It is funny how when you start to garden, it becomes a part of you. Your personality changes, and the way you see the world differs from your previous self. And when you need to go on holiday you feel like you are leaving a part of yourself behind. It is funny how attached you become to plants. And it is not just about the plants, but the actual process of growing your own plants and food. The cycle is broken, the compost production halts to an almost complete stop, the growth of herbs and veggies ceases, and so on.

I visited my girlfriend who lives about 1200 km away from my home. My dad took over the garden and kept things like my cuttings going, watering the veggies and herbs that need little if any babysitting.

And now I am back, and the workload is something else.

In this post or garden journal, I reminisce about my doings in the garden and I reflect on my own attachment to the garden. I also share with you the findings I made whilst being away, like some random peppers growing between my swiss chard. Please come with me on this rather eventful journey through my messy garden!

Planting New Marog (Amaranth Variety)

Just before I left to get on the plane to visit my girlfriend, I harvested a bunch of marog (an amaranth variety). Leaving it for two months (to dry), I took one or two of the seed heads and sowed some seeds for the new season. (If you want to read more about this, please see my earlier post on African spinach or Marog.)

It is a bit late, I would have wanted to sow the seeds about late September or early October, but I was not here. Now I am hoping that they will grow quickly as my mind is already filling with various recipes I want to try out. My favorite recipe to make is what we call Umfino pap (please see the recipe here).

For now, I can only hope that this season will yield a good crop.

| Recently Sowed Bed |

Massive Wild Rocket that Spread Like Weeds

I really have a rocket (salad and wild variety) obsession. I have made various posts over the years about my obsession with them, from their philosophical to their culinary inspiration. Recently, I have let the wild variety go well wild in my garden. Between the indigenous fynbos and in my veggie garden, you will find, year-round, wild rocket leaves.

Great for salads and pestos, you can never get sick of wild rocket in my opinion. And if they spread so easily and grow so prolific, why would you not want them to spread and produce vast amounts of food for you?

| Wild rocket plants between the indigenous plants |

Being part of the mustard family, this plant and seed also contain so much wisdom. I think the bible verse (Matthew 13:31–32) refers to this mustard seed because it is so small and it produces one enormous plant that again produces so many seeds you cannot even count them.

The size of this year's wild rocket is something of a mystery to me. Normally, the leaves are relatively small, but this year after some good rains in the winter, the leaves have turned huge. Some of the leaves are even bigger than those in the picture on the right.

I have harvested twice already. There is still so much left in the garden.

Happy Surprises: Purslane, Peppers, and a Growth Spurt in Swiss Chard

I love the absolute surprise element when gardening and growing food. Sometimes you get things you did not plan for.

Like purslane that erupts from the ground each summer. Between the many cuttings I have made, various purslane plants have erupted from seemingly nowhere.

Healthy, delicious, and nutritious, they are calling me to pick their leaves for my future salads and Tzatziki dip. I need to write a recipe for that dip! Not only delicious, but the sourness of the yogurt might also counteract the so-called negative effects of oxalic acid.

Look out for the recipe in due time!

Like a gift just before Christmas, these peppers are growing in between my swiss chard. I am not aware of sowing any pepper seeds, and these look like jalapenos (which I do not grow).

But they are looking healthy and there are at least 10 on the smallish plant. I am thinking of letting them turn yellow before harvesting them and pickling them for either salad, pizza, or some burgers!

Talking of swiss chard, they have just exploded into a green heaven.

| Swiss chard heaven |

Before leaving, I planted various baby swiss chard plants that I grew from my first successful swiss chard seed harvest. They did not look like they will survive; the ground was not that healthy and the spring sun burnt them. But they somehow survived! They have exploded. Tonight, I am going to make a quick swiss chard quiche! What better way to celebrate the green leaves?

Cutting My Way Through the Bush

Most of the pathways in my fynbos garden grew over in the two months I was away. Like not cutting your grass, the pathways almost disappeared.

I managed to cut most of them somewhat open again. But now I have even more compost material.

For two months, my dad collected most of the compostable scraps from the kitchen and garden for me. But now I must again begin the compost anew. The workload is much, but I really enjoy being back in the garden!

| Compostable pathway clippings |

| Potential new compost |

Postscriptim, or From Waste to Food/Plants

One day, I worked in the compost and cut my finger on a pineapple head/leaf. I picked it up and saw the roots sprouting from its end. I decided to stick it in some compost and see if it grows.

Look at it now:

| Pineapple plant |

I will not grow it for the fruit, but for the plant. It is really a beautiful plant and I think a trophy or metaphor for what we can do if we choose to think for ourselves.

The same goes for most clippings in the garden. I always stick many of these clippings and cuttings in little holders with compost and see what grows. I have made so many new rosemary plants, and others, that I do not even know which ones are the original.

| Clipping/Cuttings turned into new plants |

And that is the wonderful thing about gardening for me, you can grow something from waste, and the waste can be used to grow new plants. It is all so cyclical.

I hope you enjoyed this long-winded recap of my garden adventures! In the meantime, I am going to harvest some swiss chard. All of the photographs are my own, taken with my iPhone, and all of the musings are my own. Happy gardening, and stay safe!