for the pruning december

balls.

another month and i am about 3 posts down....well, two posts if i stick to my absolute minimum rule of one a fortnight.
still, this is a fast (late) but easy one...
december in the garden can be super busy, or, if you are like me, rather a last minute run around.

if you have been keeping up with your vege planting in the southern hemisphere you should be fine to let things slip a little at this time, as long as you remember to water every evening. (if you are heading away get the lovely next door neighbours kid to water for you. i pay ours $5 a week and as many ripe strawberries as she can pick and we always return to an amazing oasis. our front lawn is a crispy, brownish-gold, but the back yard is a lush green jungle. it takes me a day or two to tie things up and down, and pull the odd weed but its always great to come home to fresh, healthy produce after a week or two away.

so this month (or whats left of it) has in store for you a few things;

thanks to my two week holiday at my good friend tom and janeys wedding in the beautiful rangitieki, fulfilling head bridesmaid duties, (though somewhat sparsely - a sick baby takes the brunt of the blame for that) i have missed the sowing and fertilizing session for this months second quarter of the waxing moon. tomorrow, is the last chance to do this, so make like me and dig in your seed box to get them ready for planting.
i will be planting yet more peas ( i love them all, but i have some pearl-er sugar snaps at the moment which the little is loving for her first course at dinner time) along with some more basil (my last 2 seeding packets have been very un-successful and i have about 5 seedlings surviving which totally blows as i adore this herb in just about everything, from a savory dish, to a sweet treat for dessert.) rocket and coriander (both of which bolted while i was gone. i must find a more shaded spot for them....perhaps next to the rhubarb...?) another round of zucchini, and any other seeds i can find in my stash that may seem appropriate.
pop in your root vegetables on the 20th and 21st and hoe up any stray weeds on these days too.
from the 22nd until the 30th just dig and add manure or compost to any empty patches for the next lot of planting.

feel free to do all this with a glass of bubbles in your hand (, or if pregnant like me, some delicious homemade elderflower cordial or ginger ale). twilight is my favorite time for just about everything, be it swimming, horse riding or gardening, and having a treat of something bubbly before, during or after makes this magical time even more indulgent and glorious!

happy holiday gardening guys.

xx
jes