Digging a big hole and getting it just right, digging the mulch in the ground, turning it over and over,  resting the different beds, and making sure you don’t plant the same thing in the same spot from the previous year, to avoid disease spreading through the plants, getting that P H right, is just the beginning.

Your soil needs to be just right, to grow any plant whether it be veg or flower.

Great veggies make for some great tasting food on your plate. Beautiful flowers in your garden gives your home a feeling of being look after and warmth, and adds to the value or you home, and cut flowers inside around the home makes it special, whether when you first walk in from your front door or to sitting in the middle of the table. I will even go as far as sometimes I gauge that how the personality is on a person.  Usual I find, they have very caring people, honest and hard working usual can be trusted, could be wrong but so far hasn't let me down.  Interesting.

Your soil should flow through your fingers, in the old days they sieved their soil just like you do with flour in cooking. It’s the same principal’ if you didn't sieve your flower you cake wouldn’t turn out, so the finer your soil the better everything grows, best way in getting around that is new soil and dig it in, over and over or make a giant sieve out of mesh wiring like to have in screen doors. My dad was the best garden, and he could just held his hand up and the soil would just flow threw his fingers; always had a drum of liquored manure ready for feeding is veggies. None of this expensive tablets or graduals or different feeds, the only thing he did use was darest dust, and maybe something to break down the soil after a hole had been dug and everything thrown back in to breakdown and cover it with soil, and then threw on top some powder like stuff.

There is always work to be done in the veggie or flower gardens.  lots of maintenance each day or weekly, especially mowing the lawns that’s an upkeep in itself. Having the right equipment is the key to good up keeping.  Good spade is number one, one that you can handle and feel comfortable with, I have 2 one round and one square. I find their both great.  A pair of secertors must be sharp, and long handle one as well there wonderful for that high place you can't get into, but love my chain saw, its a small one but tough, enough to get the job done, I still can cut down big trees, but only when the tree has been damaged of course, through the wind and needs to cut because of blocking the pathway, or hanging over neighbors fence line, always something that needs to be cut or trimmed and shaped. So electric trimmer is great also to have.  I have gone for an electric lawn mower.  I got sick of chasing around for petrol and then having to keep it at home safe.  For me the electric works fine, have a small lawn, and it doesn't need too much power to cut through it. The petrol ones are by far much tougher and stronger, as I had a 2 cylinder and a 4 stroke one, much stronger in strength and some grasses need that strength if its large patch, But for me electric suits me, it does what I need for it to do my lawn is not like a creeping grass, its the old style thin and fine and not to thick, once you get into the thick which some of those creeping grass can be,  you do need petrol ones, to cut through the thickness, electric is good only for a short amount of time and not to thick. I have had some experience as I tended to some gardens there for awhile. I also use a hand cut one, so handy to have just in case you just need a wee bit to do and any break downs, and that can happen in my case if the battery is flat, but have fix that problem up have 2 batteries now.

 Using the right soil for pot plants is important, can't use your garden soil, its not the same, yes you can use it but you will find the flowers are very spindly and not full like, pots dry out quickly and need potty mixture, and a good one not cheap as they haven't the right amount of nutrients in the soil to keep the flowers or veggies right, you would find you would have to add all sorts of stuff to get the flowers to grow, always buy good potting mixture from the very start, if you want great results.

Lastly the veggie patch is very therapeutic, when your down or mad of even you need to be on your own to sort things out, and even when I have been sick, like the flue or a cold. I love getting in there and sweating it out with good hard work.

And there is nothing like having your own private garden, away from the maddening or busy bossy neighbors, I have a special spot, where I sit and have my glass of red, under my grape vine, near a wooden barrel with ferns and hibiscus growing a few standered trees hanging around, the atmosphere is calming one, I do have some soft music playing, even like a C D just on bird calls sometimes, if I am in that frame of mind old time music “rock”

Love the summer time blues.