The Carob Border, green fingers and eating herbs for the next few months on acoount of my "Pot" blow out!

My gardening continues at a pace. In fact I think I rather overdid it last week, and my poor old bod went into melt down over the weekend and refused to co operate with me on the gardening front, so I simply had to chill in the farm. The temperatures reached and unseasonal 35 degrees with a fierce hair dryer wind blowing.


Below find some "Work in progress" pictures of my latest border "The Carob Tree border", Eugene very kindly gave me some water irises that he promises are stunning but need a "bog garden", when I raised my brows, he laughed and said "It is possible in the desert". He then gave me explicit instructions on how to construct the "bog", and during last week I started to construct it. Moses has enough difficulty understanding my very basic garden instructions, and even if I draw pictures for him, he doesn't understand them..so I HAD to do this myself..no easy think in this landscape.
First a 1M X 1M by ½ meter deep square had to be dug in the border...awful...truly awful work...then the hole lined with double thickness tarp, then filled with water...irises laid in at this point, then backfilled with compost and proper soil and all squidged down and topped with raisin mulch,[ its important to know that I had to divert three of the sprinklers to permanently feed the bog]..It took most of last week to achieve but its done, now I have to finish the rest of the border!

Left of the Carob tree is the huge Cycad that will eventually go near the new driveway entrance.

                                                  The spiky leaves to the left are the water irises

                                    The stone henge edging will continue all the way around the border.

                                       I spent a week overhauling the iris border, and its looking very neat now.

At some point last week Bossy came careering up to the farm, I was deep inside the pit at this point, he asked me to get in the car immediately with him....."Why...Look" I said pointing to my mud encrusted state. "Because there is a guy with a lorry selling palms on the crossroads at Kak.
I didn't need to be asked twice and leapt into the bakkie. Sure enough there was a huge lorry parked on the junction with some very decent huge palms.
We negotiated for 1 huge cycad and 6 baby cycads [for the car park at the factory]. Three medium palms for the factory. 4 huge coconut palms for the old kraal and two med sized palms for the new driveway. [not nearly under construction yet]..I wanted more but didn't want to push my luck.


Anyway all, bar the 2 med sized palms are in now, and I'm on such a roll that I informed Bossy that I would make the trip into UP today [Monday] for the sole purpose of buying some pots for the patio and around the exterior of the farm.
So cocky was I, that when a little tramp like man came to ask me for parking money [ these guys put a florescent bib on and con passing motorists for money], usually I give them a couple of rand and drive off without a thought, but on this occasion I was very rude, and refused to pay him a cent, hopping into my car and revving it up so loudly that he jumped back onto the pavement as I hurtled off. This I can only explain as "purchasing euphoria." Or "Buying rage" to put it more bluntly.

WE NOW NEED TO ORGANISE A LORRY TO COLLECT THE POTS...Bossy is being very "grown up" about this. Its most unusual for me to have a blow out on this scale, and I  justified it by telling myself how much hard work I have been putting into the farm garden, and how "The garden" deserves a reward!

I have purchased 13 pots. None of them are small either.....YIKES. What am I going to fill them with?.....I don't know yet, but will face that when I have all the "loot" safely back at the farm.
Tazzy you will be tickled I have purchased two "Pigs nipple pots"..I think only Tazzy will understand this so please forgive. Everyone else will have to wait for photos of them in situ!

Oh and before I forget, Dotti, I have planted mixed salad leaves, corriander ,flat leaf parsley and chives..am out of rocket/basil and chillies, but Eugene has given me lemon grass, rosmery, mint and celery leaf plants. So I`m feeling "herb rich" at the moment, what with his discovery of a bay tree in my garden, and raised beds bordered by Oregano.