The Good Life

Since we started digging up our front lawn to grow food some of our family have started comparing us to Tom and Barbara Good in the BBC show 'The Good Life' hehe.

We live on the high side of the road thus our driveway is on quite a steep gradient.  All we have managed to grow there previously is mangy looking grass so I had an idea to dig up the very top (where it is most level) and plant some pumpkins.  It was my vision that they could then trail down the hill.

We have successfully accomplished this!  It took some digging and preparing the soil (which is very sandy) to enrich it.  I also covered the area with bark chips to act as a mulch and stop water evaporating so quickly as the patch gets full sun for most of the day and would quickly dry out.

To maximise space I also planted a Lebanese eggplant and a Tomato bush along with the pumpkins.  They are doing very well.  Much better, in fact, than most of my garden out back which has been suffering in the high Adelaide temperatures over the last few weeks.  In the late afternoon there is some shade across the pumpkins which is possibly the clincher.

We have picked five pumpkins so far.  Some have been large and some smaller ones.  There are still about four nearly ready to pick and more are forming.  I was able to pass one on to a friend along with some eggplants and capsicum as a thank you for some lovely peaches he brought us from his tree.

I would love to live in a place where we could barter with fruit and veggies!  Perhaps I'm just a wannabe hippy ;)