Almost Recovered.

Just a couple of days ago I was able to harvest some leafy veggies for the table after almost more than six months of no cultivation because of the bout with sciatica. It is indeed a pleasure to have freshly picked leafy organic veggies on the table which made eating much more pleasurable and a great excuse for a broader waist line….hehe!! Anyway I am glad that the mini farm is almost fully recovered.

I am now into my second year of being an organic farmer that I never knew I had this kind of interest and ‘ahem’ talents. This is indeed a great discovery for myself and I am very please about it not only because it is productive but a real wonderful feeling that words cannot describe. Even my mum was surprised. OK let’s not get melodramatic here but it is good to be close to nature which is something I always enjoy.

Having survived the first year I had made some changes to make the farm more organized after learning from my mistakes. The first and most important lesson that I learned is that never ever force yourself to continue working when you feel your back is letting up. I was rehabilitating one of the beds so that I can get some leafy veggies going just before the wet season sets in so I was a bit tight on time. Thinking that my old cranky body is still like a ship shape John Deere, I put in full throttle and guess what …. I got sciatica and was in pain for almost two months but managed to finish rehabilitating that bed just before the attack. The weeds were having wild parties on the rehabilitated and fertilized with my specially cured organic compost beds. I guess that was a real good lesson learnt and now whenever I feel the slightest threat to my delicate back I would just take it easy until the threat is gone.

Having quite a lot of time on my hands while recovering from the sciatica, I decided to make a study to improve on the starter pods that I am using. It was kind of a frustrating when I had an idea but was not able to carry it out physically but the pain from the sciatica quickly dismiss the desire to try it out. The moment I recovered from the sciatica I started the slow and tedious process of having to rehabilitate all the six beds all over again. It was slow, very slow because I could still feel the agony of the sciatica pain running down the whole of my right leg from the small of my back without mercy. Just thinking about it still sent a chill down my spine but nevertheless I am now into the last bed.

Having rehabilitated one of the beds I decided to try out the idea I had by using egg trays as starter pods after some modification because it is much easier to handle. I was really pleased with the results because by virtue of its shape I can stand the pods in shallow water thus keeping the seeds watered all the time and transplanting was much easier. Moreover the egg tray decomposed much easier because it is made of mashed paper and it is easily available.

I have also discovered that climbers cannot share the same trellis because the faster growing plant would practically take over the whole trellis suffocating the more timid one. I have not planted any of the climbers yet this year and I intend to do so real soon. I have some idea on how to plant them and I will plant them individually on mini hills this time. Seeds, some seed deteriorate really fast even thought it was kept in a dark cool place and I was surprised to find that it was powdery when I wanted to use it. Now I decided to keep only the newly purchased seeds in the fridge because many people say that seed can last much longer in the fridge.

Now only leafy veggies are planted on beds and others are on mini hills …..yeah!! it is great to be planting again.