The Gardening Blues

I have a confession to make. A few months ago, we found out that at the height of our future vegetable harvest, that we would be moving house. And my first instinct was heartbreak knowing that after months of work and making my garden the way I wanted it, we would be leaving it. I actually cried. 

The vegetable garden that essentially started it all would not be mine soon. Because of this, I made a decision to leave the garden, and focus on my kitchen garden on my patio. I couldn't justify the investment of time and money if I couldn't even reap the harvest. 

But after making this decision, I decided to go ahead and plant the seedlings I had been growing, up in the big garden and also on our patio, and I would still enjoy the big garden while I had it. 

But then again, reality hit me, and slowly but surely, I stopped watering the garden, I stopped weeding it, and I stopped going up there. It became a burden in my mind, knowing that whatever work I put in, I wouldn't benefit from it in the way that I had wanted. The place that was once my paradise and sanctuary became a place that I just couldn't make myself visit. 

Its crazy how much I benefited from gardening in a way I didn't actually know I did. Gardening in my garden became my safe haven and my get away from the craziness of my life, as I'm sure many other gardeners can relate too. And then this garden became something I was ashamed of. I didn't want people to know that the girl who gardens, stopped gardening. And then I felt guilt that I let it happen.

Then I just gave up completely on gardening. Even the garden I walk past everyday on my patio. I just gave up. I couldn't be bothered. My life caught up with me and I got so consumed in the busyness. And then I didn't even think about it anymore. I didn't even feel ashamed or guilty. I just didn't even care.  

But then I came home one day, and I saw it. It was there. Right there. Even though I had left it, and abandoned it. I hadn't watered it or fed it. But it was there. A little, green tomato. On my patio. Somehow, against all the odds. It was there!

And I felt this immense joy and satisfaction because life is so persistent and it goes on. And even though I had given up on my plants, they were still tree and growing! That tiny, green tomato was like a beacon of hope. It reminded me that gardening isn't just about the harvest, it's about the whole journey. It's about taking time to enjoy the garden and it's beauty. 

And now here's where it gets crazy. I went back up to my garden that I hadn't been to in months. It was so far gone and so crazy. Wasps had made a best in the rock wall behind the garden. Tomato plants had fallen over with big tomatoes attached as I hadn't staked them. Lettuces had overgrown. There were dead plants everywhere. And at first I felt a pang of regret that I had let the garden become that way. But then I let it go. I appreciated what the garden had been like and all that I had felt up there. All the hours, all the sweat and occasionally blood. 

I realized that The Cottage Veggie Garden isn't one permanent garden. I'm not leaving it behind when I move house. The Cottage Veggie Garden is an idea. It's a dream. It's wherever I choose to plant, whether that's in pots or in the ground. 

And strangely enough the beauty in the overgrowth of my two gardens has made me want to get back into the garden. And that one small, green tomato, I want to see it become big, red and juicy. 

Cool, green initiatives!

I study retail! How cool is that? I am at uni, learning about shopping! And as someone that loves shopping and loves gardening, when I saw this little snippet in a magazine (Retail) I was so excited!

This is such a cool idea!! I hope that here in New Zealand we can do some things like this! It's so important to get behind these initiatives and really support them so that we can see awesome change take place! 

Gardening is so cool! And used to be such a fundamental part of so many peoples lives! It's a skill that is being lost! But it's awesome to see big influential companies embracing gardening and teach more about it!! Love it!! 

How to grow plants from seed - Part 2

I am a huge believer of growing plants from seed. To me it is so much more rewarding to plant my plants from seed. It truly is so easy! You just need a little patience and a few tips! If you haven't seen it already, check out Part 1 of this guide on how to grow seeds, cos that will help you with the basics! This part of the guide will give you a little bit more detail and tips that aren't essential, but really help out! So lets get into it!

My first trick or tip when growing seeds is to use a propagator, or an equivalent. This creates a micro-climate for the seeds in which to thrive. This micro-climate helps to keep the plant warm, and retain soil moisture. My Dad bought me an electric propagator, so I use this! It makes such a huge difference! I just put it in a sunny place, adjust the vents and turn it off an on when appropriate. If you wanna get super technical (which I don't bother with) you can use a propagator thermometer so as to get the ideal temperature for the plants to grow. But I just turn it on for a few hours in the cold parts of the day!

If you don't have an electric propagator, don't even worry! You can use things like plastic bags, plastic containers, or even plastic soda bottles with the bottoms cut off. These things all help to create essentially mini glass houses. The plastic soda bottles with no bottoms can also be used to help protect the plants when they go out into the big garden. The bottle lid makes it easy when it is out in the garden for you to water the plant too, as you simply unscrew the lid and water the plant! Talk about repurposing (;

Now I'm going to teach you about a little problem you may have encountered if you grow your seedlings inside. Mold. It is not nice. It starts out like little white fluffy spots on the top of the soil, and can spread across the whole top of you soil. It won't really affect your plants, but its preferable to not have this! This mold is caused from either over-watering or from your plants not having enough air circulation around them.

The great news is that it is super easy to get rid of the mold. You have a few options for treating the mold:

• Sprinkle a little bit of cinnamon on top of the soil (it actually does work)
• Place a fan near your plants to increase circulation
• Or, simply remove the layer of mold and make sure you aren't over-watering your seeds

Mold starting to grow on the soil of a seedling

Now that your plants are starting to grow and you know how to get rid of any mold that may start to sprout, here is an ingenious tip that when I got told about this I thought it was brilliant. Its so simple, but makes so much sense!

When you plant your seeds, no doubt you plant a couple of seeds in each little pot, and if you don't, then start doing it!! What will happen when you start growing these seeds, and the plants germinate and start sprouting, you will have a couple of shoots. Once these shoots have sprouted their true leaves (when your seeds sprout, they will start out with two leaves right opposite each other, as the plant starts to grow and develop, other leaves will start to grow which look more like the leaves that the plants end up with - hence the name, true leaves) you are ready to use this trick!

True leaves - sourced from about.com

Grab your scissors, and cut at the base of the stem of any "extra" plants that you have grown. Choose to keep the ones that look like they are doing really well! I know what you're thinking, because I thought this too "what a waste, I will just plant all the shoots". Well by all means, go for it! However, what changed my mind was the justification behind doing this. When you try to separate the shoots, you can actually damage the roots of both plants, as they will no doubt be connected. Its actually better to sacrifice one plant then lose two! Then once the plant is a little more established you can move your plant out to the garden! It is super important to make sure that once the true leaves have started to grow that your plants are being fed and getting enough nutrients! But I'm sure you already could guess that!

How great were these extra tips?! I know that these tips totally changed my seed growing experience! I hope they help you out! Let me know if you have any sneaky tips that I could use when growing seeds! Sharing is caring :D

Composting

Composting the garden is something that all gardeners do at some stage. however, making your own compost is something that many people steer clear of. Not because it is difficult or hard to do, but more that it takes patience and a little bit of a recipe. Composting is such a key part of gardening. It is so cool, and so important to return back to the garden, what has come from the garden. Its kinda like the circle of gardening life! If you need any more convincing about why you should compost then think about things like you're recycling, you're putting back into the earth what your plants have eaten up (nutrients), its free (once you have a container), it is rewarding and the thing that makes me so convinced composting is a good idea, is that you know exactly what is going into your garden! You decide what chemicals are going into your food, and I like to choose no chemicals! So I see composting as a win-win for all parties involved (me, the garden and my family).

Composting the garden is so important! Adding nutrients back into the soil is essential!

So how do you compost?! Well you have probably all seen the classic composting bins. The big, black plastic things? I have one of those! I didn't buy it, but it was just left at our property and had been used as a rubbish bin. Yummy. Not! So I converted this back into a compost bin. You can go out and buy one of these bins to make your compost in, or you can make your own compost bin, simply by creating four waist height walls to make a little box. This can be made out of recycled wood, corrugated iron, or anything else that you can think of that will make your very own compost bin. Just make sure that you will be able to manage the compost, as you will be turning it. Make sure that your compost bin is on bare earth, or straight on soil, as this way, the compost ingredients will be able to break down.

My compost bin!

Now you know what you can compost in, you need to know exactly what you can and CAN'T compost. As often this is what trips some people up.

There are two essential ingredients to compost and you want to balance these 50/50. Green ingredients and brown ingredients. Or nitrogen and carbon. Or kitchen or garden ingredients. Simple? Still kinda confusing huh?

But I'll make it easier to understand, as once you know, its so easy!

Brown ingredients, or kitchen ingredients include things like:

• Fruit and vegetable scraps
• Egg shells
• Coffee grounds
• Tea bags
• Egg cartons
• Shredded toilet paper rolls or cardboard that does not have any ink or dye in them

You can collect these "ingredients" in a bucket with a lid that you keep in your kitchen, until the the bucket is full. The lid is super important as this helps stop the stink. 

Green ingredients, or garden ingredients!

The second part of composting is,

Green ingredients, or garden ingredients and this includes things such as:

• Lawn clippings
• Weeds that haven't flowered
• Any plants that have been thinned out when sown in groups
• Dead leaves
• Wood chips and saw dust from untreated timber
• Seaweed
• Pruned leaves

Other things that can be added, but aren't essential are:

• Manure (cow, horse, sheep, chicken)
• Garden lime (limestone)
• Drier lint (natural fibres preferably)
• Soil

But don't include:

• Meat
• Fish
• Cheese
• Bones
• Dog or cat waste (as there can be worms)

These will attract rats or other nasty things to your compost due to the smell, or won't break down as quickly as the other ingredients.

Unfortunately, composting isn't as simple as chucking everything in a bin and hoping it'll decompose. There are a few tricks that are super easy to learn though, that will ensure your compost works well!

So here are my simple steps to creating your compost:

1. Ensure your compost bin is in the place that you want it to be (a sunny spot, but away from a living area because it may smell a little)

2. If you have any sticks or straw, lay this down first, as it will help with air circulation and drainage.

3. Try to alternate layers of green and brown, or kitchen and garden. As this will help with moisture control. However, if you aren't adding enough to create a "layer", just make sure that you are adding roughly 50/50 of each type of ingredient at each time.

4. Keep the compost moist. Rain will help to do this, but if it doesn't rain, you may want to give it a bit of water. Just keep an eye on the moisture content as you don't want it to get dry.

5. Keep your compost covered. This will help to keep the moisture in, and prevent it from getting too wet. If you have a compost bin like I do, the lid is perfect, however if you have made your own compost bin, using a sheet of roofing iron, or a tarpaulin, or even old carpet would work!

6. The final important tip is turn your compost! This really helps to encourage the compost to break down as it mixes everything together and exposes oxygen to the compost. And oxygen is super important in helping the compost to break down. This only needs to be done every week, but you can turn it more if you would like. Its such a good work out! And sometimes I get my hubby to do it as my arms get too tired! Hehe (:

Turn the compost once a week to expose the ingredients to oxygen

In six to eight weeks you should have a beautiful compost that can be added back into the garden! You might find worms in your compost and this is a good thing! It shows that your compost is nutritious!

Just give composting a go! Please! Once you start you will find it so simple and easy to do! If you have any questions just ask away (:

Happy composting!!!

The Changing Seasons

WOW! How fast does time go! Its already heading towards the end of August. And for me that means its almost Spring! But no matter where you are in the world, you will be preparing your garden for the end of one season, and the beginning of another. Even if you still have a few beauties producing in your garden, chances are it won't be anywhere near as impressive as it was a few weeks ago! So this is the perfect time to give your garden the love that it needs!

For us heading into Spring now is the ideal time to pack your soil full of nutrients so that when it comes time to plant in the ground in a few weeks time, your soil will be bursting with goodness! I pack heaps of organic compost and organic fertilizers into my soil at this time of year, and it can be as simple as that! If you want to read up on it more, here is a great post about how to love your soil. Don't forget to keep on loving your soil! Cos what goes into your soil, goes into your yummy veggies!!

Adding the right things to your soil can make a huge difference!

Another super important thing to get started on at this changing seasons time is getting your seeds started sprouting! No matter where you are, if you are planting from seed, now is the ideal time to get some seeds germinating in a warm place! If you have never grown from seed before, heading into Spring is the perfect time to overcome your fear! For a fuller guide on how to get your seeds started, check out this post I wrote about how to grow seeds! I have my seeds growing in little jiffy pots in a warm place in my house! Its important to make sure that these seeds get enough water and warmth so that they can reach their full potential!

I also like to plan ahead the times when I will sow more seeds, so that over Spring and Summer I can have lots of vegetables growing! I get my slower growing things started first (carrots, pumpkins and chillis), as well as a few fast growing things (lettuces and radishes), and then plan in for more fast growing things later on as well. This helps me to make sure that I will have a steady flow of veggies during the warmer months! Planning out what I am going to plant also helps me to get an idea of how many plants of each variety I should grow, so that there is enough for not just me and my hubby, but also that we could share or sell some of produce!

Planning out seed planting can really help to get your head around growing times

And if you are anything like me (a gardening obsessive compulsive) you will have so many seed packets that you almost don't know what to do with them all! Well I have a simple solution! Organize them! I did this the other day again, as I keep adding more seeds to my collection as I see new and exciting vegetables I want to grow (Wow! Gone are the days as a kid where I used to think veggies were boring!). I laid out all my seeds (this made me super excited) and then alphabetized them! You can organize them however you like though! Whether its season, vegetable family or colour, growing time, I don't know! Whatever makes your life easier! And then I put them into my seed album (which secretly is just an old photo album that never ended up being used for photos!). But seed boxes work also! Just so long as you have a safe, dry place for storing your seeds! Is it weird that I am super excited for more of my seeds to arrive in the mail this week so that I can not only plant but also organize too?? Probably! But hey! Whatever makes you happy right?!

Organizing seed packets helps to make sure you don't lose or miss out on any potential veggies!

The changing of seasons is always exciting as it means you have new things to look forward to! Just make sure that it doesn't just creep up on you, but that you are super prepared and waiting for it! 

HAPPY GARDENING!

Preserving Carrots and Parsnips for ROASTING

 I love carrots!! They are a simply wonderful vegetable that can often test your patience, but they are so worth it! Its hard growing something that you can't look at and see its progress, and so when one carrot is ready, I get so excited and pick them all. (If you wanna know more about growing carrots, check out my previous post about carrots!) This week, I picked some carrots that I had (sorta) forgotten about and some parsnips I had definitely forgotten about! It was so exciting!! See!! Look at me with some of my babies!

They were huge and such random shapes! But because I picked all these carrots and a few parsnips, I had to do something with them. What you might know if you have had a few garden harvests, is that generally home picked vegetables don't stay fresh as long as supermarket vegetables. So within a few days, the veggies would go bendy and floppy. Sad face!

My carrots with a 30cm ruler

And I love roasts. Roast chicken, roast pork, roast lamb, roast beef. YUM! But the best thing is not just the meat, but the vegetables! Oh my gosh! Roast potato, roast carrot, parsnip and onion! YUM! So instead of just boiling the carrots and then eating them straight away, or steaming them, putting them in fried rice, I DON'T KNOW! Whatever you want! I decided that I would save my carrots for a roasting day. Hehe. Get it! So here is how to preserve your carrots and parsnips for future roasting! GENIUS! If I do say so myself :D

To begin, wash your carrots and parsnips really well. They tend to be more gnarly than shop bought carrots, so lots of dirt gets trapped. Then peel them and wash them well again to remove the last of the dirt. After they are peeled, cut off any long bits that are super thin, as these will cook a lot faster than the rest. You won't want to use these bits but save them for something else like stock or soup!

Bring a medium sized pot of water to the boil. And salt well. While you are waiting for the water to boil cut the carrots and parsnips into even sized pieces so that the cooking time is the same for the different pieces. One the water has boiled, put a few at a time (I did like 5 or 6 at a time) in the pot. Allow them to cook for 4 or 5 minutes.

After cooking, immediately remove the carrots and run under cold water, or place in an ice water bath. Either way is fine. This is just to stop the cooking process, as even when the carrot is out of the water, it would continue to cook.

Continue the process with the remaining carrot and parsnip until all the veggies are cooked and cooled. Then you need to thoroughly dry the vegetables and place on a baking sheet with baking paper or parchment paper down. Make sure that none of the veggies are touching. Transfer this tray to the freezer for a couple of hours, or until the vegetables have started to freeze. They can then be moved to a plastic ziplock bag, or a plastic container, and stored in the freezer until you are ready to use them. 

When you are ready to roast, it is so easy! Just preheat your oven to 190C or 380F, and then put as many carrots or parsnips on a tray as you like. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for around 30 - 45 minutes, or until the carrots are golden and heated through. They can be cooked with other veggies too, if you are roasting heaps of veggies together.

Also, if you don't want to roast your veggies, steaming them works perfectly well too! Just get your steamer ready and pop them in the steamer for about 5 - 7 minutes or until they are soft and well heated through! And an added bonus, they can be easily microwaved! Just place them in a microwave proof dish, cover with a paper towel and microwave in 30 second intervals until the veggies are steamed and heated through.

Homemade carrots are so sweet and tasty! What better way to savor them, than to preserve them for roasting at a later date! I hope you enjoy your delicious carrots!

Butternut Squash Soup

During the summer, in my garden I grew squash! This was such a rewarding planting experience, as I planted my squash producing beauty from seed, and then ended up with multiple beautiful, golden butternut squash! If you love butternut squash or pumpkins, then look at my post on how to grow squash and pumpkins! As with all things that are grown in your garden, you do often end up with A LOT of produce. So here is one simple and easy way to enjoy your butternut squash! Even if you have bought it :D

Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 butternut squash

- Vegetable oil

- 1 Tbsp dried rosemary

-2 Tbsp white sugar

-2 Tbsp white vinegar

-1 onion, diced

-1 carrot, diced

-2 celery stalks, diced

-1 cinnamon stick

-Salt

-Black pepper

-4 cups of chicken stock

Method:

1. To begin, get your squash and a big, sharp knife that you can use to cut through the hard skin of the squash. Also, preheat your oven to 400F or 190C.

2. Cut your your squash in half across the squash. This isn't normal practice, but it makes it a lot easier to handle the squash. Cut these pieces in half so that you have four pieces of squash.

3. Scoop the seeds and pulp out of the bottom quarters of the squash. This is really easy to do with a spoon! 

4. Once you have done this, carefully remove the skin from the squash. I found that using a knife and cutting the skin off, down towards the chopping board, was much easier than using a vegetable peeler. But you do whatever works well for you!

4. Cut these four pieces of squash into inch sized cubes (you will have some strange triangle shapes, but don't worry! The size is only important so that the squash has an even cooking time.

5. Drizzle the squash with about 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil, or just enough to get a light coating over all the squash.

6. Sprinkle the squash with the dried rosemary, sugar and vinegar. Then crack fresh black pepper and salt over the squash. Not too much, but enough to season well.

7. Get in there with your hands and mix it all up! This helps to ensure that every piece of squash is going to be full of flavor! Then put the squash in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until golden and caramelized. Turn the squash about half way through the cooking time.

8. Peel the carrot and onion, and dice into centimeter pieces. Wash the celery and cut into the same size pieces. I used the celery leaves as well because I didn't wanna waste them! But you can leave them out if you want.

9. Put 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil into a large saucepan, and heat over medium heat. Put the diced onion, celery and carrot into the saucepan along with the celery stick.

10. You don't want to brown the vegetables, but rather sauté them until the onion is softened.

11. Once the vegetables are softened, add the roasted squash to the pan, and cover with the chicken stock.

12. Bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. This is only so that everything can get heated through!

13. Take the soup of the heat, remove the cinnamon stick and then blend up. If using a stick blender, go and do it straight away! But if you have a food processor, wait for the soup to cool for about 20 minutes.

14. Return to the saucepan and heat up again. Until it starts to bubble slightly.

15. Taste and season well. Serve straight away, or transfer to containers than you can put in the freezer for up to three months, or even in the fridge for up to three days. If soup is frozen, in order to reheat, just remove from the freezer and defrost in the microwave and heat up, or put into a saucepan to defrost and reheat. Super easy!

And enjoy!!! This soup will become a family favorite with its warm, sweet flavors and smooth, creamy texture!! Yum yum yum!!