Hello Sunshine!

It didn't seem like I had achieved much last week - I was beginning to wonder what on earth we had done taking on our 'family journey', and then... hello sunshine!

All my beautiful plants that had looked like they were going to die, suddenly perked up, my broccoli, carrots and spinach all seem to have grown a foot overnight! We even have our first harvest on our little fruit trees! All because of the glorious sunshine. I too must admit that I feel much better when I have had my daily dose of UV and there is nothing nicer than finding a sunny spot to curl up and read a book or take a wee nap - apparently my plants feel the same way!

With all this growth - I decided it was a good time to start planting some more seedlings - my gardening skills don't always match my enthusiasm - however I have learnt from past attempts that you have to keep sowing seeds to avoid all your crops harvesting at the same time and then having nothing left in the garden. So in went some more winter crops, broccoli, cauli, lettuce and spinach.

I know that gardening doesn't appeal to everyone - but it is so much fun, and there are heaps of ways to make gardens and grow plants. As a child we had an enormous garden, the back yard was virtually rows of potatoes, cabbages, cauliflower and pumpkin - however most of us don't have the time, the space or the inclination to have a garden of gigantic proportions.

We have raised veggie gardens beds, we made these out of recycled fence palings - it is so easy to keep these tidy and contained - you can make a garden from anything though, garden pots, buckets, concrete wash tubs even old washing baskets. There is a great company in Auckland called Urbanmac who make wonderful raised gardens which are not only functional but great for the environment too.

Gardening is great for the kids - we make little seedling trays from egg cartons and use iceblock sticks for naming the plants (you can get great seedling kits from Bunnings or any DIY or gardening stores - see pic above) - I get the kids to water and check the plants everyday to see how they are progressing - Oh, the excitement when the plants finally pop their heads through the soil!

There is nothing nicer than eating fresh, healthy produce from your garden especially when the entire family has helped to grow it! So this week, why not make good use of the beautiful sunshine and start your little garden somewhere!

Happy planting!

Penny