Cement, Dirt and Chocolate

[kimeros]

The weekend was a hard one for clothes. Assorted clothes were rolled around in dirt, smothered in concrete and smeared with chocolate. I did get a veggie garden, a pole for a privacy screen and beautiful filled chocolate out of it.

My garden obsession is growing. I want to grow every single vegetable that I like (as well as peas and beans because they are pretty). So far I have seeds, seedling and plants for:

• Capsicum
• Tomato
• Eggplant
• Cucumber
• Pumpkin
• Strawberries
• Mint
• Rosemary
• Lemon thyme
• Garlic
• Basil
• Lettuce
• Chives
• Nasturtiums
• Lemons

I really want to add:

• Potato
• Corn
• Zucchini
• Raspberries
• Gooseberries
• Blueberries
• Grapes
• Asparagus
• Rhubarb
• Artichoke

I'm trying to be an organic gardener and work with companion planting and non toxic sprays.  My mint has a fungi infection which apparently shouldn't stop you eating it but does hurt the plant in the long run. After chatting to the garden centre lady and using the Google I have found that the best way to tackle the problem is with a spray of one part trim milk to nine parts water. I'm deeply suspicious of remedies that don't have research behind them so was reassured after reading a research paper on the use on trim milk/water spray on commercial melon growing operations in NZ. We'll see how my lovely Mojito producing Mint survives.

Here is a picture of my pumpkin seedlings. I love the way the seeds sit on top like hats.

• I've keeping an eye out on Trademe for a nice old window to turn into a seedling glasshouse on our front deck.
• I've been watching "At Home with Jamie Oliver". He has a most amazing garden (also a gardener) and I quite enjoy watching/listening to him cook as well. He even cooks at least one or two vegetarian items per show.
• I've also been watching "An edible garden" which is also British and is extremely entertaining. 

I think my worms are happier now. The instructions for my worm garden hadn't mentioned requiring wet paper or carpet over the food which may be why my worms looked a little sad. I've added carpet with a little handle to make food applying easier so hopefully they will breed like crazy soon so they can take most of our kitchen scraps.