Saturday Spot: The Keyhole Garden Keeps on Growing…

We have been having a gardening frenzy yet again, with projects pending and projects looming. I thought I would show you how our keyhole garden was doing. Here it is right now:

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The last time we showed you our keyhole garden it was producing this:

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And the salads it was producing were incredible, from one tiny patch of garden!!! (Well everything except the feta cheese!).

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We were excited and our Celebrity Chef was thrilled to be finding ingredients in the garden… so much so that he ate his hat!!!

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So we started over. Began again from scratch. The idea was to get another crop load out of the garden this summer. So three weeks ago we were back to the basics, with an enlarged keyhole garden – almost double the size.

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And our garden was ready for planting… so another trip to our absolute favorite vegetable nursery: Harts Nursery… and a gathering of seedlings. I just love that you can buy just the one or two seedlings that you need and not a punnet of eight spinach plants or anything… If you don’t live on a farm and only have a teeny tiny garden then this is brilliant!!!

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And replanting…

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Potential Pizza garden on the one side: with basil and tomatoes and parsley and we had to put the celery somewhere!!!

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On the other side we planted our salad: Lettuces, peppers and such like.

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And despite our complete gardening ignorance, with a bit of watering each morning and consistently tossing our vegetable peelings and so on down the net… we keep the plate on top because it deters unwelcome critters and keeps those little fruit flies in…

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And this garden grows:

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And three weeks from planting:

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We are harvesting!!!

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The chef is in and content!!!

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I love it, from the table to the garden to the table to the garden… definitely works for me!!!

And our three potential projects:

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  1. Some of us are so inspired that we have a mountain of packets of seeds to plant and try… what on earth will we do with the potentially abundant crop – I have no idea!!! And any of you who want to tell Hood #6 that sweet peas are not a vegetable are most welcome… Go ahead, spoil the magic!!!
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  3. And we always seem to have more kitchen compost than our keyhole garden can cope with so we are planning to try out a compost bin…. I already have the black box. Drill it, fill it, stir it and wait!!!
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  5. And if I ever get over my squeamishness we will make a worm farm, there are really good directions in Justin Bonello’s Cooked in Africa. I need to figure out three containers that fit into each other and a lid for the top one. And I need to figure out which hood is brave enough for any maintenance – because I know I am not!!
  6. That’s us!!! Happy Gardening…

    P.S. If you did something fun with your kids or made a great link list then pop over and link it up to our Fabulous Friday Fun.

18 Replies to “Saturday Spot: The Keyhole Garden Keeps on Growing…”

  1. I cannot wait till it’s warmer here so we can start to garden again. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow and Wednesday. Sigh. I love the winter but I am pretty much ready for the spring now!!!

    Hope you and your beautiful family have a nice week.

    Thanks for dropping by my place and for such a sweet comment!

    Warm HUGS!
    Lolly

  2. Hay Lolly, Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Privileged we are!!! We have never even seen snow on this side of the world – I just don’t know how you survive!!! All strength to you and your poor runny nosed pup!!! Lots of love…

  3. Wow! I LOVE your litttle garden that is so big and thriving. Now if you guys could just pop over here to North Carolina and help us get one started! 🙂

  4. Hi B, Oh Wow… A job opportunity!!! We would love to make you a keyhole garden but logistics are a bit awkward!!! You need to hunt down eight assorted shaped kidlets for rock carrying purposes… and after that you are away!!!

  5. Did you do the compost box? I am interested in doing that. I am looking for a spot to start my garden….

  6. Hi Tammy, We never got round to the compost box, but we did do a whole lot of research on a worm farm and we are hoping to start one this summer when we get back from Lesotho… sorry it isn’t all up and ready for you!!! Enjoy the spring weather we have been gardening up a storm because of it!!!

  7. Aaahhh, yes I also would love a worm farm if I just didnt have to touch them!!!! Love the keyhole garden posts. Thanks.

  8. Hay Tammy… We so looked into the worm farm and really it is such an easy thing to do and blog pictures are ready and all!!! So must get into the whole thing… we sure do have enough to feed them!!!

  9. Hi Tammy, we did have all those stones… we have masses of stones it is just a matter of getting everyone to pick up five stones and bring them to one spot!!! So we will be able to build a great garden – can’t wait!!! Hope you are enjoying a snug afternoon!!!

  10. Ok me again….. Our keyholes are up and going….. But now we are swarmed by fruit flies, we have carpet “lids” for our compost chutes but they are all over my house did you ever have this problem?

  11. Hi Tammy… Just for the record we are having a lot of flies this season and I am about to do something about them!!! Secondly… We use ceramic covers on our “chimney” and only open them up when the sun is not shining on them… after sunset or before the sun hits our garden in the morning. We use the plates that go under plant pots to catch the water. It has helped to make fruit fly traps – even on the windowsill, this can help… Scroll down to number four in this post: http://www.se7en.org.za/2010/02/26/se7en-science-experiments-bugs-birds-and-beasts Hope this helps… let me know if you find a solution…Lots of love…

  12. Ok thanks I will try the “after sunset” idea for opening… Have tried a few vinegar and wine traps which have trapped a whole load in my kitchen but there still are lots more….will let u know!

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