Spring planting
Spring is the time to plant a veggie garden.
Nelson has had decent rain, particularly at weekends, but I finally got out in the backyard for some botanical clearance.
The lumpy stump from the old feijoa tree I planted in 1982 needed to come out. I dropped the almost 5 m high bush a few years ago because its dense foliage shaded much of the garden in the morning, particularly in winter, and had stopped fruiting.
I planted five new feijoas when I arrived five years ago, and they had started producing buckets of fruit.
The 800 mm high stump was an issue due to its girth and proximity to the fence. I attempted removal with a newish handsaw, but it started jamming.
Being a clever chap, I found my longest 12 mm diameter drill bit and started creating holes deep in the trunk. My 12 V battery didn’t last long, but I had two. After 20 minutes, they were both flat, so this drilling operation lasted more than a week due to the limited time the batteries allowed, recharging time, and sporadic rain.
I went back to the hand saw, but it still tended to jam.
For almost two weeks, I drilled numerous closely packed holes, and eventually, I was through the trunk. Then I could prepare the garden bed with some bags of pony poo I’d picked up when I was passing the three bags for $5 farm seller recently. It’s not worth a special trip, but it’s easy enough to stop on the way past.
So, there are seven established heritage variety tomato plants, more rogue silver beet transplanted, and some climbing beans to go with a few zucchini plants.
Zucchini are surprisingly productive, as are beans.
Always best fresh from your own garden.
Spinach is also good, but you need to keep harvesting it to maintain the tenderness of the leaves. If they are left to mature too long, they tend to bitterness.
Here’s the issue.
My summer will be spent elsewhere, so the potential and bountiful harvest will languish.