Ooof, it's cold in here

But really warm in the sun? Hmmm

Morena! What a week eh? I was hailed on, on Thursday morning, which explains how freezing the day was. Despite a lot of wet weather feelings, the gardens are still in need of more watering- one tip is to leave a cup out in your garden bed, and if it isn’t half full by the end of the rain, it still needs watering- and immediately after rain is the best time. So enjoy the looks from the neighbours while you water your gardens in the rain.

What I’m obsessing over this week

This bank. This bank had a huge slip years ago, and tens of thousands was invested in some fancy reinforcing system along with a full irrigation system. It was fully planted out and would be the gem in the crown of this street… mmm except the vines came over from next door, the weeds took hold in any tiny pocket they could find, and now we have this. I can’t weed it, because it will damage the reinforcing weedmat (which is chicken wire, over thin plastic mesh, over deteriorated coconut coir, whose idea was this!). All I can do is hedge trim the outside and hope I don’t hit one of the metal posts in it. At least the heat of the summer killed a lot of it. So yes, enjoy this garden at one of my multi million dollar properties…

The lone surviving renga lily in the middle is holding up the aesthetic fort

What staff learnt about this week

Our weekly focus was canned this week, because two of our staff were off with the flu, so we did a lot of check ins instead.

Highlights: Alex is doing her regenerative agriculture paper for her apprenticeship and has been collecting seeds and cuttings around Lyall Bay, to invigorate a slope in Melrose.

Lowlights: Learning how to use a blower is a frustrating task and the only feedback we can give Catherine is to keep trying.

Interesting events coming up

Check out Light Cycles at the Botanic Gardens over the next few weeks. It’s at night, and needs booking, but looks incredible.

An interview with a gardening legend

I’ve started interviewing one Famous To Me person a week, someone who either informs my gardening practice directly, or parasocially! If you know someone who you would like to see interviewed, get in touch by popping a comment in this post, or email wellington.gardener@gmail.com.

This week: Joanna McLeod, from House Of Boom. I had the absolute joy of going to her Gin Release Party a few weeks back and if you like gin, give this one a go. It is exceptional, and it changes colour. It was all around a fantastic night, and the Mothers Ruined team are just the best. But! Here’s Jo.

What are you known for?

Kia ora I’m Joanna, creator of the House of Boom, which is ethical clothes for fat babes, in sizes 16 to 34, made in Berhampore by people on the living wage or more, I also run fat swims and a yearly conference on fat liberation called Camp Boom, and recently I launched a collaboration gin with Mothers Ruined Gin. And that’s where you - Zoe - come in, because the gin’s made with Makrut lime leaves that grow in my garden, so for the past couple of months you’ve been especially tasked with keeping that plant alive so it can reach its higher purpose!   

This gin is purple when poured, and turns blue with ice. It is so cool!

What are you working on/moving towards?

Ultimately, I am working towards my own obsolescence! I would like the fat liberation movement not to have to exist, to have totally dismantled the systematic discrimination towards fat people in healthcare, in employment, in the media, in attitudes, in every facet of life. And I would like to be able to buy ethically made clothes in all sizes without having had to start the company myself. The average clothing size in Australia is a size 16-18 (we don’t have similar research in New Zealand) but a measly 6.3% of Australian clothing retailers sell plus-sizes. That’s ridiculous! Everyone should be able to access good clothes - and those clothes should not be made by slave labour or destroy the environment. 

And don’t even start with “oh I’m just concerned about your health” because a) health and weight are two very different things, b) you can’t shame anyone into

 good health and c) frankly other people’s health and bodies are none of your business. 

If the concept of fat liberation is new to you, I have a 101 to start you off here, including resources, slides and a video of a talk. 

What gardening thing is occupying your mind lately?

I think about my garden a lot in negative terms but it’s getting a little easier. My issue is that I share a garden with my neighbours, which is excellent because I get to be a dog aunty with all the love and none of the responsibility. However, I have ADHD which has meant my part of the garden has always let the team down, because gardening does not give me any dopamine (in fact I actively hate the feeling of dirt) so I just can’t do it. 

I grew up being told how lazy and useless I was for my failures to keep things tidy, and while I’m apparently a grown-up now, my mother co-signed my mortgage, which has meant criticism of my garden without recourse. So since my official diagnosis last year, I’m learning to unpack that, to realise that I’m actually not lazy, that my brain works in different ways than others.My neighbour gets her joy and calm from working in the vege garden, and I can get my calm from paying someone else to weed and restore order so I can sit in the sun without feeling the crushing guilt, while planning six thousand other projects.

I’m also thinking about how I have to repaint one of my Cape Cod chairs in my garden because I thought I could do it quicker with spray paint rather than a full sand down and prime and paint (ADHD brain, always trying to cut corners), but one of the two spray paints I used didn’t have a primer in it and now everything is peeling.

Oh, since I’m talking Cape Cod chairs, even though they’re a paint to repaint eight years later, I really recommend Garden Pine Chairs to everyone wanting to make sure they have strong and sturdy seating in their gardens for their fat friends. Those ubiquitous plastic chairs are the enemy! 

What are you waiting for?

I’m waiting for summer again! My house is right up against Te Ahumairangi Hill which means there is sun in the garden for about one hour a day in winter and I’m usually still asleep when that happens. 

I’m also thinking about fencing, because ours is falling down. Houses are close together here in Thorndon, which I think is a good thing because we need more housing in our city.  I hate the idea of having really high fences and not knowing anyone, but at the same time, sometimes I wish I had a totally private courtyard that’d provide a better backdrop for taking pictures of House of Boom clothing. 

This isn’t a VGG garden- Jo is right- if we took photos in her garden they would include the neighbour in her PJs hanging out her washing. I mean, in an ideal world I suppose the neighbour becomes a free plus size model, that would solve a lot of issues.

Thanks everyone! I did tell you to get ski gear last week, so I hope you listened!