The amount of produce we had from our veg garden this year has been shocking really, and not in a good way.
Every spring we are all excited about the garden, and that this year we will grow most of our veggies ourselves, the biggest range we ever grew, being self-sufficient, and more of that…
We enthusiastically start preparing and planting, only to see everything being swamped out by the weeds!
It doesn’t help that there was no vegetable patch to start with when we moved here. The whole garden was one big meadow that had been flowering its heart out untamed for a number or years.
It took a lot of effort to dig an area for growing. My dad helped a lot with that, it is something he enjoys doing and he does the proper job, removing the roots and all that. In April we are happily planting tomatoes, pumkins, peppers, the garden looked neat and tidy, but then the thunderstorms and rain come and everything just becomes swamped by the weeds that revive out of nowhere with a vigor that is impressive.
We know about permaculture gardening, where the idea is to mulch, mulch mulch to repress the weeds and keep moisture in the soil (also useful in a warm climate). We have 30 strawbales ready to try to battle with the weeds next year, hope it will make a difference.
I guess it also didn’t help that this was another really wet spring and summer. We should normally have hot dry summers here, colouring the hills yellow in the summer months, but the grass stayed lush and green all summer. I love that but the veggies didn’t, the tomatoes got blight and the pumpkins and squashes got mildew. Seems the walnuts also prefer drier weather, the leaves crumpled and browned. Many trees made some new fresh green leaves in august, they have to breathe after all, but it is probably part of the reason why there are only a few walnuts on the trees.
It’s not all bleak, we had cherry tomatoes, mini pumpkins, lots of raspberries and quite a few peppers once they got going.
I guess I can’t get away with blaming it all on the weather… π Maybe I am not such an enthusiastic gardener after all? In spring, winter and autumn I like to spend time in the garden, but once the weather gets hot I don’t enjoy working in the garden that much and this is the time when I should be out there battling with the weeds.
There are also so many other things that I love doing; reading books to Sanna, drawing, painting, embroidery, sewing, looking at plants, butterflies, birds.
And of course we work to make a living, and a lot of that time is spend behind the computer. It may not be realistic to expect to maintain a large veg garden when you are not able or willing to devote a large amount of time to it.
No doubt we’ll try again next year, backed up by heaps and heaps of straw.
How about you? Does your enthusiasm for gardening fizzle out at some point?
Love the tones, the processing, the added child :). Really inspirational images.
Hello Barbara, thank you so much! Our little girl wasn’t a planned part of the shoot :)) She has a keen interest in re-arranging any composition π
These are really wonderful images of autumn, and I especially love the top one with your daughter holding/reaching for the pumpkin! So sweet!
Thank you Beverly π
Just love the entire composition and amalgamation of words, colours, toddler hands and feet, and most of all the free autumn breeze and autumn light it all brings to mind. You can feel and taste it. Autumn is a favourite season for me and this would be my favourite quilt of art! Thank you Helena, you are a wonderful soul!
And about the gardening, so thankful you also share the rough bits in doing it. It makes your piece real. In the end with Love and dedication anything grows, just keep going! π
Thank you so much for your wonderful and poetic words Cathalina xxx
Love your photos … wonderful tones !
This year we have a few pumpkins … and lots of walnuts π
Have a nice week,
Sylvia
Ha, we should swap some Sylvia π Still have walnuts left from last year’s harvest which was really good. Nature is a bit confused right now, a lot of trees are flowering for the second time, like lilac and also some fruit trees with a few blossoms here and there. Strange year!