Karen Cheng

A Perth Fashion and Lifestyle Blog

Search Results for: organic garden

My Organic Garden – Weekend Jobs

My Organic Garden - Broccoli

On the weekend we spent a few hours in our garden.

My husband hopped onto the roof and cleaned the gutters.

My baby sat in his pram and stared up at the swaying silhouette of trees.

My two boys constructed some kind of bomb shelter out of old wooden planks, and made magic potions with muddy rain water.

My Organic Garden - Lettuce Mix

While I weeded my vegetable patch, harvested my broccoli, and distributed a mass of mixed lettuce I grew from seed.

I always feel like such an odd-ball when I publish photos of my vegetables – but hey, it makes me happy like you won’t believe.

My Organic Garden – Broccoli

Broccoli Heads

Finally! After something like 5 months, my broccoli plants have sprouted some heads.

I’m grinning from ear to ear with excitement and beaming with such delight… that it’s probably a bit pathetic. But, hey each to their own, ok?

My New Obsession : Organic Gardening

Six years ago, if you and I were in a cafe, having a nice chat over coffee. And you, my dear friend, happened to mention that you had a passion for gardening. I would have snorted back with laughter, choked on something, and then sprayed my affogato across the table. Are you kidding?!?

I then probably would have been so embarrassed upon discovering that you were actually SERIOUS. Because really. Who on earth likes gardening? That’s so, like, what old people do. People who live in the suburbs or like, farms. People who, like, hello, so need to get out and have a life. In fact, only like, bored housewives with screaming kids do gardening.

(Ok. I didn’t use to talk like that.)

But ah how the tables have turned.

Now I’m crouched hands and knees in the dirt, taking macro photographs of the organisms in my organic compost heap. Now. Oh how I am intoxicated with the smell of rotting vegetables. How I squeal in delight as dig through the fresh earth. How my glee swells as I see slaters, roaches and bugs munching away on rockmelon skins. How, whenever I peel a banana, I excitedly think, my, our worms will have a feast on this peel tonight.

Yes it sounds oh so sad.

One evening. I put my youngest son to sleep at 7pm. I walk into the kitchen and toss the bottle into the sink. Then without a break in my stride, I walk out the door, I put on my gardening boots, and start digging in the garden till 9pm. I only stopped because there was no more light outside. Plus my husband came looking for me with a torch.

I’m utterly obsessed. I can’t stop thinking about my garden.

And the books! Oh how I love gardening books. Oh how I love gardening blogs and magazines. I lick my lips with inappropriate anticipation as parcel after parcel of Amazon books arrive at my door. I’m out every second day, to bookstores and local libraries, in search for even MORE organic gardening books. Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening is my favourite so far. Organic Gardening for the 21st Century is also pretty good.

Currently, we have plotted out pegs in our garden for several new vegetable beds. I have a plan for peas, beans, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, beetroots, onions, pumpkins and a whole host of herbs.

We have a new worm farm and compost box currently under construction. We’re using organic methods to recondition the existing soil, using organic growing techniques, and basically doing it organically all the way baby. Lots of preparation. So exciting.

Now. I’ve been trying to analyse why I like gardening so much. Don’t think I got very far.

The other day, I was mixing some soil and organic matter together and I had this profound thought. In my 28 years of life. I’ve worked in quite a few jobs which I liked. I look back and, yes, they were challenging and fun. I was really good at what I did. I was rewarded and paid well. The people were really nice. It was fabulous experience. And I had a great time.

But no other job actually created this unstoppable, all-consuming peace, pleasure and satisfaction I feel cruising through my veins at this very moment.

I totally rate it up there with raising children (perhaps excluding the peace bit).

Sunday in the Garden : Basil

Basil

Sometimes I’m pretty close to giving up on this whole “organic gardening” thing – because trying to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs without chemical pesticides is really hard.

In a very ironic way, I now appreciate why farmers choose to spray their crops, and why I would rather pay extra to buy pesticide-free organic produce.

Anyway, I’ve finally found ONE spot in my garden where snails, slugs and caterpillars can’t touch my herbs. My basil is so much happier there.

New Lettuce

Lettuce Harvest

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve kept a vegetable garden.

I’ve had endless problems with ants, rats, fruit flies, old reticulation… so much so, I needed to take a break from growing my usual run of snow peas, tomatoes, beans, zucchini and broccoli.

(I do keep  5-6 herbs though, because they are so simple to keep.)

However a few weeks ago, I found half an old wooden barrel and I just had to put some potting mix and lettuce together!

Now every few days I get a lovely bunch of fresh baby lettuce leaves to toss into a salad. Just like my old organic gardening days!

Snow Pea Harvest

Snowpea HarvestBack in April, the kids and I planted a handful of snow pea plants in our little organic garden.

It was a fantastic gardening activity for the kids. We made several climbing frames out of bamboo (collected from a neighbour) and natural twine – which looked like cute tepees.

We made labels for the seedlings. I also drew them a little plant growth chart. Explained how plants grow, why they need water and sunshine, how the flowers turn into snow peas.

Now, 3 months later, our snow pea plants are as tall as I am! Plus there are tonnes of snow peas!

Every couple of days, we’ll sit in the garden and harvest 4-5 of our juicy, organic snow peas. The kids munch on them raw and savour them like delicious chocolates.