Friday, July 27, 2007

In the Garden

DH comes home the other day and says to me "so what are we going to plant next in the way of fruit and vegies because they're saying they're all going up again". Apparently he heard something on the radio about there being a shortage of potatoes due to problems with water allocations at planting time.

I really hate predictions like this. About half the time the dire predictions of things going up in price or supplies running out don't even come to fruition. And the other half of the time they do but worrying about it in the meantime hasn't made a scrap of difference. Perhaps it's to give us time to hurry up and get our own gardens planted. Then again, if they already know there's a problem due to planting, maybe it's too late to plant something just to avoid the price increase.

Most of the time I think I'd rather not know and just deal with any problems that arise as they arise. I am working on growing stuff in the garden and finding it quite a challenge and a large learning curve. So in some ways I don't really need any more pressure trying to make this garden produce any quicker - especially when so far all I've managed to grow (despite numerous attempts) has been lettuces. LOL. Which reminds me, I took this photo a few weeks ago to show you my lettuces (just cos I can lol) but I've been too busy blogging about other things to post it.



So there you have it. Proof that I can actually grow *something* even if it's all I can grow so far. These lettuces are quite significant in a way though. Because I think had I not been successful in at least one thing, I would have given up by now.

Anyway, back to DH's dire predictions conversation. In this instance I think I might have used it to my advantage. You see, we have no problems with space in terms of acreage (you'd hope not living on a farm) but there is a problem with our soil. Around the house area it is very heavy clay soil and not so wonderful for growing things in. We tried to plant an orange tree I was given for my birthday last year but it really didn't like our soil. So we have a bit of work to do before too much planting can happen and a lot of it is stuff that I really need DH to do. So I told him if he wanted me to grow more, he needed to do blah, blah and blah. Fingers crossed this might actually spur him into action (in his defense he is a busy man and has been getting some great around the house type projects done in recent months - it just all takes time).

In the meantime, we'll keep eating lettuce. LOL. Which reminds me, I think it might be time to sow some more lettuce seeds. :-)

8 comments:

Kez said...

Hey good looking lettuce - they look much healthier than mine!

I think predictions like that just cause the price to go up regardless because the retailers think "oh the public already think there'll be a price rise so they won't object when we do it" :)

lightening said...

I so agree Kez - about retailers seeming to put prices up regardless. For a democratic society I can't help but feel like consumers have no rights or voice when it comes to these issues. It's very frustrating!!!

Anonymous said...

Lightening - have you looked into raised bed gardening? That way, you don't have to worry about your soil. I recommend you look up the Square Foot Gardening website for information on how it works. It is what we are going to do. Good luck with the vegie growing!
Madly Saving

lightening said...

Thanks Madly Saving. The raised bed idea is basically what we are doing. I have one bed like that but need DH to get a trailer load of soil/mulch to fill in the other garden bed. So just waiting for that to happen so I can plant a few more things. The biggest problem is planting fruit trees as it will require deeper digging to get the clay out and add whatever we need to add (DH knows what needs to be done - just needs time to do it). I'm keen to get on with planting fruit trees as they take a while to produce.

Went out into the garden this afternoon and another bug is attacking my plants. :-( This time from underneath - ie within the soil. So I'm a tad frustrated with it all at the moment. BUT, did pick some lettuce to go with BBQ tea tonight so that's something at least. LOL.

Anonymous said...

I thought I read somewhere you were doing it that way! I was reading a site the other day recommended by another SSer and they grew their fruit trees in raised beds also - didn't seem to bother to make them any deeper and they were really closely planted too - can't imagine how they would go!? It must be very disappointing with something attacking your vegies all the time!!
MS

lightening said...

Never thought of building raised beds for fruit trees. Will have to discuss it with DH and see what he thinks is better/easier

emma.jean said...

Lettuces look great! You could try strawberries, ours are still alive - no fruit yet. Also you could try my method of planting yukky veg and vegie scraps. I've done this with mine and grown capsicum, potatoes, onion, garlic. Not sure what to do with the garlic, have just been chopping the tops of the onion plants and using them, had a few capsicums and some very small potatoes.

lightening said...

Hi Emma,
Glad your strawberries are going well. I've planted some in our front garden. First lot the chooks got to. Something is chewing this 2nd lot now. Hoping it's the 3 snails I found yesterday morning. Today they're looking no worse so fingers crossed the chewing will stop. I'd really like to have HEAPS of strawberries but not willing to outlay too much cash until I can actually grow a few successfully. Unfortunately I'm not very patient. LOL.

I would love to have stuff just come up but our chooks eat all our scraps at the moment. Can't complain about the eggs they give us in return though can I?