August in the Garden

Obviously this was intended to be posted earlier....darn life getting in the way of my hobbies!
We appear to have recovered from the great spider mite infestation of 2013. My poor old sugar snap peas never stood a chance. Anyway, lesson learnt - gardens require ongoing maintenance.

Way back in June we had three above ground garden beds built for us. They were constructed from left over bits of Colour Bond fence and we were lucky enough to get them at "mates rates". This weekend we had another mate come around and help us top them up with  the most deliciously dung filled, steaming organic soil I have ever encountered. Naturally, as we were filling the beds up, our dogs assumed Christmas had come early and took very little time jumping inside and rolling around in all that manurey goodness.

We are letting the beds sit for the week to settle and then the real fun will begin. I am feeling pretty darn proud of all of this. Considering back in December when we first moved in and decided we would have a go at gardening we never really thought we would get the the stage where we actually had garden beds just waiting to be filled with plants. We were always going to start off with just a few pots of basil, parsley and some cherry tomatoes. Over the past few months we have tried (and sometimes failed!) to do a few more bits and pieces and we have learnt quite a lot. Really, for me that's what it has always been about - learning how to do garden stuff!

The part that makes me happiest is that for the past month I have been able to go down to my garden any day of the week and get something for lunch or dinner. I made an entire tabouleh main dish for dinner last week with my own parsley. I made a pesto pasta meal for 3 with my own basil.

This week I saw punnets of cherry tomatoes for $11.92kg - I have half a kilo sitting on my bench. Now I am aware that these cannot be considered "free meals" as I had to pay for the plants, the soil, the pots they grow in, the water and seaweed fertiliser I feed them. Over time the financial benefits of having my own garden will all balance out but at the moment I am reaping the chemical free benefits. These gorgeous little plants are loaded with sweet, juicy flavour. I have never been the type of person to enjoy tomato (or parsley for that matter) but I can easily pop any of these things in my mouth and a smile.