We have finally settled and moved into our new place in Uki. It’s been a busy week but we are both very happy with the new place. There are still a lot of things to get organised, like a good internet connection, after which I will be able to start posting with pictures.
We were lucky to be left a small fenced vegetable garden, a little overgrown but with some useful starters like tuscan kale, basil, mint, tomatoes, parsley, and strawberries. The last couple of days I’ve been digging over some spare beds which were covered in black plastic and cardboard, seemingly for some time, and this morning I did my first sowing; 37 assorted winter vegetables and some borage and nasturtium for colour. We had a nice pawpaw a few days ago, so we kept the seeds and I hoed a patch out of the grass for the first pawpaw patch. It might be too late to be starting them, but it doesn’t matter if they fail. This morning I over-sowed it with some bird seed for a cover crop. The weather is possibly not ideal for sowing, as we have a week of sunny weather forecast, but I figure if they’re in and hydrating then they might spring up quickly with the forecast rain on Friday.
We’ve had a few surprises; we were kindly left the chickens by the last owner. They aren’t laying but they are nice to have around, and pretty much take care of themselves. Making a few nesting boxes is on the task list. One, the top chook, is very tame and will hang around for a cuddle at shutting-in time. There are also two doves living in the coop, one of which apparently likes company as it flew up here on the deck while I was on the computer and perched on the chair by my feet. My new mate.
So it looks like I have a busy schedule ahead of bed preparation, trimming back and surveying.