Monday 3 March 2014

for the pruning MARCH

it catches and whips back and forth. smashing the wall with its arms and sending fragments of branch and leaf away from itself, mustered up onto a wild ride over the yards and beyond into the vast space of canterbury.
from my warm shelter i spy letters sweeping by, borne on unseen arms to rest in unexpected places never to be read. i witness the tops of mighty gums trees, thrust back and forth like river weed and my cup of tea warms my scratchy throat as i watch a long gummy arm in the distance come loose and swing its way to the ground.
last time there was a childs paddling pool held aloft in that same tree, maybe even by that same arm and i am reminded when, as a child, i was told during a visit to malaysia that repeat offenders had their hands removed for stealing.
i remember to secure the trampoline, so i pregnant waddle out into the wild, fumble and grunt and flip it upside down in some effort to keep it in our yard for the next 24 hours.
bo is away in the field on army drill - he was away in the last wind storm too. that one scattered tiles from the roofs and uprooted trees from almost everywhere, sending them careening through houses and over fence and power lines in a fierce display of natures strength and brutality.  i hope this one leaves us unharmed and with power once it has passed, though i do feel secure in the knowledge that there is a newly replenished emergency supply kit at hand, enough fire wood for the wet back and plenty of kind hearted neighbors close by.
a bucket careens down the street and March continues its steady pace towards April.

if the weather allows you get your gloves on, head out doors and start planting today, now even.
it is time to get yourself set up for winter in the southern hemisphere, before it gets too cold for seed to germinate properly.
from the 3rd until the 10th of march it is planting time for leafy or fruit bearing crops.
sow celery, leeks, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, peas, broad beans, silver beet, and of course get your bulbs in too so you can have a nice array of spring colour once winter begins to fade away.
i dontt hink i can be bothered with brassicas this year. every time i decide to plant them the white butterflies decend and my aversion to pesticides provide ample opportunity for their wee, green offspring to eat their merry way through my crops, making themselves fat before cacooning up in the crevice of a leaf to begin the cycle all over again. i dont have the grit (or the time) to pop out there and pick the little bastards off and squish them one by one, so this year, i think i have given up on them. with the exception of kale. i will always plant that, and it seems to prosper year round so will wait until the white bombers have eased off before getting a fresh lot in.

with the full moon coming on the 17th get your hoe out and strike down any weeds that may be taking hold, before applying liquid or other fertilizer to your plants on the 14th and 15th.

any root crops for winter can go in on the 20th and 21st, along with another round of liquid feed, and if your lawn is looking a little patchy or worse for wear grass will take really well if you sow it now too. but really, you cant eat grass, so it takes a back seat on my books and our patches will likely stay exactly where they are, year in year out til long after we have moved on.

i will be bringing the last of my spuds up on the 22nd-26th as the tops have almost died down and those skins should be hardened off micley. this means they can be better stored in a dark cool place for use over winter - though i am not expecting a huge crop, i didnt plant as much as i should have and we have been steadily raiding them for new potatoes to go with our salad and steak dinners over summer. hopefully the last late ones i planted will help out as they look to be thriving! i have already mounded them up with a mixture of wood ash and manure 3-4 times already and now they are looking lush and healthy with flowers aplenty beginning to open, along with the promise of a late run of new potatoes to come to the table soon.

your last lot of root crop sowing for the month is on the 27th and 28th. i will be planting turnips (if my seeds arrive in time, along with another run of radishes and some onion (lots of red this month i think as the brown ones are always so cheap at the supermarket and i will give the space i would have used for them to shallots next month.

the full moon hits on the 31st, so after your root crops are in take a well deserved break (or just a regular break if you got too busy with other things to do much this time around)

if you havent already got your fire wood sorted, now is defiantly the time to be getting it delivered. anything you decide to ring or split now will likely not be dry until later in the winter. (we were super lucky on this front as the last massive wind storm in september smashed trees down all over the place and bo got right to work on the carnage in and around the horse paddocks, clearing, ringing and splitting the lot of it. what we didnt need we left ringed and gave away, and i am resting easy in the knowledge that we have ample supply of dry wood to keep the new baby and the rest of us warm 24-7 over the frosty months. ah, he is such a good provider that man!) we are still collecting pine cones that came down then. every few days we get another couple of sack fulls to use to light the chippy and heat our how water cylinder. so far we havent had to use electricity at all to keep our water toasty hot since we moved in over a year ago. this saves us anywhere from $30 to $60 a month on the power bill if my reckoning is correct, and all it takes is a sack full of pine cones every other day, which freya and i collect when feeding the horses, or freya and bo collect on the weeeknds, while i pick up the copious masses of horse crap (bloody animals wont stop shitting, no matter how much i beg them too)
keeping up with the poo from 2 horses is starting to get difficult, and as my belly grown ever bigger and my hips and back grow ever more fragile i find it more and more of a chore! if there is anyone in caterbury after free manure, get in touch as i have a HUGE pile of it in the paddock just waiting to make its way to your vege patch, just bring a trailer and take as much of it as you want away for FREE!!)

anyway - thats it for the month folks.
still attempting to sort out my new camera hick-ups, but i do have a delightful rhubarb and dark chocolate meringue recipe to come, hopefully very soon along with a post on kefir, both water and milk varieties (amazing stuff if you havent heard about it already get your google on and find out about the benefits!)

happy winter preperation and thanks for taking the time to stop by

xx
jes

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