~ IWSG: The Impact of Distraction ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG.

May 1 question – How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you?
It’s changed a lot over the years. If you’d asked me forty years ago, I would have said yes distractions derail me big-time, and I lose my rag at friends and family because everyone/thing is barking for my attention when all I want to do is write. When I was young, I had a low threshold of patience for disruptions. Story writing was something I was “trying” to do, to learn, to understand, and it required a great deal of concentration. There was a deep longing for solitude and quiet – if only I could get things quiet enough, I might have been able to hear the muse, and I might have been able to produce a work of near genius. But I couldn’t go away far enough or attain enough peace of mind to get fully underway with my writing.

So what did I crave? More distance, more peace. It’s like that old yearning for the quiet mountaintop or being able to retreat into the wilderness for perfect serenity that can never be filled. You can take holidays, stay in the country for years, and escape from everyday life for periods that never seem long enough. You eventually find your still center, and the words flow. But, it can never last. Sooner or later, you have to go back to your life.
Looking back on that early period, I realize now that I was still young, a person undergoing construction, with elements of my personality and belief system that had yet to coalesce into any kind of sense. To write fiction, I had to travel out of town and stay by the seaside for extended periods of solitude and find myself before I could work. Just having a person enter the room when I was writing was enough to break my flow. My link with the craft was flimsy. Tenuous.

But as I say, it’s changed a lot over the years. If you ask me that question today, I would say I’m no longer as easily distracted.
The older I get, the less I need my environment to be a certain way, and the less I need to leave town or ‘retreat’ to produce the copy. My workstation is at the kitchen table. I live here with my two grown-up sons in a small house. The boys have friends over, and there is constant music and chatter. Sometimes, I’ll be sitting at my computer working with a crowd of teenagers two steps away from me playing Mario Kart on the Nintendo in the living room, and my middle son sitting six steps away from me watching WWE (wrestling) at top volume on his tablet. It’s a constant barrage of babbling, boisterous, bombast, and coming at me in surround sound. I have learned how to zoom in with more focus on my story and close the mayhem out of my mind. I ignore them. A cone of silence drops.

The result, the work gets done. And I don’t have to spend a fortune and hightail into the countryside. There are so many blessings about getting older. I am happy to say that in my old age, I’m discovering the truth, that there is nowhere to rush to, nothing to change. I can write wherever I am, no matter what else is going on. My old age has taught me I’m not in charge. The stories come from the muse, the ether, ‘the inspired whatevers’ as my dear friend Meg used to say and percolate through my mind, my life, my gathered knowledge and experiences and understanding, and all I have to do – as Julian Fellowes once famously put it – (is) “let the words trickle out.”
Sit at my desk. That’s what I’ve learned after 40+ years of writing. Show up.
Then you can write – even with noisome boys near and in your ear.
How do you cope with all the distractions of modern life?

Talk to you later.
Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
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“Within you, there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which YOU can retreat at any time and find peace.” – Hesse

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I know I’ve mentioned this story from my past before, but it bears repeating here. That of a run-in I had with one of my first writing tutors, Maria Stuttard, where she asked me at one point, “How old are you?”
I responded, “Seventeen.”
Maria said, “My advice to you is to put down your pen.”
I was aghast. What?
She went on. “Go out, live your life, pack into it everything you possibly can, and then come back to your desk and write.”
There was no way I could stop writing stories – it was my form of stress release. But, I did ‘go out into the world and live my life.’ My storywriting continued in the background of my adult life and has been my ongoing hobby for more than forty years.
What I see now is that Maria was right. To write well for the erudition of others, an author has to have lived. At our Fabulatores writing group today, the girls and I were saying that we use tidbits from our whole lives in every story, snippets of conversation, turns of phrase, personality quirks, funny and or distressing situations, stories we have heard, things we have witnessed – that we draw on this rich reservoir when we write fiction. Maria was right. I regret doubting her, as the older I get the more I feel I have to offer my writing.

~ BACKYARD GARDENING 8 ~

Hey, gardeners! It is important to wander your garden regularly. Birds drop seeds, or seeds float on the wind. I regularly pull out the saplings taking root in my garden and also noxious weeds of all kinds. Pulling these things out when they’re small before the roots go too deep is easier. Keep an eye on pests, too. They can indicate when a plant is struggling and reveal which plants may require extra attention. Water and liquid/foliar feed as required.

I’ve mentioned before that I also use homemade herbicides. Before using any of these recipes, however, it pays to prepare the weeds for their destruction. Mix three cups of water with a few drops of dishwashing liquid and spray onto the offending plants. This helps to break down their protective barriers. I find a portion of the weeds will die from this preparatory solution alone.

For this reason, it pays to leave two days between spraying to allow long enough for any die-off to occur. Of course, if it rains, you’ll be back to square one, so try to choose dry weather. Don’t spray in the scorching heat of midday either, as too much heat may cause the solution to evaporate before it’s done its work.

Once the watered-down soap spray has had a day or two, you can use several solutions. For the so-called “dry method,” mix 2 cups of water with 1 tbs of pure alcohol (96%) and spray liberally. This will cause the weeds to dry out, and you can rake them out easily. Or you could use the acid solution. Combine 1 cup of white vinegar and 2 tbsp of lemon juice and spray on. It won’t poison the soil or the surrounding plant, so it’s gentle on the garden. The vinegar solution takes 3.5 litres of cleaning vinegar mixed with half a cup of salt and a squirt of detergent. Spray all these homemade remedies onto the weeds and repeat until the weeds die.
A baking soda solution calls for sprinkling 1 tsp of baking soda on the roots of each weed. I found this the least useful of all the homemade remedies I’ve tried though, because it’s backbreaking having to bend down and put the powder on each weed. Far easier to spray the other solutions with a garden pressure sprayer. But to each his own. If you have a small garden and just a few weeds, it might be easier to use baking soda directly than a pressure sprayer. Do what works for your garden.

While all this defensive work is going on, I try not to forget to fertilize my vegetables and fruit trees every two weeks with different fertilizers. I like to use a combination of store-bought and homemade fertilizers. It’s simple to make your fertilizers. See my post Backyard Gardeners 2 for recipes for fertilizer tea. I try to remember to add lime to my compost regularly. It helps to keep soil and compost at a nice 5.5 PH balance, watering it well but not too heavily. If you buy store-bought fertilizers, ensure the “NPK” rating is relatively low, the lower the better, 8% or less.
Above all, remember to stop and enjoy the fruits of your labour. I like to either take a walk around my property in the early evening with a glass of sparkling water or sit at the outdoor table with friends or family and simply soak in the beneficial vibes of paradise. It’s good for the soul.
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

“Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are. ” Alfred Austin

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~ Decorating for Christmas ~

Isn’t it great, the anticipation you get the day you’re to get out the Christmas decorations? I don’t know about you, but it’s a fizzing in the veins. This is not a job to do when the kids are home, to pooh-pooh, or worse, ignore the whole proceedings as if it were boring. This is not a job to do when other tasks need doing because it predictably takes much longer than expected and demands focused concentration.
Every year, I have the little tradition that I’ve done for nearly 30 years since my older sister gave me the famous All Time Greatest Christmas Songs double album. I kick off the decorating by putting on CD 1, which starts with Maria Carey’s iconic All I Want for Christmas. Those opening notes always signal my system, okay, now you’re allowed to be happy and celebrate. Opening each box of decorations is like rediscovering old friends. As I open each container and bundle of bubble wrap, there are oohs and aahs – another reason to do it while the kids are not around – I have even clapped my hands with glee.

Some of these funny old decorations were given to me, some were made by the kids when they were little, and some were great finds at fleamarkets and charity shops. Each piece has a story and a memory attached. Every year, I set them out differently, experimenting with little scenes and arrangments until I get things “just right.” Most of these trinkets are not worth any money, not specialty pieces; they are handpicked items bought purely for the twinkle they put in my eye and the pep they put in my step. I’m a child again at Christmas, allowed to go into raptures over the coloured lights and silly little ornaments. And I love them all inordinately. I become hypnotized by glitter. There is nothing more fun than getting out my bottles of glitter to bedazzle the family Christmas cards.
Decorating for the festive season is like a meditation. Setting out each compilation of baubles and figures becomes a unique artwork. And I get incredible satisfaction from creating them and then happierness every time I see them for the duration of the season.

I think the kids have always tolerated my excessive festive decorating with rolling eyes in my direction. They think it’s part of old mum’s eccentricity. “Boy, your mum sure likes Christmas,” their friends mutter when they come over. But, let’s face it, as long as the boys don’t have to be involved or clean up afterward, they’re fine about anything.
Decorating the whole house for December is a relatively recent development. I used to only have a small Xmas tree when I first moved out of home and had to create festive vibes for myself. But, over the years, a collection of ornaments and trinkets has grown to occupy six large boxes that take up one whole shelf of our storage. Then, in November, when reunited with my entire collection, I am always reminded why I bother storing them all year. I love this stuff. It makes my heart sing like being a kid again. And that’s got to be a good thing.

A moment’s awe, inspiration, and inner glow is worth a whole shelf worth of space in our house. I love this time of year. As one of my friends at Toastmasters says, “At Christmas, we’re allowed to be happy.” He’s right. I give myself permission for good cheer.
It’s a delightful, joyful, bright-eyed time.
Who needs to dissect it?
We’ve worked hard all year. Let’s rest and gather and eat and be merry and make the most of being alive. And, as it says in the old song, Auld Lang Syne, We hope that next year we will still be here to celebrate and gather together again. (paraphrasing)

Happy Holidays, one and all!

(Our homemade greeting card, 2005)

Keep Creating!
Yvette Carol
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“Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind.” — Calvin Coolidge

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~ How to Make the Best Dessert – Feijoa Icecream ~

Now and again, I stumble upon a terrific dish purely by accident. After this happy event, I will continue to make said yummilishisnous for myself, experimenting with it – adding and deleting ingredients – and tweaking it as I go along until it reaches perfection or my version. The most recent happy accident – new favourite dessert – is something I fondly call Feijoa Icecream. I thought perhaps I would share this dish and spread the love.
We grew up in New Zealand eating feijoas. I’m always surprised when people are unfamiliar with them. The feijoa comes from the highlands of parts of South America. Some people call the fruit the ‘pineapple guava’ or ‘guava steen’. Feijoa is sweet yet can also carry a tartness, making it ideal as a summer fruit and suitable for making pickles and relish. I love it for the Feijoa Ice Cream.

But, it does not have to be made out of feijoas. This recipe is a way of using whatever excess fruit we have when it’s in season. The fruit we’ll harvest from our garden beginning in December will be the Wilson Early plums. We’ll eat lots of the plums fresh, and then I slice and freeze the rest. It’s a great way of using the fruit and enjoying it for longer.
Ingredients:
Frozen fresh fruit
Two fresh strawberries
Handful of fresh or frozen blueberries
1 fresh peeled kiwifruit
2 squares of dark chocolate (80 % or higher cocoa content)
2 pecans
quarter cup kefir
slosh of fresh organic cream

The Method:
The Icecream ~
Scoop the fruit out of the feijoas (or slice whatever fruit you have) and freeze. Do this a few days ahead of making your dessert. I freeze my fruit pulp in freezer bags.
The Method2:
I take out a bag of frozen feijoas and carve off a large hunk (technical term) while it’s still frozen. Then, after a minute or two on the bench to slightly soften, I slice the frozen fruit thinly.
Set the shaved feijoa into a dessert bowl.
Slice a kiwifruit on top of the feijoa.
Slice a couple of strawberries on the kiwi.
Add a handful of blueberries.
Pour a swirl of Kefir (fermented milk) over this lovely mountain.
Finely slice the dark chocolate and sprinkle delicately over the Keffir.
Crumble a pecan or two in your hand and over the chocolate.
Lastly, lavish a lug of organic cream over the entire creation. Voila!

I got such a surprise the first time I tasted this concoction. The cream infiltrates the frozen fruit and makes it taste like ice cream. Add the tartness of some of the fruit against the sweetness of the kiwi and feijoa, and the crunch of the chocolate shards and pecan – it’s like perfection in a mouthful. Heaven.
I eat healthy meals during the week. At the weekend, I look forward to making my special dessert and eating it so much. And, of course, before I would eat such a dessert, I would have had my apple cider vinegar starter and eaten a nutritious meal in between. Then, I feel, hey, I can enjoy my Feijoa Ice cream!
You’re welcome.
Bon Appetit! Have you stumbled on any homegrown recipes lately?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“There is nothing better than a friend unless it’s a friend with chocolate.” —Linda Grayson

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~ A Flood Story ~

I would have posted this last week, but it was the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s monthly question, so the story became delayed by a week. On the 27th Jan the rain that had been “persisting down,” as my father used to say, fell more steadily towards late afternoon. Another tropical cyclone was expected, and a heavy rainfall watch was in place. Nevertheless, my friends were gathering that evening for dinner. I wobbled down to the garage in heels, carrying a heavy oven dish of the blueberry apricot crumble I had made for dessert, plus a paper bag bearing vanilla bean ice cream and two tubs of thickened cream. I had to splash through water to get to the car, thinking, that’s odd. I’ve never had to do that before. Then I noticed sheets of water streaming off the higher ground beneath the house onto the concrete pad the car was sitting on, something I had not seen in my 58 years of living here.
Undeterred, I backed out of the garage and headed slowly down the road, having to breach a small lake of surface water at the end. I turned right and drove halfway along through swirling muddy water. The thought in my mind was, your instincts are telling you to stay home, you idiot. Why are you still driving? Through the sideways curtains of torrential rain, I glimpsed a line of cars ahead, waiting to get through as a little Suzuki car bravely pushed through the sizeable lake spanning the intersection to turn into our street.

Holy crap. I knew I needed to get home as fast as possible. I turned around and ploughed my way through, making it back to the saturated garage about five minutes later.
Man, was I grateful to be home. But would we be safe? When I told the teenagers indoors about the street flooding, the youngest son and his girlfriend immediately galvanized into action. He needed to take his girlfriend home before the 6 p.m. curfew. The pair raced out the door slinging on raincoats, hoping vainly to catch the last bus, which their mobiles informed them was “five stops away.” I told them to run, as I had seen the state of the roads.

And from then on, I worried about them.

40 minutes later, the youngest son rang. They had realized the bus would not be able to make it through the rising water, so the pair of them had trekked to the nearest shops, sometimes wading through water up to their waists. They were wet, scared, and tired. The girlfriend’s mother was on her way to pick them up.
Thank goodness!
20 minutes later, the son rang again. Every road they took to return to the girlfriend’s house was blocked or flooded. They were still trying to get through.
At this point, I was praying. There was nothing else I could do besides giving instructions on the phone. I was at home, looking after my son with Down syndrome. Luckily, he sleeps through anything. I, on the other hand, spent a miserable evening. The rain pelted down harder and harder. I have never seen rainfall like it – the term “biblical proportions” sprang to mind. I kept checking the scene outside the house and listening to the radio. Friends and family on social media shared videos of people riding a bus home with water sloshing around their ankles and a bus floating sideways across the road. There were photos of the airport and the local supermarket completely awash.

Looking out the windows often and constantly reading the live updates on the news, I began to panic. Though I am an optimistic person, I found myself thinking about the real possibility of being flooded out of our homes, maybe evacuated, maybe loss of life and I was shaking all over terrified. I feared for my friends, and my extended family living across the city, including my eldest son and granddaughter. I also feared for my elderly neighbours, the white-haired couple and the grandmother on her own who live at the bottom of the street. At one stage, I donned a coat and gumboots to check the water level outside. It was a relief to see that it had not changed and everyone was still safely above the water level.
You can imagine it was a long night.
Finally, I got the news my son and company had arrived safely at the girlfriend’s house. They were straight into hot showers and promised me they would eat a healthy meal. Through social media family and friends chatted online together sharing updates, which is how I knew everyone else I loved was at home and dry.
Thank heavens!

I woke the next morning thrilled to find we were still in our beds and the rain had abated. I felt humbled, grateful for our lives and that our homes were still standing, grateful and aware of our blessings, and very grateful that the rain had stopped. We had 245 mm in 24 hours. It was officially our “wettest day on record.” Since then, we have had blue skies and sunshine. Strange weather, man! I went out and about the neighbourhood, looking at the damage. Folks were cleaning their yards, and I passed a few groups gathered on sidewalks or outside houses, chatting with brooms in their hands and rubbish bins. Everywhere people stood talking. I’ve been chatting with folks, too. It struck me that disasters make people connect with other people. I know the names of two more neighbours I didn’t know before. It helps to know the name of the folks living cheek-by-jowl with you when the chips are down. We’ve been reminded that we need each other, I guess, which is a beautiful thing to come out of this disaster. My thoughts are with the families of the victims. There were four dead. It has been horrendous for us, but somehow, we got through it.

As an introvert, I require time to come to terms with everything. It might take a week to sift through the contents of my mind. Secondarily, I need to clean the garage. Now, another cyclone is on the way. Whewee!
2023 – how’s everyone else finding it so far?

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“You will face many defeats in life, but never let yourself be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

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~ BACKYARD GARDENING 6 ~

Billy Williams once said, “I enjoy painting, cutting the lawn, and working in the garden when I have time. That’s therapy for me. I enjoy working with my hands.” I feel exactly the same way. For me, it doesn’t matter how screwy the world gets, it doesn’t matter how stressed I get, all I need do is go out and work in my garden, staying out there from dawn till dusk, and by the time I come back indoors all is well. Getting my hands dirty is therapeutic, maybe it reminds me of the carefree days of childhood. I love my garden and the constant nature therapy it gives me. Here in New Zealand, it is the height of summer. Gardening becomes impossible after midday. Cool breezes and temperatures have given way to blistering days and soaring temperatures.

As for the weeds, they don’t seem to be affected by the heat but carry on thriving in a bountiful fashion regardless. In my ongoing efforts to control weeds, I employ various methods. With small weeds, I dig them up with a hoe and leave them on top of the soil to die. With Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum), I dig up and dispose of it. The invasive Wandering Jew plant (Tradescantia) can be dealt with in many ways. Either find someone with chickens and bag it up fresh for them, as my dad used to do, or put it into plastic sacks and tie them up. Leave the bags sealed until the weeds turn to liquid and can be used as fertilizer! Another way of eradicating Wandering Jew is to pull out every scrap you can scratch from the ground. Or you can cover it in large sheets of tin roofing held down with stones to prevent light from getting in and leave it for 6 months or more. Lack of sunlight and air will eventually kill it.

My good friend, Lyle, used to pile all the pulled-out weeds on the ground, cover them with a plastic sheet, and weigh them down. He said he uncovered it every few weeks, and turned the pile over with a garden fork, crushing under the gumboots, and covering it with a plastic sheet. The noxious weed eventually transformed into compostable soil. Be warned before you put it back on your vegetable beds. Even the smallest scrap of root will regrow.
With Oxalis (from the wood sorrel family Oxalidaceae), resist the temptation to pull it out. This only makes the weeds multiply virulently. You can either cover oxalis with plastic, or tin sheets, and weigh them down till they suffocate, or you can pour boiling water directly on the oxalis plants, which burns the roots.

This is coincidentally the season when Onehunga weed (also known as Prickle Weed or Bindii) flourishes anew on our lawn. While the seeds germinate in autumn and get spread by foot traffic and on the fur of animals, the plants are forming flowers by the middle of spring. These contain ripening seeds with spines. Then the seeds mature and drop by the middle of summer. The best time to cull them is to treat them in spring, preferably before they have a chance to flower.
I have experimented with various ways to combat Prickle Weed, and I’ll admit I resort to a potent pesticide for this issue. Hydrocolyte is the only treatment that seems to work for me. It kills only the Prickle Weed and leaves the grass and other plants to grow. I walk the lawns and spray it plant by plant as it appears in the grass. It has to be done twice in summer. Painstaking but worth it to have no prickles, especially when the granddaughter is here racing about the garden, or the times I want to walk barefoot on the grass.

Also, don’t forget to water in summer! It’s vital to monitor moisture levels on young trees, dwarf fruit trees, kiwi fruit and citrus, which are shallow-rooted and dry easily. Feijoas are in the same category and will produce far greater yields if they are kept watered. If plant roots have moisture they are able to take up minerals needed and will stay healthy and more resistant to disease.
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

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~ IWSG: Festive Writing? ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

December 7 question – It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?
Fall behind, way way behind. This is the time of year when – ooh, look, something sparkly – I can easily get distracted. There is a very small child inside of me who is all agog about coloured lights, baubles, and glitter. When December begins every year, I imagine I’ll carry on just the same way I have the rest of the year, that I’ll do all my writing jobs each week the same as normal. And every year, on the first weekend of December, I go to the Xmas market and start my gift shopping. Something gets ignited within, and from then on, for the rest of the month, my life turns into a whirlwind of Xmas-related things. I watch all the movies and cooking shows about how to make festive dishes. Working on my stories starts to take a back seat to list-making, shopping, catch-ups, get-togethers, and sparkles.

I have to-do lists as long as my arm. I make the annual greeting card and post them to family and friends. The boys and I bake the big Christmas cake (rich fruit cake). We go visit friends with food and gifts. We attend group lunches and end-of-year dinners. I go out shopping most days, to various carefully chosen stores to buy small gifts for family and friends. I wrap gifts. Wrapping gifts is one of the most universally hated jobs. Not for me. I make an evening out of it. I treat it like a craft project, getting out my boxes of ribbons, papers, and bows. It’s fun.

I still have the end-of-year maintenance jobs to do: washing the house and the windows, cleaning and repainting the three verandahs, and repainting the bathroom. I’ll add them to my “to-do” list. December is a juggling act. I intend to relish every moment of this wonderful season. The food, sunshine, time with family, and vacations. What’s not to love? Hello, Summer. (Yes, here in the southern hemisphere it is summer!)
Wherever you are for the month ahead, whatever you celebrate, I wish you every success. And I hope you do celebrate, make (or order) a big cake, light some candles, play beautiful music and enjoy the coloured lights. After the year we’ve had, we deserve a party. A big party.

Writing? What writing? LOL.
Happy Holidays!

Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
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Let it be easy. ~ Anon
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~ BACKYARD GARDENING 5 ~

Spring. My vegetable seedlings are growing. Unfortunately, the season of pests is also well underway. There is more whitefly whizzing around, more butterflies, etc. So begins months of trying to stay ahead of the critters, birds, and greeblies seeking to feast on my crops. I tend to use a combination approach. I will set several traps and use a variety of sprays. It’s a matter of figuring out what works best for you. I try to keep the use of chemicals down to a minimum, but if you don’t mind using chemicals, you can buy everything you need from the store readymade.

I started gardening when I took over maintenance of this property about thirteen years ago (though I have lived here as an adult for over twenty years). It has been learning by trial and error, as I have figured out how to get nourishing things to grow while also controlling the noxious things. I started out using every chemical they sold. But over the years, I have figured out ways I can make products myself fairly easily.
The homemade spray I do for whitefly works a treat. Cut up two onions and a bunch of garlic and put them in a sealable jar. Fill with water before doing the lid up tight. Leave this pungent mixture outside or in the garage to cure for as long as possible. In spring, open the jar and strain the liquid. Spray this obnoxious liquid on the underside of the leaves of all the bushes and trees where whitefly is congregating. The smell is so strong that it scares them away. This spray has cut the whitefly population in our garden by as much as half. The smell seemed overwhelming for us, too, initially. But, never fear. Though it quickly faded away, it was enough to deter the pests for a long time.

Stickies are a store-bought alternative. The flies get trapped on the long sticky tapers. You can buy the strips at hardware stores and gardening outlets and hang the stickies in between the crops.
At present, our fruit trees have bloomed and are losing their petals by the day. The guava moth is the primary pest for stone fruit and feijoas where we are. The moth lays eggs in the unripe fruit which then develops into a small caterpillar greeblie that burrows its way through the fruit, ruining it. The guava moth came over to New Zealand from Australia. In Australia, they are predated by a particular type of bird. But the moths have no natural predators here and are laying waste to neighbouring fruit trees far and wide. When the first green fruit starts to appear in our yard, I spray it with Neem oil. It’s a purely natural bug repellant, which you warm up and then add to warm water. Spray in the early evening after most bees and things have settled down. Spray the fruit, the leaves, and lastly around the base of the tree even coating the ground beneath. And repeat two to three times throughout the growing season.

Tackling the guava moth successfully requires a two-pronged attack, the Neem oil sprayed on, and a moth trap. I’ve tried all sorts of store-bought traps to reduce the population of moths on my property, and there is one extremely effective trap – The Little Bugga. It works by radiating a little solar ultraviolet purple light and the moths drown in the oil held in a trough beneath. It works well, getting a far higher kill rate than other traps, but it costs $90 and only lasts for a year. The inventor lives in the far north of the country and does not supply replacement parts or batteries. So the device operates as long as the batteries last, then you have to buy a whole new trap. These days, unless I do both the Neem oil and the moth trap, nearly the entire crops of plums and feijoas will be potholed.

For caterpillars, aphids, and other pests, I use a homemade all-purpose spray. Mix five litres of water with one cup of cider vinegar and a squirt of dishwashing detergent. Spray onto your seedlings and leaves every two weeks or less. For my tips on how to make your own slug and snail traps, check out my earlier post, Backyard Gardening 3.
It’s the time of year for a ton of work, frankly, but it’s worth it. I enjoy every stage of growing our food. Once the crops and fruits start producing more food for our table it’s wonderful, and the therapy of getting your hands dirty ain’t half bad. I love spring!
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

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Gardening is an active participation in the deepest mysteries of the universe. ~ Thomas Berry

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Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with the words Newsletter Subscription in the subject line to: yvettecarol@hotmail.com

~ BACKYARD GARDENING 4 ~

Ever since I was small, my parents told me we had to eat five or more vegetables a day. Unfortunately, while the fruit and vegetables may look the same as when I was a child 50 years ago, today they are inferior. The other day I spoke with a friend who moved here from Europe in the 70s. I mentioned I didn’t want to eat genetically modified fruit or vegetables. She said, “But, we live in New Zealand. They don’t grow genetically modified plants here.”
The truth is farmers worldwide use hybridized and genetically modified seeds and spray their fields with chemical fertilizers, fungicides, and herbicides. Researchers like Weston A. Price have proven that vegetables have dropped their nutrient content by 90% since the 1930s. These days the only way to eat nutrient-dense food grown in healthy soils is to buy or grow our organic fruit and vegetables. I pay a lot for organic produce. At the same time, I am developing and expanding my vegetable patches so we can grow more of our food.

I’m keen on planting more fruit trees at home. However, space is limited as we already grow a fair amount. There are the veterans my parents planted: the plums, lemons, bananas, and grapefruit. There are three feijoa and two apple trees I have put in, as well as two fig trees, although I’ve espaliered the latter to keep them from outgrowing the section. Then I have lime, clementine, and kumquat trees growing in large outdoor pots. To add more at this stage, I have to consider dwarf varieties. The dwarf trees are too small to yield enough fruit, so we buy semi-dwarfs. I’ve planted nectarine and apricot. When buying trees, try to buy direct from the nurseries. And check the labels first to make sure the trees are self-pollinating.

Once home, plant trees in spots with adequate sun. Fertilize regularly. Prune fruit trees at least twice a year. However, do not prune when borer is flying, which in the southern hemisphere is November, December, and January. Another tip is to feed your fruits and vegetables, especially citrus trees with trace elements. Trace Elements Chelates is a good source, available in New Zealand.
With your vegetable beds, keep it simple and plant the vegetables you want to eat. But remember to dig in your ‘soft’ fertilizers like blood & bone or fertilizer teas to the beds and leave for a week before planting.*See my post, Backyard Gardeners2, for the recipe for fertilizer teas. If you live in a highrise or apartment with no access to a garden, it is possible to grow vegetables in planters, grow herbs in pots on windowsills, and have small cloches indoors. However, when you grow plants this way, you provide every nutrient the plants could need, which takes special know-how. Try googling a step-by-step guide or looking it up on YouTube for a tutorial.

Here in New Zealand, we still have a month of winter before us. It has been an ideal time for growing spinach, kale, silverbeet, and brassicas like cabbage or broccoli. I have two beds growing broad beans, which I will dig into the ground next month. It will fix nitrogen in the soil, ready for planting spring crops in October.
August is the time to plant potatoes as the seed potatoes become available in New Zealand prior to spring. You can grow them in garden beds or in containers.
The container method requires a Flexi tub, available at hardware stores for $7 – $11. Drill four holes near the bottom but on the sides not on the floor of the tub. Quarter fill the container with potting mix. Don’t be tempted to use compost in planters or containers. Always use high-grade potting mix or garden mix. Space out about six seed potatoes on the soil and cover with a bit more potting mix. Water them daily and make sure to liquid feed every two weeks. And remember to vary the fertilizers, to keep things lively.

When your potatoes sprout green leaves, add another layer of the potting mix up to the level of the first two leaves. Carry on caring for your plants and as the plants grow, keep filling with potting mix. After four to six weeks, the tubs should be nearly full. The plants might eventually flower and then wither away. At that point, tip out the tubs and harvest the potatoes.
The garden method requires a trench dug across the bed half a spade in depth. Put seed potatoes spaced apart at the bottom of the trench and cover lightly with soil. As the green shoots and leaves come up, add soil and keep adding earth until you have built your trench into a mound running along the vegetable patch. When the greenery above ground starts to fail and wither, it is time to dig up your crop of potatoes. Yum! There is nothing like the taste of homegrown.
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol

Life can be difficult if all you see is everything that’s wrong. Start focussing on what’s right, what’s good, what’s constructive. If you want to feel better, you’ve got to think better. ~ Mufti Menk

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Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with the words Newsletter Subscription in the subject line to: yvettecarol@hotmail.com

~ BACKYARD GARDENING 3 ~

One of the frustrating things about tending your home vegetable plot is when you do everything right: you prepare the soil, plant the seeds, fertilize, water, and tend your plants, and then find them half-eaten by little critters. Pest control is a big issue for gardeners, large-scale and small-scale alike. While it is tempting to use poisons, it does pay to be aware that these products are toxic to the environment. In years past, I used to sprinkle slug slam pellets around my garden. But our gardening tutor told us the pellets contain a neurotoxin that might make it into the food chain. It is safer to use homemade solutions. For slugs, I use a “beer trap.” Cut the bottom off a plastic bottle. Fill with beer or Brewer’s Yeast with some warm water added. Partly bury it in the vegetable patch. I put two beer traps down, and they both caught six or more slugs each in the first couple of days. It worked a treat.

For snails, they like to hide in dark, cool places during the day, so make them one! You can create a hidey-hole for them by cutting a v-shaped doorway in a plastic plant pot and setting it upside down in the garden. But make sure you put a rock on top as mine blew away in the first strong wind. Empty the pots regularly and dispose of the snails. Our gardening tutor said one student put his snails in a bag in the freezer. But the problem was his wife found them and had a fit! My mother used to squash them. Euw! It’s up to you. However, why not try a homemade remedy. It’s better for the environment.
When you are starting out as a gardener, it is worthwhile to spend the money on a few quality items that will last you for years. For instance, it is worthwhile to invest in a good trowel and a good spade. Also, spend the money on a good sprayer. Wash all tools and dry them after use. Mud left on a spade will eventually degrade the metal. Wash the spray bottle out thoroughly after use. Leave it with the lid off.

Buy seeds from suppliers online, as they work out a lot cheaper. Here in New Zealand, Kings seeds are a great source. I bought five packets for the same price it would have cost me for two bags from a retail outlet. Always plant them in a seed raising mix. Sieve the potting mix before you use it. Push the seeds into punnets as deep as two of the seeds. Cover with soil. Put your punnets of planted seeds on trays and fill the tray with water, so you are watering from the bottom, not the top. It will prevent you from washing the seeds too deep into the soil. Remember to put a sign on the punnets saying the vegetable variety and date you planted them. If the punnets still have water in them an hour later, throw the rest of the water away. You want the soil to be moist, not wet.
Don’t be tempted to plant a whole packet of seeds. Count them out, just a few at a time, and stagger the planting, so you don’t have all the same vegetables fruiting and needing to be eaten at once. I buy seeds with a friend. We pay half each and split the packets in half. Seeds get old. So it means you don’t have too many to plant, and they are always fresh. It works well for us.

As for the water in your garden, rainwater is best. We have a water tank harvesting rainwater from the roof. Watering during the dry times means using the town supply. This water is full of Chlorine and Flouride and so on. To counteract the detrimental effect of the chemicals, add one drop of humic acid to each gallon of water.
If you’re going away, take a plastic bottle and cut the bottom off. Then drill a few holes near the mouth. Leave the lid on. Fill the bottle and bury it with the lid pointed down near the vegetables. The water will leak out slowly over the days.

If your seeds take longer than three weeks to sprout, they will not grow. But, for those which sprout, let the plants reach a decent size and turn the punnets over on your hand until they come out in your hand. Gently tease the seedlings apart and plant them in your beds far enough apart to have room to grow. Read the back of the seed packet as they will often have information on the space required between plants. Pack the soil up to the first two leaves to be firm. Always handle seedlings by the leaves, not the stalks. Water them in when it’s raining and use very diluted fertilizer tea. To deter the birds from disturbing the seedlings, spread mulch liberally around them. The mulch will retard weeds and retain moisture in the soil, so it’s a win-win. Or put up a homemade scarecrow. And if necessary, you can always use bird netting at least until the vegetables get established.
Happy Gardening. More next time, green thumbs.

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with the words Newsletter Subscription in the subject line to: yvettecarol@hotmail.com