Patience

Gardening is certainly a pastime that teaches me patience.Waiting for seeds to come up, waiting for plants to flower or ripen.I guess the anticipation is all part of the fun but so are the unexpected suprises. I planted tomato, capsicum and eggplant seeds a month ago, as soon as I got home from my holiday, so they would have a head start. I have a little cold frame that I put the seed pots in. A month later, nothing, no sign of any seedlings at all. I fussed over them, inspected them several times a day and then decided that something had gone wrong and I was now a whole month behind. On Wednesday I almost threw them out but didnt. Yesterday the seedlings started to emerge. There are about ten tiny seedlings now.
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It it the week for planting root crops this week. so far i have planted several varieties of carrots, orange and purple varieties, radishes, daikon and beetroot. Writing this reminds me I meant to sow some parsnip seeds, will do that today. Yesterday I planted some potatoes.

I have planted potatoes the last few years but only achieved very small yields due to the drought. Last year most of the plants died in the searing January heat. Ever optimistic i am trying something different this year, planting straight onto the ground then covering up with lucerne straw. when the plants appear I will keep on adding more straw, shredded paper and lawn clippings to build up a mound and keep the light out. i planted cranberry red, spunta and nicola. Other potatoes have come up in different parts of the garden as well so i should get some early ones from them.

Another reward for my patience has been that my persistence with the rhubarb has finally succeeded and yesterday I picked the biggest lot of rhubarb since we have moved here. Good timing as Peter had just finished the last of the stone fruits we put in the freezer in the summer.

And so, rhubarb and yoghurt for breakfast.

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