The end of the day leaves you exhausted. But the reward comes from seeing a clean and clear earth emerge from a sea of unruly greenery that will soon be home to the tiny seedlings growing indoors.
With each turn of the shovel you can almost taste that first tomato and it spurs you on.
Finally, in mid-spring we get the all-clear to plant out the garden as the risk of frost is no longer with us. Once again there is a flurry of activity as we create support structures to allow our plants to climb or sprawl across the garden in the ways that best suit them. And then we lovingly set our plants into the well-prepared earth and stand back and admire all we have done as we shake the dirt from our hands.
The garden has been planted and it looks just how we imagined it in the winter.
And then we find ourselves in this strange month, November.
In this late-spring month there isn't all that much to do. There are no seedlings to tend to — they are all in the garden and doing a marvellous job of growing on their own. There are barely any weeds, because the ground was cleared earlier. There is nothing to dig.
Even going to the garden centre loses a little of its joy, as there is no spare ground left for exciting new purchases. The temptation and plant-gathering frenzy of the past few months has all but died.
The plants themselves are a long way from becoming harvestable, so there isn't a lot to be eaten.
This time of year can often be referred to as the 'hungry months', where the stores from the previous season have been eaten and the new crops are still a while off. This is often why produce at the store is so expensive right now, it is the wrong season for pumpkins and capsicums, and any left or grown come at a cost.
It's easy to lose interest in the garden at this time of year, especially as activities for the festive season begin to creep in, and the garden can begin to suffer.
But all is not lost. During this time, you can reach for your packets of seeds again as some crops are a once-only deal and once eaten are gone. However, if you plant more every 3-4 weeks, you will have a continual supply. This is most common with salad crops, spring onions, beetroot and carrots.
While the garden is currently in a weed-free state, it won't stay like that for long as nature hates bare earth and they will soon turn up. Make a point of checking weekly, and remove any you see.
It is much better to tackle them while they are small, so they won't compete with your plants. Or you could apply a generous helping of mulch.
●Sarah O'Neil is an author, blogger and passionate gardener writing about the trials and tribulations of growing food for her family. Her books The Good Life and Play in the Garden and the recently released Growing Vegetables are available at all good bookstores. sarahthegardener.co.nz
