new year's resolution no 2

DONE!

Remember Katinka and Pieter, the garden friends who gave the berries? Well, Katinka also helped me fulfill resolution number 2: find nice containers for the plants.

I dragged her with me to the Milnerton Market in Cape Town, since I've heard that it's filled with random bric a brac and I desperately needed to find something nice but cheap. What I had in mind was a basket, a big one. We searched forever. I got sunburnt. We ate ice cream. We saw random stuff. And then, suddenly: a basket! Big, chunky, cheap.

"I'll take it!" I said to the man.
But that's when the trouble started. He pulls out the basket, and there it is - legs. He'd put legs on the basket. Wooden legs. Not on the bottom, but on the side.
Me: what's that?
Man: legs.
Me: I know, but why?
Man: I don't know, I do all kinds of things. Look at this basket (pointing to ugly big white one) - for R80 I'll give you both.
Me (shaking head): no thanks.
Man: no thanks? then what about this? (holding up random little plant holder)
Me: no thanks.
Katinka: no thanks (still staring at legs of basket).

Finally we got away, basket held between us, ice creams in the other hand. Man following us: What about this? And this? (still holding up random stuff).

Lucky for me, I have wonderfull husband who took the legs off. And now the tomatoes, basil, parsley and lemon balm are all safely nestled in their pots inside the basket.

(I still have to sort out other random containers in front of it... but it still looks nice). yay.

Tomato sales 101

In Desember, my husband packed up all forty of our tomato plants into our little car and drove me and the plants to a lovely market at Gabrielskloof outside Hermanus. It was a great market - good food, nice people, animal- and child friendly (see . But it also tought me some tough lessons about tomatoes.

Things I learnt about tomato plants at the market:

- old people like them, but they don't buy them. They grow them themselves.
- people on holiday like them, but they also don't buy them. Who wants a tomato plant to worry about when you're seeing the country?
- little kids like them about as much as old people, and they do buy them (well, their parents do).
- little kids only buy them if they have baby tomatoes on them (which only two of my plants had).
- I should not try to make a living from selling tomato plants - I would be dirt poor.

But just because I sold only five tomato plants, it doesn't mean I didn't have an absolutely great time. So here are some details and happy pics:  

I shared a stall with Ros, who sold natural perfume (divine), and Rox (by gosh, their names rhyme), who makes lasercut jewellery, vinyl stickers and other lovelies. I got the awesomest brooch and necklace from Rox - lasercut watering cans! It totally goes with my gardener image. Other awesome things at the market were: locally brewed beer (Darling), the bargain bin at the fabric stall, the macaroon-stall next to ours and a sushi stall. Who'd have thought? But no other garden inspiration, sorry.

Some happy pics:

Beautiful tomato plants

Rox and her lasercut jewellery and other goodies. See her blog here.


 

FIRST TOMATO!!!

Guess what we had next to our salad on Monday night?
THE FIRST TOMATO!!!!

Husband and I are delighted. We agree that it is the best tasting tomato we have EVER had. Just look at those pretty, round, red cheeks:

And those sprouts next to it? we grew that too.

It's actually crazy how easy it is do grow sprouts at home, I've done it often before and it's really nutritious. A sprout is literally a lentil that's gone from starch to vegetable, and it's great in salads.

Here's how:
1. put a handfull of dry lentils in a flat bowl
2. cover with water
3. put in sunny windowsil
4. keep it moist for about three days
5. collect sprouts!

market love

Berrylicious

Someday soon, we'll be having berries in our garden.... a blackberry and a strawberry!

Aren't they beautiful? They were a gift from garden-friendly friends, Katinka and Pieter. And we love them! (the plants and the friends).

This is where they've settled:

Blackberry on the left, strawberry on the right.

See that plant behind the strawberry? the one that's slightly lighter in colour? That's called borage and it helps strawberries grow beautifully, because it's a companion plant. It makes gorgeous blue flowers too, and from what I understand, it's mainly used for it's seed oil. 

On a more negative note, we've also had some bad visitors to the garden: worms! On the nasturtiums, eating them at an alarming rate. I zapped them with the organic pesticide I keep stashed in the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard, but everytime I look at this picture I still get the creeps.

gardening new year's resolutions

1. I will plant creepers to cover the railing

2. I will find nice containers for my tomato plants

3. I will paint the garden floor

4. I will find a nice bench/table set where husband and I can have morning coffee and enjoy the garden

5. I will hang something nice from the convenient hook that previous owners attached to the overhanging roof

Photos from: pinterest.com; simplyrusticoak.co.uk.

Oh no.

Oh no. The holiday is over. I feel like crawling under my desk in a fetal position and sucking my thumb.

But on the bright side - I'm back from holiday and ready to garden! So expect a few exciting posts in the next while. I'll give you a few clues: a holiday market, a beautiful gardening brooch and new garden friends (some good, some bad...).

Watch this space!

(I leave you with an idyllic pic from our lovely, peaceful, stress-free holiday. We drove through the country in our Jimny and it was awesome.)