What's going on in my garden in August?
Steemit Community Garden Journal Challenge: August 2018
So here in the southern hemisphere August is all about enriching the garden in preparation for spring planting! Today my family and I borrowed a truck and went to get A LOT of gorgeous compost - I couldn't wait to get started and get my feet stuck into that rich soft soil!
My wonderful husband helped me offload the compost and wheel it to the lawn and beds where I raked it evenly across the lawn and into the beds. Hubby then put a bit extra into the flower beds and vegetable garden beds.
My Potager Garden
This is my little "potager garden" (potager = french word for an ornamental kitchen garden). I decided to make it into a mandala type shape because I believe everything that is functional can also be beautiful. Also, when I wash the dishes I look out to this garden and it makes the chore a tiny bit more pleasant to look at this. This little potager is mainly for herbs and salad vegetables.
This little kitchen garden has sadly been a bit neglected this winter (I go into hibernation mode), and yet it seems to have self-seeded a bit from last season. These tomatoes came up on their own and still seem to be going - ready with lots of little flowers on the plant
Tomato blossoms
A few butter lettuce and broccoli plants have also popped up from last season so it can't have been too neglected
I read in one of my gardening books that planting a light ground cover in the beds significantly help with water retention so my eldest son and I sowed some Dichondra seeds late last month but for some reason they only coming up against the edging - anyone have any idea what we are doing wrong?
Disease?
I'm not sure what is going on with this broccoli plant - I thought it would survive the winter and be yielding broccoli by now but perhaps it was a bit too cold this winter? Any ideas?
Seedlings
One of the grocery stores here in South Africa had a great promotion recently: for every R150 (about $10) you spend, you get a seedling kit which includes a little compressed soil-pod, seeds, a little recycled paper box to plant it in and a little sign to pop into it. The kids loved the activity of planting them and have really enjoyed nurturing them and watching them grow a little more each day.
Kids love getting involved
My youngest just loved the truck with compost today, finding all the big sand clods, loading them in his monster truck and delivering them to the garden.
Gardening has become a regular activity with the kids this month and it's great because it gets them outside, gives them sensory engagement and it's an excellent teamwork activity that builds the bonds of our relationships even stronger!
Thanks @simplymike for this awesome community gardening challenge! I look forward to keeping it up for the rest of the year - it's going to be awesome to watch my garden evolve!
If anyone else is interested in joining this challenge please check out this post: SteemIt Community Garden Journal Challenge 4 - August
Hahahaha! Well when this newbie figures out what she’s doing, she’ll post an education post 😁 Thanks for your support! #teamsouthafrica is an awesome community!
Certainly a wonderful way to encourage teamwork and great to see that you keep your children active outdoors! Blessings! @wildwanderer
Thanks! Ya the little ones need it! I’m so glad the weather is warming up!
Nothing like getting a little dirty in the garden :D
Good luck with all the little seedlings :) And enjoy the delicious veggies when the right time comes.
Thanks we definitely will! I’m so excited for spring!
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Oooooh thank you!
I love to see people jumping onboard with @simplymike's gardening journal :) Loved seeing yours @wildwanderer, especially kids + dirt together :)
Thank you! Kids in the dirt - so good for them!!! I’m actually writing a post about that - should be up soon - so many kids don’t get down and dirty nowadays and it can be bad for their development... thanks again for your comment - I really enjoy interacting!
I grew up on a farm @wildwanderer, so you are preaching to the choir haha
Hahaha! Awesome:D
I believe in this very much
Life is just better when it’s also beautiful <3
Ah, I love dirty feet in the earth. Too cold right now to do that here - boots for me!
It will be spring soon <3 when does it start warming up over there? Victoria is quite far south though hey?
Hi wildwanderer,
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Wow! Thank you so much! That really boosted me!!
The portager garden looks really great, the tomatoes look fresh and healthy. I love the blossoms.
Your kids getting involved must be fun, it always great to see kids interested in these things.
Thank you! I’m excited to make the potager even more beautiful - I’m thinking it needs some edible flowers like nasturtiums and pansies! <3
My boys are still little (3&5) and it’s really special sharing these interests with them <3
Adding edible flowers will be great! Go for it!!
I can only imagine... Special moments like these are what add extra beauty to life. You should enjoy it. Special moments like these are what add extra beauty to life. You should enjoy it.
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