Life in the new nest

It has been 154 days since we moved into our new nest. And yes, I still have things to unpack!

We are just loving our new home and have settled in well. The Klingons each have their own bedroom and the dogs (x3 now) have all the space in the world to run around like mad hounds.

I've been plodding around in the garden and Captain Awesome is busy putting in irrigation for me.

See, I inherited a lovely vegetable and herb garden when we bought The Nest, so my itchy green finger is finally getting a chance to make things bloom! Yay for me!!

I have a range of things growing at the moment, including:

• Broccoli
• Chives
• Frilly Lettuce
• Pepperdews
• Rocket
• Lemon Grass
• Mint (2 variants)
• Basil (3 variants)
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Patty Pans
• Baby Marrows
• Green and Purple mini cabbages
• Sage

Plus, bonus of all bonus'... I have a bay leaf tree! Nothing compares to having fresh bay leaves in food as apposed to the dried ones! LOVE IT!

My youngest Klingon loves carrots. So we devoted a whole bed for her to do her thing and she is growing her own carrots. It's terribly cute to watch her diligently water the bed. Now we just need to separate the seedlings because she was a little "heavy handed" when sowing and the poor things are not going to survive it.

My son learned how to replant and pot a plant the other day and is taking great pride in watching it grow bigger by the day.

Now, I am not an expert in the great world of gardening, but have learned a thing or two as I've gone along. I'm learning more each day too.

I'll share with you what I discover along the way. Oh and as you know me to be the Bargain Bessy that I am,  I will also share with you great bargains that I find along the way.

One thing that has saved us quite a bit of money (as we are frequent flyers at Stodels Somerset West) is the Stodels Club Card. I'm loving the discounts and free gifts each month! January was little sample bags of organic fertilizer ... well let me tell you, it didn't have a chance to hit the garden by my hand. It made its way into a patch of grass on the front lawn thanks to our boisterous 2 yr old Labrador, Sandy. She thought it was the best thing since coming to live with us and ate half a bag while rolling in the other. Max, our 5 yr old Chow also decided it was worth a roll too and matched that with much drool. Leaving us to deal with smelly, well fertilized dogs (who sleep in the house at night) and a rather vivacious patch of lawn. As well as the product works, it has unfortunately led us to believe that we have to go with a less smelly option to fertilize with around the garden - for our sanity and sense of smell at the very least.

I'm always trying to find ways of dealing with garden pests (and no I don't mean my "I-love-to-urinate-on-mommy's-lettuce" Chow) that won't affect my pets in any way. Snails have been a bit of an issue and my new friend, Tommy, at Stodels showed me a great organic snail repellent that works like a bomb! ... Note to self: sprinkle more snail repellent soon...
Many a plant has been saved thanks to the great advice I've received so far :)

So whats coming up for March I hear you ask???

I'm planning on planting some peas (amongst other things).... just need to find a spot to put them. These plants that need some form of support as they grow up and then produce fruit and fall over (yes this has happened to me with my very productive cherry tomatoes) are going to be getting a new form of support from me that I saw on one of my browsing sessions.

They look something like this:

The wire just needs to be big enough to put your hand through so you can harvest your tomatoes or whatever you've planted there. Pretty darn cool I think! And not too pricey to put together either! I shall post the progress on this when it happens :)

I also want to plant shallots. Will keep them a space next to the lettuce as its good to plant it with them (companion planting here we come). Must make sure to keep them far from the peas though as they are not friends while growing.

Anyway, I have much planning to do and will post again soon! If you want info on something, let me know and I'll post about it :)

xxx

M