Despite my lack of attention over the last couple of months, I’ve managed to get heaps out of the garden.

This is barley. I’ve since threshed and winnowed it. Yield was a few cups of barley grains, and this was only from a small area. I didn’t grow it intentionally, it just came up from the barley straw I mulched with.

Corn is going strong, except for a couple that lodged in a strong wind. I staked the ones that got damaged, but they won’t yield as well as the others. It will be ready to harvest in a week or two. Most stalks have 2 or 3 cobs.

Peas, these grew from chook feed that the chooks didn’t eat. I shelled lots of dry peas (below) and also had lots fresh in salads. When it gets a bit colder, I’ll cook them up with the barley and make a Indian stew (the proper name being Kitcheri).

The potatoes came out great. I’m planting another crop — it’s a bit late but potatoes are great. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat potatoes from the store again though.

Silverbeet, Fordhook Giant, grew really big, guess that’s why it’s called Giant! I had so much of it I took two big boxes into Gaura Yoga.

I’ve also harvested lots of cabbage, beans and lettuce. Just starting to get a few apple cucumbers and the sunflowers are about to open.

Considering that I’ve only got half the planned area under cultivation and didn’t really give it due attention I think things look promising for next year. Ideally I want to be growing enough to give something to Gaura Yoga regularly.

One of the things that I heard about at the Organic River Festival was Transition Towns (NZ site here). This is a movement to create local energy descent plans in the face of Peak Oil and Global Warming. (or at least that’s my limited understanding of it so far)

Things that got my interest were (1) it takes a rational and holistic view of the many ‘issues’ that generally appear in isolation in the media, such as Peak Oil and Global Warming (2) it takes a positive approach - “so this stuff is happening, what can we do to prepare for it?”

There’s a couple of people in Johnsonville who are quite energetic about it, and it seems something might get off the ground. I’ve been to a couple of meetings and found it refreshing to meet like-minded people in the community. We’re going to have a film night at Johnsonville Community Centre for Thursday March 20th 7 to 9 pm. Come along if you can!

I got a bit caught out with changing seasons this year. Robin became available to paint the house at the beginning of December, so I had a full-on December and January helping with the painting (to keep the costs down) and organising things like scaffold and ladders.

During this time the garden got away on me. Things grow REALLY fast when the weather starts to warm up in December, especially weeds! I’m only just starting to get back on top of it, and it’s nearing the end of February.

Here’s my plan for the year, taking into account my newfound awareness of the seasons.

Autumn

Keep up with the garden

Push forward with my construction projects - perhaps the retaining walls and the sleepout

Winter

Let the garden rest, under cover crops such as peas and barley

Let myself rest! Hibernate, read books, and plan for next year

Spring

Get seedlings ready for a big Labour Weekend plant-out (this year I learned that not much will grow before then because it’s too cold and windy)

Another construction project push - perhaps finishing the sleepout or building a greenhouse

Summer

Full-time keeping up with the garden

Any spare time - have a holiday!

Sounds like a nice plan, but let’s see what happens in reality. If I’d paid more attention to the “gardening calendar” books then I might have been more prepared this year…