A growing idea

When my two youngest daughters and I moved onto our small farm back in November 2004, the dream to finally have some space for the kids to grow up in became a reality. Almost 13 years on the girls have become young women. We've had calves, chickens, cats and horses all pass through our gates. The chickens and the calves have long since left. We have five horses left our oldest is 36 years old and has the honour of being the very first arrival on the farm back in 2005. Since then we've ended up with a pony and three miniatures as well. But times change and so do circumstances. In early 2016, I was outside looking at the disaster that for years had been my so called garden. It wasn't a garden at all more a jungle of weeds,junk and a lot of frustration. That continued last year as well but there was that small kernal of an idea much as it seemed impossible it remained. For me doing the garden was an uphill mostly futile battle. No sooner I would plant something in our terrible clay soil the poor plant would either be dug up by our cats or eaten by the horses who just kept on getting in. By the end of last year I had all but thrown my hands up in despair. My last diary entry dated December 27th 2016 said;

Horses sadly have destroyed all of the garden so I've given up bothering. This has been a crap year for all of us I won't miss it!

My lack of enthusiasm to resurrect the garden though was short lived. Over the months I had been reading a book on permaculture titled Gaia's Garden. Years back I had heard of permaculture, but like many things I just figured it was yet another strange odd way of making money out of people by getting them to pay big bucks to do a three day permaculture design course, something that was way out of my financial reach. Between reading Gaia's Garden and watching an amazing documentary Symphony of the Soil I had an ephipany and decided it was time to make a fresh start and not give up no matter what the challenges that lay ahead. My daughter Inaya patiently put up with my ramblings about rubbish soil, lack of funds and how could it possibly work at all this silly idea about starting a market garden on land not even suited for growing anything much more than grass, blackberry and weeds in abundance. It was January 3rd 2017 when I started again and have been at it since. Inaya came up with the name for Akona Gardens and now here we are setting out on an adventure that no doubt will be very challenging indeed. It's worth it so far 40 square metres of so far thriving garden have been created using little more than a spade, bucket loads of horse manure and chopped down weeds. We have no money to spend on brought soil or ready made raised garden beds. Just that old spade, a grubber and hope for the future. Wing and a prayer here's to hope.