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I wanted to share with you the ideas I have for this site, to make it even better for you all. I know how difficult and often overwhelming learning a new skill can be.
And I want you to enjoy your organic gardening experience and grow the healthiest plants possible, after all Mother nature intended us to enjoy her beautiful gifts and I don’t view my kitchen garden as a chore…well sometimes maybe:)
So what have I got in store for you in 2010??
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Happy New Year..2010 WOW!!
A BIG Thank you to you all for your support and appreciation of this site. You cannot know what it means to me that you are enjoying and finding the information here and in the garden tips useful.
I am looking forward to the New Year and all the new features I have planned for the site, so keep tuned as it’s going to be an exciting time:)
I would like to wish you all a Happy & Safe holiday season and I hope that the coming year brings you all the things you wish for and so richly deserve.
Happy New Year from us at 2 women on 2 acres!!
My Kitchen Garden is Breaking ALL the Rules!!
My Kitchen Garden is breaking all the rules!!
My kitchen garden is a hive of secret activity, it is doing a great job of re-seeding itself!!
I have broccoli Raab, rocket, arugula, Belgian white carrots, purple dragon carrots and goodness knows what else popping up all over the place.
In some instances it has even done a good job of stock rotation and re-seeded it’s self into another location in the kitchen garden!!
The Healing Power of Touch
As a nurse I have always been aware of the positive power of touch. sometimes a simple hand on an arm can convey more than a thousand words. I was always hugging, comforting and massaging my patients when it was needed.
I have always been a tactile person and I used touch to comfort my patients and their families when I worked in the ER. I found it to be a great healer, calming influence and somehow gave even the most ‘tough’ person a boost, sort of ‘I know how you feel and it’s ok’
So when I read or rather listened to Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, I usually read through my eyelids and snore at the same time so I tried the audio version and it was FANTASTIC, the guy who read it was brilliant.
The Serious Health Dangers of Potting & Seed Raising Mix
Important Life Saving Information
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR GARDENERS
Your health may be at risk from bagged products like seed raising mix, compost, potting mix and animal manures.
These products contain LIVE bacterias which if inhaled can cause serious conditions like Legionnaires’ disease. The bags of potting mix, seed raising mix, compost and animal manures create an ideal breeding environment for all kinds of bacteria and should ALWAYS be treated with the upmost caution.
Legionnaires’ diease bacteria are often found in dried out mixes or poor quality non-organic mixes.
Here in New Zealand we have just had a timely reminder with an outbreak of Legionnaires’ diease in Canterbury from people using such mixes.
How to Look After Seedlings
With the unpredictable weather in NZ at the moment I wanted to tell you about some of the seedling management strategies I have been using for the first time this spring, and what worked and what didn’t on my 200+ seedlings:)
The Seedling Warriors
It will be the first year I have used plastic pots and actually had to manage my seedlings in those pots for more than a few days. And believe me, it has taken some managing, for instance, the watering alone takes a day and lots of patience and in a couple of days it all starts again!!
I thought it would be interesting to know how someone else manages when things like the weather throw us a curve ball and also what observations I have been able to make from watching the seeds germinate, some things I would have missed if the seeds were under the ground in the Kitchen garden.
What is Happening With Our Weather??
It’s very nearly officially ‘Summer’ and I don’t think we have started ‘spring’ yet, some nights it has been SO cold I have lit our wood burner, and I am still attached to my icebreakers!!
For the last three days we have had non stop rain showers, some so heavy the rain drops sound like gravel being thrown against our windows. I have only managed a quick tour around the kitchen garden to collect the pesky snails and slugs!
This year I had to revise my seed germination plans, I usually sow my first seeds in October into 1/2 egg shells and then transfer the young seedlings into 1/2 toilet rook pots until the weather warms & then they are big enough to plant outside in the Kitchen garden with their first set of real leaves.
But, this year, with the threat of spraying I decided to sow my first seeds into small plastic pots I was lucky to buy for a ridiculous low price.
As it turns out, they have been just the ticket as the weather here on the block has been so unpredictable hot warm cold fog wind rain & more we have had come our way.
So I have had literally hundreds of pots in every nook & cranny waiting from the calm after the storms, and we are still waiting!!
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How The Law Of Attraction Works For Me
I am a fairly new student of The Law of Attraction and NLP techniques, I have been reading, researching and practicing for almost 6 months now.
I have had quite a few stumbles, times of disbelief and bouts of inner turmoil as things I thought I had dealt with resurfaced as if they had never left me.
And the spray drift incident really cut me to the core, it was the last straw in a long line of things ‘to go wrong’ and I believe me when I say I was down SO low I didn’t really think I could pick myself up off the floor again but I did, only after really considering why some of the things happened and taking a long hard look at myself..
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Just Shear Madness!!
Is it shear madness or a case of gritty determination that has had me down in my knees cutting the spring grass in the orchard with my hand shears and a push mower??
Since the neighbour has obviously decided we don’t need our orchard grass cutting anymore, I asked before it grew too long if they would mind if their son cut our orchard grass with their ride on lawn mower, for payment of course.
Well, the son was interested, but, mother was sceptical and said she would come and have a look, that was weeks ago, so I presume there has been a no show and we will soon not be able to see anything if the spring grass grows much higher!!
Well, don’t underestimate me, I would like a wild flower & herbal ley in the orchard this year, if only to help heal the damage from the chemical spray. And looking at the problem won’t make it go away…tried that!!
Unwanted Spray Drift: Don’t Suffer In Silence
I have ummmed and rrrrred about writing this post, but , I realise what is happening to us here on the block is also happening to others on their piece of paradise through no fault on their part.
I am talking about damage from unwanted spray drift and the repercussions when you ask nicely for your neighbours to be careful when spraying. I am talking about the lack of common courtesy, manners and generally being a good neighbour.
But, I want you all to know if you have suffered unwanted spray drift, you are NOT alone talk to us and we will support you, I promise you that.
Last year I had half my heirloom garden wiped out by a neighbour’s spray drift and he was being careful and spot spraying, but too close to our fence.
When I told him about the damage caused he was horrified and so was his wife and gave him a good telling off after they both came to inspect the dying mess of vegetables I was going to save precious seed from, some cultivars I have lost forever.
I went and asked the neighbour on the other side if he would be extra careful in light of the recent damage, so what does he do???
Waits a couple of days, until he thinks we are out, we usually both go out into town, but this time I had gone on my own, leaving Donna at home doing some work inside. And then comes happily along SPRAYING along the fence line bordering our land.
Donna was SO angry and disbelieving, that she ran out into the paddock and stood in shock as he turn quickly around and disappeared never to be seen agin that day.
After asking nicely AND offering to remove the weeds, thistles and invasive ink weed for him…That was last year, this year it’s over $1000’s worth of damage, and thats only to replacement value, so it was time to ask for official help…
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