Plum pies and tomato gravies

My new gardening gloves are now not so clean and white. I dirtied them having a good go at the weeds that have been left to thrive under my deck through the cold of the winter months.

I had to stop when the light became low enough that my imagination started to put wolf spiders in every weed that I touched. Bravely, I was pushing on, saying "You're such a scaredy cat. Just get this one" and then "Stop being so silly. Just get this bit". Eventually though even this gentle coaxing I was providing wasn't enough to keep me going. I stopped with just enough time to transplant my sad looking coriander before dinner.

I loved dinner tonight. It included peas, snow peas and mint from our garden which is very exciting considering I've admitted in my previous post that I have a tendency to kill plants, especially the edible kind. I have to laugh then at how well my parsley and mint are thriving though. I don't count this as due to my gardening skills, but rather my nonskill. I didn't barricade the roots of the mint so it's taking over the garden it's in. And I planted the parsley right in the middle of a garden bed. So it's taking over that one too. I think we can safely call these plants edible weeds.

So, I can grow weeds. And not much else.

But I'm just not giving up yet.

There's something so beautiful and wonderful and satisfying about a flourishing garden. And something even more magnificent when the flourishing plants can feed you. And this spurs me on. I think about the crisp pop you get when you bite down on a cucumber or pea straight from the vine and my mouth waters. I think about the sweetness of the tomatoes that my Pa grows so successfully and the delicious salad sandwiches we all eat as a result. And the tomato and onion gravy my family makes when Pa's tomatoes have gone berserk and there's far too many for us to get through even after having given away buckets of them to the neighbours.

It's really so satisfying to eat something that you've grown yourself. And if you can grow it so well that you have to give it away that feels good too. And if you grow so much of it that even your neighbours won't open the door lest you throw another head of broccoli in their face then all the better.

Unfortunately though, this is just so not me. I don't beat myself up about this too much though. Not many of us are weekend farmers carting our wares off to the markets or selling it in bags from our front porch. There aren't even many suburban households that I've been to that have a vege patch let alone a thriving one. Though most people have a pot of herbs or two.

But still, I am so determined to keep some plants alive. I think all that's happened is that I've killed enough plants to now be wearing a hat emblazoned with 'stubborn' on it. And this is part of the reason I included the daily gardening in my challenge. Being stubborn about it will spur me on. But it helps that I enjoy gardening. I really am a Grandma before my time (am I digging myself an early grave here if I tell you I also like sewing?). I even harbour a dream of making plum pie with my own plums and preserving fruit. In all seriousness, I find gardening strangely cathartic. And I love food. Food can be grown. It just all seems to fit together...

I guess all in all I have managed to have one variety of fruit or vege available to eat at any given stage. Even if it's just a green onion or a few peas, there's been something.

So even if it's only plant at a time, I'm determined to grow some more plants. An ooga booga lady I know said she used to struggle growing all her herbs until she concentrated on one herb at a time. Is this what I have to do? How much time to I devote to each plant? How long do I need to give it before I know it won't die? My chilli's survived for 6 months before they went. This process might take me the rest of my life.

Things I've learnt about gardening:

• Seeds are much more difficult to cultivate and subsequently to keep the plant alive. Amateurs are best served with baby plants (at least until they can keep a couple alive)
• You really need to prepare your soil. Lots of organic matter. If you don't compost (now is the time to start) get yourself some good organic fertiliser from your local nursery or the nursery section of your local hardware store.
• Mulch. In Canberra if you don't have mulch you will have hard soil that loses its nutrients quickly. Mulch also helps reduce evaporation, essential in summer and reduces the effects of frost in winter.
• 5 minutes every day is worth more than 2 hours on the weekend.
• Use the position of the sun and the seasons to place your vege patch. You need some shelter in summer, if you can't get this put some shade cloth over your veges. In winter you need some sun. Running a vege patch along a fenceline on the north side of your property means they won't be getting much sun.
• Invest in good gloves. Cheap ones don't fit well and are uncomfortable. They make the work harder.
• A cyclone weeder is the best invention for the garden ever. Great for removing clover and any other weeds that grow from a central point.
• A grey water hose from your washing machine reduces the pain of the heat on your grass in summer.
• Enjoy it. You're really not going to get anywhere if you aren't enjoying it. Grow things that you love to eat or look at or smell to help overcome this.
• Start small.
• I enjoy it