I like gardening.
Well, correction, I like the pretty side of gardening in our wilderness.
The men can do all the heavy trimming and brush cutting, and I can do the preparing of beds and planting.
I love to see things that I have nurtured turn into beautiful colourful shows after months, and sometimes years.
I renewed the interest during lockdown, calling the front of the house my ‘lockdown garden’ as I transformed it from a grassy bank to a swathe of rainbow colours, with the help of John who did all the heavy lifting of rocks and logs to create terraces.
This week Sid helped me create terraces under the tree to grow leafy veg out of the blazing sun.
Just recently it has become imperative that we start growing our own food, so both Sid and I have been busy with veggies and herbs. We are nowhere near self sufficient but as we know the journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step ….
It is summertime here, our rainy season, and the weeds are just rampant, growing and spreading like wildfire. This is also the time that the earth is soft enough to dig and get out these unwanted by the roots, so that I can plant what I would like in those places.
I can tell you that every single time I go into the garden to ‘work’, the shadow of my beloved Grandfather, William Lewis of Ringmer, Sussex, follows me. I was always fascinated by his devotion to his wonderful garden on Paygate corner on the way up to Glyndebourne.
He would dig and turn over the soil every year, planting vegetables and beautiful flowers for us to enjoy. I expect some of you also remember shucking home grown peas, but eating more raw than got into the pot !!! Last year I planted peas in the wrong place and our South African sun shrivelled them before they even became vines !
These days I do a bit, sit a bit, especially as I have to be out in the garden before 10am or after 3pm as the midday heat is overwhelming !
So far I have done a lot of digging and preparing.
In some cases I have grown things from seed and planted them out already.
I put the seeds from a pepper into some soil, and was surprised when they all grew, so I have just separated them. They will go out with the Marigolds when a little bigger, because the marigolds keep bugs away.
Next step is planting in these areas and I will keep you updated.
This process always reminds me of other areas of life, especially my music. I spend many hours preparing/rehearsing so that the fruits of my labours seem natural and worth listening to.
