About Me

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I am me. A young lady born and raised in South Africa with German and Irish ancestors. My life has it's ups and down. I am a sinner, I am a Christian, I am not perfect, but I am striving to be the best I can be.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Garden Update

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ~ Genesis 2:15

My peas are growing beautifully in my garden.  I’ve been watering them before leaving for work each morning.  Here are some photographs:

Peas, 2012 - 2.5 weeks

Peas, 2012 - 2.5 weeks (2)

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Gardening: Rosemary

This is my “chart card” for rosemary

File:Rosemary bush.jpg

(Image from Wikipedia)

Sunlight: Full Sunlight

Sowing:  Into seed trays then into pots to prevent the bush from taking over or growing too large.

Season:  Start indoors at any time of the year, can be taken outside during summer months.

Soil:  Soil needs to have good drainage

How to plant:

  1. Plant in seed trays at a depth of 6mm (1/4 inch) with 3mm all around (1/8 inch)
  2. They should sprout in 15-25 days (one of mine sprouted in just 7 days!)
  3. Replant when 5cm in height into pots about 30cm diameter and 30cm deep (1 foot).
  4. The plant can grow up to 1.5m (5 feet) if not cut back, roots can be restricted in small pots to keep the plant smaller.

Harvest:

Harvest sprigs of Rosemary as needed, or cut back entire stem and hang to dry.  Rosemary matures over several seasons, so harvest lightly for the first few years.

Monday, July 9, 2012

First growth

My first hint at growth from the seeds I planted Sunday 1 July 2012, and it comes from the rosemary seeds.  I am hoping that it is one of the Rosemary seeds and not a weed.  Here is the picture, sorry that it is blurry, my camera isn’t the best.  I did try to sharpen the image.

Rosemary - First bit of green

The other plants have not sprouted yet, but I am hopeful that I will see something within the next few days.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Gardening: Garden Peas

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This is my “chart card” on how to grow garden peas.
Sunlight:  Full Sunlight
Sowing:  Directly into the garden, peas do not like to be moved
Season:  If you live in a frost free area, then sowing should be done half-way through winter until the end of spring.  If you live in a frost area, sowing can be done from the beginning of winter until the end of spring.  The peas take a little longer to grow in frost areas, but survive mild frost.  Don't plant in area's that will completely freeze during the winter though, and only after the snow has ended in the snow area's.
Soil:  Prepare the soil up to 30cm (1 foot) deep. Peas like a moist loam soil.
How to plant:
  1. Plant seeds 5cm (2.5 inches) apart and 3cm (1.5 inch) deep in rows.
  2. Plant each row of peas 60cm (23.5 inches) apart.
  3. Press the soil down firmly on top of the seeds
  4. Keep the soil moist, but not soaking.  I usually water well each morning.
  5. When the shoots are 10cm (4 inches) tall then thin out the plants, 30cm (1 foot) apart in the rows.  Not all peas will germinate, hence why we plant them so close together and eventually thin them out.
  6. When the shoots are 10cm tall, provide them with something to climb.
Harvest:  Between 90 and 120 days.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Introduction

Welcome to my Gardening blog.  In this blog you’ll find information about the plants I am growing (my chart card for the plant), as well as updates as to how my garden is doing in general.  I hope you enjoy it!