One way I feel like I’ve managed to stop getting overwhelmed from gardening (and right now we’re in western hemisphere June/mid summer), everything wants planting out, potting on, watering, if I don’t sow this seed NOW! I won’t get to see it at all this year type thoughts. I also have a child, a busy job and I want my garden to be my happy place giving me delicious food and gorgeous flowers. So I follow planting by the moon which is week 1-2 following a new moon up to full moon is for sowing seeds that develop above the ground, week after full moon is for sowing root seeds and things that develop below the ground like onions. I also weed the roots bed in this week. Week 4 up to new moon is for everything else so at the moment this is my potting on week. I just finding dividing the focus by the weeks keeps me sane and helps with the overwhelm. For the poppies, I add the seed to my compost bays and now they self seed all over the place. If I have too many or they grow somewhere they shouldn’t I weed them. If I struggle germinating anything, my solution’s always been to Chuck it in the compost and hope for the best! Good luck with the house renovations, I think my son’s always had tools and stepladders lying around nearby since he was little!
Ahhh Claire you are ALWAYS giving me the best advice, I love it! Really really like the idea of chunking tasks by week so that you don’t have to think about doing everything all at once! Also your compost seed flinging technique intrigues me! Do you throw the seeds into the compost bays then spread the compost? Or do you treat the compost bays as garden beds for flung seeds through spring/summer?!
Hehe glad to hear your baby proofing also includes heavy machinery and ladders 😂😅
I just put the seeds in whichever compost bay I’m filling at the time along with the hen spent bedding, our household bokashi bin waste and any gardening waste going (at the moment borage and poppies growing too big in the wrong places. I do try to do it when it’s the right time for that seed so if I’m getting frustrated at looking at bare soil in the greenhouse (where I do my seed sowing) that’s when I’d add them to the compost. Do the same with old seeds too. I had saved achocha seed and chucked the ones that didn’t look viable and I found a self seeded one growing in my bean bed. What a sensible achocha, climbing support and everything!My boy’s big now, 8. He’s a gorgeous boy but he’s been around tools as the hubby’s always got a project in the go. And we have a wood burning stove so he learnt to stay away from that at a pretty early age. By the way what’s your Instagram handle, I’ve searched for you but haven’t found been able to find you.
And I don’t really let my compost cook as I use it too quickly, I kind of use it as a mulch very regularly so the seeds just have somewhere really nutritious to grow pretty quickly or they germinate in the compost. On the allotment (it’s a mile from my house) I bag from my compost bays ne then Chuck a pinch of saved flower seeds (usually a mix of something like calendula, poppy, Nigela, camomile, nasturtium, borage) as I’m hoping for the flowers to self seed across the allotment. That’s a new thing I’´m trying. I let you know how that goes! And I found you through Brook Mcalary’s Substack. She recommended you a while back and I’ve been reading your words ever since!
Thanks for the link to West Coast Seeds! I was only thinking the other day where I might get seeds (other than Bunnings or dodgy 'garden' centres!) and these guys are here in Perth!
I LOVE THIS. It's such good advice and I'm always surprised how quick things can be if you just go out and do it. And yes to sitting in the winter sun! ☀️
There’s a great book I just read called 4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman and one of the big messages is you’re never going to be on top of everything, so stop putting off your happiness and do it now, life will always be messy!
ohhh Denise I LOVE that book so much!! I listened to it as an audiobook and think I need to give it a re-listen, his ethos is so good, it's helped me come to terms with the fact that I will always have emails that I never manage to reply to!
One way I feel like I’ve managed to stop getting overwhelmed from gardening (and right now we’re in western hemisphere June/mid summer), everything wants planting out, potting on, watering, if I don’t sow this seed NOW! I won’t get to see it at all this year type thoughts. I also have a child, a busy job and I want my garden to be my happy place giving me delicious food and gorgeous flowers. So I follow planting by the moon which is week 1-2 following a new moon up to full moon is for sowing seeds that develop above the ground, week after full moon is for sowing root seeds and things that develop below the ground like onions. I also weed the roots bed in this week. Week 4 up to new moon is for everything else so at the moment this is my potting on week. I just finding dividing the focus by the weeks keeps me sane and helps with the overwhelm. For the poppies, I add the seed to my compost bays and now they self seed all over the place. If I have too many or they grow somewhere they shouldn’t I weed them. If I struggle germinating anything, my solution’s always been to Chuck it in the compost and hope for the best! Good luck with the house renovations, I think my son’s always had tools and stepladders lying around nearby since he was little!
Ahhh Claire you are ALWAYS giving me the best advice, I love it! Really really like the idea of chunking tasks by week so that you don’t have to think about doing everything all at once! Also your compost seed flinging technique intrigues me! Do you throw the seeds into the compost bays then spread the compost? Or do you treat the compost bays as garden beds for flung seeds through spring/summer?!
Hehe glad to hear your baby proofing also includes heavy machinery and ladders 😂😅
I just put the seeds in whichever compost bay I’m filling at the time along with the hen spent bedding, our household bokashi bin waste and any gardening waste going (at the moment borage and poppies growing too big in the wrong places. I do try to do it when it’s the right time for that seed so if I’m getting frustrated at looking at bare soil in the greenhouse (where I do my seed sowing) that’s when I’d add them to the compost. Do the same with old seeds too. I had saved achocha seed and chucked the ones that didn’t look viable and I found a self seeded one growing in my bean bed. What a sensible achocha, climbing support and everything!My boy’s big now, 8. He’s a gorgeous boy but he’s been around tools as the hubby’s always got a project in the go. And we have a wood burning stove so he learnt to stay away from that at a pretty early age. By the way what’s your Instagram handle, I’ve searched for you but haven’t found been able to find you.
p.s. now I think of it - how did you find me on here!?
And I don’t really let my compost cook as I use it too quickly, I kind of use it as a mulch very regularly so the seeds just have somewhere really nutritious to grow pretty quickly or they germinate in the compost. On the allotment (it’s a mile from my house) I bag from my compost bays ne then Chuck a pinch of saved flower seeds (usually a mix of something like calendula, poppy, Nigela, camomile, nasturtium, borage) as I’m hoping for the flowers to self seed across the allotment. That’s a new thing I’´m trying. I let you know how that goes! And I found you through Brook Mcalary’s Substack. She recommended you a while back and I’ve been reading your words ever since!
that's genius! so the seeds don't rot in the compost?! I love how plants seem to find the spaces that are best for them to grow in!
hehe your husband sounds like mine! my toddler already loves marching around with a wooden screwdriver 'finding things to fix' hehe
I'm on IG as @gardeningwithcaseyjoy - come and find me! :D
I am 62, still waiting to feel there isn’t something of pressing importance to be done, congratulations on attacking this with your first child
hahah it's so hard to quell that feeling isn't it, I really have no clue how to do it - let me know if you have any tips!
Thanks for the link to West Coast Seeds! I was only thinking the other day where I might get seeds (other than Bunnings or dodgy 'garden' centres!) and these guys are here in Perth!
it's my pleasure - they look good don't they! And super fast postage being local is such a bonus!
This is why we love you Casey!!! So real and down to earth! Let’s lower our expectations to be happier and calmer 😂👌🏼🥰
hehe aw you are too kind! and yes yes yes to happier and calmer!! Have a lovely weekend :) x
I LOVE THIS. It's such good advice and I'm always surprised how quick things can be if you just go out and do it. And yes to sitting in the winter sun! ☀️
so true!! I put off seed sowing so often and then when I finally do it it almost always takes all of 5 minutes!
There’s a great book I just read called 4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman and one of the big messages is you’re never going to be on top of everything, so stop putting off your happiness and do it now, life will always be messy!
ohhh Denise I LOVE that book so much!! I listened to it as an audiobook and think I need to give it a re-listen, his ethos is so good, it's helped me come to terms with the fact that I will always have emails that I never manage to reply to!