In my imagination I have a victorian walled kitchen garden that swaddles my crops and keeps them safe.  In reality I have a patch that is exposed to the Wellington winds which on a bad day wreaks havoc and causes ruin. And if it’s not the wind that batters your precious berries it’s the birds that can swoop in when the gale winds blows away their protective cage.  After nature served me several bitter lessons last year I didn’t want to take any chances so we’ve installed new sturdy frames as the basis of fruit caging.  I suspect nature may seek its revenge in other ways but for now this is an investment that will pay dividends come soft fruit season. Soon I’ll be wrapping up the garden and not too soon as the gooseberries are first to appear and I want to avoid the bird ransack of last year.
Our new wooden arbor will provide a quiet shady sanctuary and provide a perfect barrier for the bench that grew wings last year when the wind blew and spent as much time outside the garden as it in. Â I know the basset will appreciate the cool spot and I can hardly wait to have a quiet place to contemplate or perhaps stretch out for a quick snooze in the shade.
All this new development is just in the nick of time as the kitchen garden is springing into life for another growing season. Â The beds have been topped up and most of the crops that were started from seed and grown through adolescence in the cold frames are now planted out in the garden. Â It’s been a marathon effort but worth it to see the possibilities for what we’ll be eating in the not to distant future.
While we’ve been wrapping up the kitchen garden the herb garden has been unwrapped. Â It’s time the box hedging earned its keep and be sprung from the cage that has encased it since shortly after it was planted three years ago. Â All it needs now is a really good haircut to smarten it up. Â I’m excited about the possibility of the spare box plants I had being turned into some topiary treats. Â For now they are growing up in pots and being used to take cuttings so we can perhaps in time add a suitably smart boundary to the kitchen garden.
The warm and wet weather we’ve been having this Spring has done wonders for the garden although it feels like a sprint every week to get ahead of the grass which seems to grow before your very eyes. Â I’m slowly unwrapping all the flower beds around the house and you can almost hear the plants sigh with relief as they can spread their branches and stems. Â It has softened the edges and transformed the look of the house.
A big shout out to my lovely friend from Wellington who I’ve known long before we moved to New Zealand. Â She’s been a perfect slave in the garden and made the whole arduous task of weeding, trimming and clearing so much more fun. Â Thanks N!
Hi Julie,,,,so great to meet you this weekend. I am soooo jealous of your garden…it really is looking fantastic. Mx
Funny Mairi, I was so jealous of yours too. A quiet sanctuary with those burgeoning lemon trees. Makes my twig efforts look pathetic! Look forward to welcoming you to Kaitoke acres soon.
It was lovely to meet last Saturday 😉
I’m admiring your garden and all the work and effort put into it… And it must be so rewarding afterward to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables !
Hi Vanille (!) great to see you too. Hope you made it home with no GPS mishaps. Look forward to keeping up with your photography.
Julie, I am swooning over your garden! It looks like the perfect place to have a bench or a swing to read your book on and enjoy the lovely summer days. I’m going to plant me some garlic this weekend after hearing about yours. xo
Great to meet you this weekend. Look forward to catching up soon.
Those arbors are beautiful, and your raised beds are beautiful too. My garden is an enchanted parsley forest at the moment. I need to have a good cull of the overwintered veges and herbs, and plant out the new seedlings. What I really need is a few acres!
I think you underestimate all that you can manage on your newly designed terrace garden. I could do with some of your parsley though!
Your garden looks fabulous, We have similar problem in Muriwai but the sea wind which reeks havoc on the plants. Lovely meeting you Saturday.
Great to meet you too Alli – thanks for all your hard work.
Lovely to meet you Julie and put a face to my instagram buddy 😉
Your garden looks amazing and I hear you about the wind,
I don’t think there are many places in New Zealand that don’t have to battle the wind in establishing a vegetable haven,
I really look forward seeing your summer harvests and recipes.
Thanks Bron. Look forward to more Instagram exchanges and also next opportunity to learn food photography with you.
I really must come to see all this amazing, incredible work with my own eyes Julie! My folks are over from the UK this summer – from 20 Dec till end of January. Any chance we could stop by mid to late Jan? Would be so good to see you and finally meet your lovely Bassets too!
Sarah, it would be wonderful to see you again. I’ll be around so let’s hook up and make this happen. JT