Autumn is here, Winter beckons

Until last week, the weather here was mostly sunny, mostly very humid and hot. Then at the weekend the heavens opened and, Hey Presto! we are in Autumn. Most of my veges are pretty much finished with just the Aubergine and Chives still going strong. I have a new Tomato seedling, but will grow that inside for a while unti it is strong enough to live out on the deck. So now, yay, my favourite form of shopping, PLANTS!!!

I had a chat with a friend at church on Sunday last and he has offered some Broccoli seedlings if he has any left after planting his tunnel house.

Now I have an excuse to head for the small garden centre attached to our local garage. Hmmm, wonder what they have available, :-) Must get dressed and go down to find out.

Right, I found a punnet of peas and one with cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli.

Then when I got home I found my lovely son in law, had mocked up a potting table for me from an old defunct BBQ table in the garage. So tomorrow I will be in there repotting my new plants into bigger pots and give them a week or two to settle in before planting them in my raised beds. Will keep an eye open for broad beans as they are so yummy when young that I find it hard to resist picking and eating them straight from the plant. I usually have to remind myself to cook them :-)

Think I'll check out the garden centre in Waipu after church on Sunday, see what else I can get as that shop is much bigger than the one here in the village. Ooh, I SO enjoy this type of shopping.

Ha! Rain has stopped for a few days (or so the weather forecast tells me), so after my walk this morning I'll get out and pot up my new plants. I just checked the local internet guru so will put my pea seedlings straight into the soil. Thankfully my veggies are all in raised beds on my back deck so I don't have to worry as long as I keep them moist.

Lovely. Took time out today to pot up my new veggies into larger pots. They were in packs of six, you know the size, so I worked on my new potting table that my lovely S.I.L mocked up for me. Will check them tomorrow, but might leave them for another day or two before planting them out in my veggie boxes.

Will start preparing my veggie beds for autumn today, though I'm really frustrated with the stray kittens using them to do their business. Still researching ways to keep them out of there. Hmm, just checked a few ideas from Mr Google and as I have plenty of both, I will make up some white vinegar or lemon juice mixed with water today, see if that works. The sun is out and the weather forecast in my part of the country (north) is for ten days of fine weather. Which means of course, that I will have to water every day as all my plants are in containers of one type or other. Still, better that than the hosing rain we had recently.

I decided that, as my local library opens in the afternoon today, I will take my walk after lunch to pick up the books I ordered, but I am sitting here looking out on beautiful sunshine and feeling slightly guilty because I'm not rushing out for my usual morning walk. Silly isn't it? I have walked four days this week.

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The camera on my phone is busted (got water in it) and my ipad is at the repairers as a result of my car accident in January so no photos of progress this week, but I should get my ipad back next week so will take some then. Hope you like the cute cartoon picture I found which seems to show peas or beans, which is very appropriate for what I'm planting this week.

?As usual, I will be very grateful for your comments, good and bad so that I can fix things that need fixing. To offer your comments please go to [email protected], or [email protected], and know that I will respond within 48 hours also as usual. Have a great week and love your garden and your home grown eating.