How’s summer going for you all? I think we had it on Wednesday last week down in this part of the country.  For most of January we had to keep reminding ourselves that was still January – summer – not the middle of winter.  However, the grass and weeds are still growing so there’s still plenty of warmth and moisture out there.  The Chief Lawnmower in the family was just saying that in the time it took for him to finish his second cup of tea and a biscuit, he saw the grass grow by at least a centimetre.   I’m making good use of the lawn clippings though as mulch in a desperate attempt to keep the weeds down.

I sometimes feel a little smug after I have managed to get my elderflower cordial made and my sparkling elderflower bottled and brewing away in the shed. I post about it and then my friend Shelley will comment that she has made hers as well but she has also MADE MARMALADE FROM THE LEFTOVER LEMONS.  I’m talking about the lemons leftover from the elderflower brewing process. I know it’s not a competition but I definitely think if it was, she would win.  Talk about resourceful!

October is probably one of the busiest months of the year for the garden especially towards the end of the month with Labour weekend being the great traditional NZ planting weekend. If you are into sowing seeds then most things can be sown this month provided you have a warm place to start off the more tender ones such as tomatoes etc.  As you sow your first lot of seeds, kick off your succession planting cycle by purchasing some punnets of well grown plants from your local garden centre or store and get them into the ground.