A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my efforts to get my vegetable garden off the ground, so to speak. Well, it’s now been about three weeks, and the stuff is growing like mad. Now the challenge for this first-timer is to refine the product, make up for a number of greenhorn errors and produce some serious stuff for my kitchen.
Looking back it was (serious cliché here) a labour of love. I went to the local Builders Express and doshed out some hard cash on river sand, compost, cheapo metal gates to keep the hounds out and loads of seedlings. Then it was off home to dig out my patch. First mistake, sand/soil to compost ratio was well off target. Off to the local builders to buy some river sand. Then, back in the patch and more digging, tossing, mixing until I had enough of the dirty stuff and I felt ready to plant.
With an aching back I called it off and left it for the next day to plant my veggie garden (planning stage 10 years, implementation two days). The planting stage was a couple of hours . . . easy peasy, I thought, what a breeze! Any fool can do this! Mistake number two.
Shift ahead two weeks and my folly becomes immediately apparent. Too many plants, planted too close together, now I either have to expand (eish, my back’s not keen), or replant in the flower beds (not a lekker option). At the moment, I still haven’t decided what to do, it’s pushing three weeks and space has become as sought after as a ticket to the Springboks/All Blacks at the Shark Tank in July. I think I’ll procrastinate a moment longer.
The third stuff-up, there’s grass forcing it’s way though the soil all over the show. I seem to have missed one vital step in the process . . . mulching. Yip, lots of experts recommend inserting three or four sheets of newspaper as a mulch to prevent those pesky weeds sneaking through.
With the recent onset of spring rains the grass has gone bananas. But I suppose this is half the fun. It’s a right of passage of sorts, learning to grow stuff the hard way, getting my fingers dirty and then making sure I don’t make the same mistakes again. One area in which I’ve excelled, I reckon, is the quality of the soil. Any plonker could grow stuff in this dirt.
Still, getting darned tired off pulling out those little spikes of grass . . . reminds me of Kobus Wiese on match day. – Garth Johnstone
2 Comments
I’ve just recently started my veggie “garden” – I’m growing tomatoes and chillies in a large pot, and have plans to buy more pots and grow carrots, peas, lettuce, peppers, and maybe even some herbs!
I’ll take some pics once they’ve grown!
Yes! Let’s go green. Challenge your friends, tell them to challenge their friends. Best picture gets a prize!