Sowing seeds

Most days I manage to spend some time in the garden - partly it's necessity as we like to eat fresh food - and partly because I do really love to potter around out there. At the moment, it's not too hard to get out there because we haven't started our home schooling year yet, but next week it will all change. Next week we start on a whole new plan of lessons, books and handwork - so this week I'm trying to get a whole heap of gardening done. 

But that wasn't actually what I wanted to share. I wanted to mention that if you plant by the Moon, today was the day for leafy greens (yes, I know I should have let you know yesterday or the day before, sorry!)

Although I use an Astrological Calendar every year, I've never actually 'used' it for the planting bit!! This year I am being very diligent and have managed to plant roots, fruits and leaves at the right time so it will be interesting to see how they all grow. So far so good!! 

Today, I sowed kale and perpetual spinach that I'd saved the seeds of last year, dill, and two types of lettuce....... we eat a lot of lettuce! 

I've grown a few types of lettuce over the years but my favourite, and the one I plant every time, is 'Freckles' or Forellenschuss . Originally I bought the seeds because it was an Austrian heirloom (I'm patriotic!) but having used it for a while I've decided that it is just The Best!! 

It's tasty, it looks pretty in the garden but best of all, it's so easy to wash for dinner!! Only the outside leaves need a bit of a clean and the rest are smooth enough that I just check them and throw them in. Nothing seems to stick to them, there are no curly bits for greeblies to hide in and other than a bit of dirt at the bottom, they are clean!! 

If you like quick, I recommend them.

   

The very nicest part of my garden excursion was finding a tiny brown frog in the potato patch. Now that was very exciting - I love a bit of non veggie eating wildlife sharing the garden! 

And yes, our garden is very green and lush but I do water at least a part of it, most days. I decided that either we grew our own and used extra water and no sprays or we bought veggies with the same amount of water usage in a monoculture situation plus added chemicals. It helps that we are on town water for the first time in years - although we do pay for the usage and the privilege.

What do you think - is that a viable option, taking all issues into account, or not?