do more garlic fermented honey which is just insanely delicious - try mixing it with a splash of rice vinegar and tamari and a bit of srirarcha and it's the most incredible dressing for a noodle salad. Like, amazingly yummy - I'm freaking out because I'm running out. I also wish I'd planted more, as I wanted to do black garlic as well, but I ran out of space.
I finally put in another couple of beds in the extended garden we made. Jamie dug out the elder tree that was a bit of a pain, using the winch on the Landrover which is super handy for removing trees! I also planted another row of raspberries, used pine needles to mulch the blueberries and strawberries (which have a cover over them now to stop the birds eating them!) and remulched some of the paths. It's a lovely spot to sit in the Spring sunshine with the plum, quince, apple and nectarine blossoms surrounding us. In this photo you'lll also notice artichokes, rhubarb, oregano, blackcurrent bushes, wormwood, and olive trees - oh and mint as well. I think you could take a photo of any part of my garden and there would be all kinds of plants there!
There is so much going on in my garden that I'm going to have to do a couple of posts this week - I can't wait to read all of yours and if I'm slow to comment it's really because I'm in the garden and have so little time! But as you know, I'll get around to ALL of you!
Want to join the #gardenjournal challenge? You'll find it in the Hive Garden community! And if you'd like a personalised footer that features YOUR garden and YOUR HIVE front end of choice, then comment below or shoot me a DM. Small HIVE donations appreciated for my time and efforts! Oh, and if you're into HERB gardens, use the tag #herbalism or #theherbalhive and check out the new herbal community, The Hive Herbal
With Love,
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