My Garden Is Blooming...

On the back of my bus. It's amazing how it survives... But it does.
My bus, because it's different, attracts a lot of attention.
People stop to chat and often ask where I put all my pots
when I'm travelling. Well they stay right there... And no
they don't fall off and yes they do grow.


I re-potted them all recently. Kept all the plants but filled
the pots with new compost. The mint has gone mad... I mostly
make tea with it... Delicious fresh mint tea. I love it.
The next pot has new coriander plants. It's hard to grow
as it immediately goes to seed. I've decided I am going to
let one seed head grow, stake it down so the seeds fall into the
pot then I should have continual new little plants.
The other side of the pot is thyme. The pot in the middle curly
 leaf parsley. Same with the parsley when it seeds.
One seed head will supply plenty of new plants.

From the other end... I have sage which has taken a while to decide
to grow. It also makes lovely tea. There is a little rosemary plant,
in a pot it will only grow to a small size, but it will be enough
to put sprigs into a bottle of oil for salads and to cook with
and enough to put into a spray bottle of water to spray
on my hair after washing it. In between there are some
calendula and nasturtium seedlings. In any garden in New
Zealand they both grow like weeds but they are
reluctant to grow in my pots... but I keep trying!
Next pot along is chives. I have just cut all the seed heads
off and left one for seed.

These are my tomatoes. Last year I successfully grew one in
a smaller pot. This year I got a bigger pot, planted the seed
from a 'sweet 100' tomato I had and lots of them grew. I
gave lots away and kept four. When they are a bit bigger
I will make a bamboo frame for them then let them ramble.

And this years basil. I bought small plants as soon as they
came into the shops. They sat for a while as they
like really hot conditions to grow well... Hence them
living in the front of my bus where they get a lot of sun and
light. Also when I'm driving they are treated to under
root heating as they are sitting on the engine cover!
My shells keep them company and on the left is my
 blue sun chair and because I now have a fire...
A bag of firewood. The silver 'thing' in the front I
scored from the Bedford rally. There was a gift swapping
time, put in a Bedford related gift, take one out. It comes
off the front bonnet of another old Bedford. It's got the Bedford
lion and eagle symbol and Bedford written underneath. I don't know
yet what I am going to do with it... So meanwhile it sits there.

Another Extraordinary Day In Paradise...

When I do a big shop to re-stock my fridge...
I trim and wash my fruit and veges before storing them.
(Soak for 1/2 hour in 1/4 cup of malt vinegar in a sink of water
I have a small sink. This helps to neutralize and remove toxic sprays.)
Leave in a rack or I put them on a tea towel on the bench, to dry.
They are then ready to eat and cook with and take less room in my fridge.
This week I was horrified at the price of fresh veges...
So decided I would keep all the bits I would usually throw away...
The very tops of the celery stalks, the bottom of the asparagus spears, the dark green tops of the leeks,
the thick stalks from the broccoli... I did  peel these!
I thought nothing would be lost if I tried making them into a soup...
So I added a chopped onion, grated carrot and 1/2 cup brown lentils...

Put them all in the pot with some gluten free chicken stock...
And boiled them up for a couple of hours.
I then added a tin of tomatoes, some chilli, fish sauce, cumin...
Whizzed it up with my stick - that I have told you before
I can now run through my recently installed 2000watt inverter.

And... Delicious fresh vege soup...
Garnished with flat leaf parsley...
From my garden pots on the back of my bus...
And lunch was served

 

After lunch I went gathering firewood with a friend 

who has a tiny 'Little Cracker' 

 wood burning fire in his house-bus.

I am thinking about installing one before next winter...

So want to consider what is involved in... 

Finding, chopping and storing wood.

 
There is plenty of dry wood to be found at Uretiti...
A  lot of Pine trees were cut down
and left to rot away in the sand dunes.
Big wood, small branches and pine cones... Lots of them all.


We walked back to the bus with our haul...
My friend has an outside workbench and small device for
holding the branches against...
While he cuts them up with his amazing sharp little saw.
I have concluded I could do all this...
To have the ambience, warmth, comfort, and cooking facility
of a 'Little Cracker'.



This was the end result... Tubs of kindling...

 

And tubs of bigger wood and cones.

I put these in my bus to transport... To see if they would fit somewhere.

They did, one in an outside locker... The other inside in front of the passenger seat.

So with a few alterations... 

I think a fossil fuel fire is going to happen in my little home.

 

My last job for the day... 

Apart from sitting in the sun and trying to catch up 

on  reading last Saturday's newspaper...

Was to water and feed my basil.

I have shown you photos before so you will see how much is has grown.

I have given away about 12 little plants... 

There were too many in my basket!

And I'm starting to harvest and eat it now.

As I pick the tops off it will bush and the 6-8 plants I leave to grow 

will be nice and big.

I love the smell and taste.

So that was my day... Tomorrow I am moving on...

To the next adventure... Around the next corner... Whatever it might be...

Growing Basil... And My Garden Is Growing...

This is a basket I have had for years.
It belonged to my mother before me...
It has had various uses...
But in my bus I decided I would grow basil in it...
So I repainted it...
Lined it with plastic...
And planted the seeds...
If you look very carefully you can just see them coming up after 2 weeks.

Now they are 6 weeks old and growing well.
The best basil I have ever grown was when I had a house and hot house.
It loves the heat... That's why I decided inside was the place.



What my basil will be like very soon...
I read that basil is native to India and other tropical regions of Asia,
it's been cultivated there for 5000 years!
In some english speaking countries it's sometimes known as Saint Joseph's Wort.



In June I planted an edible garden...
 In the pots that live on top of my cargo box...
On the back of my bus.
These are my viola's.
They are part of the Violet family.
The flowers and young leaves are edible being rich in vitamins A &
 C and having an anti-oxidant, Anthocyanin, in them.
Viola flowers are used in Chinese herbal medicine having
 uterotonic, anti HIV, atomicrobial and insecticidal activities...
Why are they not grown as a common commercial crop?


My coriander has just gone to seed...
So I've cut that back and eaten lots of it...
Both of the parsley's are doing well, the chives are slow
also the calendula...
The mint and thyme are just sitting waiting for the warmer weather.
The nasturtiums are just surviving, they don't like the cold and rain...
Which we have had so much of during the winter.


 
Parsley and more viola's...
I make delicious salads... And more to come...


Early beginnings in June...