The Garden in August

August has been a quiet month in most domains of my life (except study, surprise, surprise!).

The garden has looked after itself for the most part.

In the Big Garden, garlic has come up where it was planted.

Broccoli is doing really well.

Two small cabbages are forming (they are the only ones that survived this far!).

The past week has seen a flurry of activity in our small garden behind our unit!  A lessening of the study load combined with beautiful sunny weather and some borrowed and new gardening tools all combined for a few productive gardening endeavours.

I found some free mulch, and in my own backyard no less!  Camellia flowers litter the ground every which-where at present.  I just threw them into a pile beside the shed.  It will be interesting to see what happens! 

The roses have been pruned.  Properly.  My mother-in-law will be pleased.  She helped me work out what to do with the long rambly thing against the back wall of the house.  I'd already had a go earlier in the year, but my poor little sectatures were no match for this rose bush!   I had to borrow my dad's long-handled loppers to manage the thick rose branches.  I got a thorn in my finger.  Actually, I think I might have got a few thorns in there!  But the roses sure do look good.  I even weeded them.  Had to.  I'd not have been able to see enough to prune the three miniature ones otherwise! The rose beside the driveway also got a hair cut.  It had one branch taller than me!  And that just from this year.  And I even took some cuttings.  Industrious me.

The potato cage is up!  And the potatoes planted in it first.  They are purple skinned, Maori potatoes.  I grew a couple last year but of course didn't mount, water, or otherwise care for them enough.  We did eat a meal out of them, but I hope to do much better this year.  They are delicious!  The general idea is that by having wire around it (held on by the stakes you see in the photo) I will be able to pile on the mulch and get the potato plants growing really high and therefore producing loads of yummy potaotes without taking up lots of garden space. 

The fork was a gift for my birthday.  It once belonged to my grandfather!  My dad carefully restored and rehandled it, along with a dinky little spade.  Already I love it!  It has long, spikey tines and is nice and light for me to manage.  I just love that it belonged to Pa.  He was a real gardener.  Fruit of all sorts.  Veges all year round.  I feel proud to have been given his fork.  I hope to do it (and him) proud!

The vegetable garden is such a place of beauty.  Every where you look, there it is.  Sometimes blatant.  Sometimes hidden.  Beautiful flowers.  Beautiful forms.  Beautiful food.

What's been happening in your garden this month?

Amy