AAANNNDDDD... it's a wrap! That's all, garden folks - we have done 2022 in a grand, green thumbed, soil lovin' way. I wonder who did every single month? Some gave it a pretty good go! We won't be back til February BUT - there's a little challenge for January - read til the end of this post to find out what you can do to win HIVE!

Here's a summary of your gardens in December!

Despite bugs getting into some of her vegetables and life throwing her curveballs, @owasco still got some fair produce and is experimenting with covering them against the inclement weather.

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@fotostef is dreaming of olives in Greece - again, and again, and again!

In South Africa, @lex-zaiya is experiencing a cool summer and like me, failures due to moulds, bugs and other things. However, there's also been some successes, so keep on gardening, right?

In Norway, @hindavi is in early Winter. This sums up many a northern Europeon garden I think!

@jhero22's sweet potatoes are rather lovely, don't you think? He's gardening in some fantastic soil - his chilli are also looking lovely!

I'm loving the way people are joining in the gardenjournal even if it's not quite the season. @anttn brought foraging into his post - mallow, rosehips, pennywort. His attention to plants always makes me smile.

@nikv paid a visit to a friends garden - and wow, what a place! The cycads were a real stand out - did you know they e-evolved after extinction during the time of the dinosaurs?

@alt3r describes WHy they started growing food:

I don't know about the rest of the city dwellers, but I've long been disappointed in products that I don't pay for cheaply. Mostly for this reason, I want to start my own food production so that I can have more control over what I eat.

I think that's true for most of us, right?
And where does he start? With clean, pestiscide free, healthy soil.

@pearlie123 also shared her friends garden with some very spikey cucumbers! If you don't have a garden yourself, it's fine to share someone elses. I loved how @ijelady characterised insects on vegetable plants - I could just imagine them saying that, can't you? What a good expression.

Another Challenge is insects this season because once they see green Vegetables, they are like wow, God has buttered our bread!

Poor @proto26 lost his bonsai but still, there's plenty going on in his gnometastic world. I was excited over his food forest, interested in a botanical garden visit, sad over a dead bonsai and then he pulls out the big guns - wine cap mushrooms! OMFG, way to pique my interest!

@jenthoughts has lots of things growing in her garden from eggplant to moringa. @jude9 also has eggplant - funny, I just planted mine today and then read TWO posts with eggplant in them. I guess we're in similiar climates.

@kansuze shared some lovely indoor plants, including this gorgeous orchid!

We're all rooting for @jonyoudyer to get some watermelons that aren't squashes....

I love @ligayagardner's post as he always reminds me to pay attention to bugs and insects that have a place in our garden ecosystems - or how to combat the ones that may cause issues. Check out these lacewing eggs!

I love reading about healthy vegetables in other countries. Have you heard of water leaf? @chichieze visited her sister's garden where water leaf features.

@ogechukwu-martha is a newcomer to the #gardenjournal challenge and joined it to show her various vegetables and this cute pineapple...

@artywink shares her just-under-an-acre garden - I mean, look at this lawn! She also shares aloes and cycads, roses, tree orchids, limes and all sorts of different plants. Whilst it might make her bones ache (oh don't I know it) it still obviously brings her joy.

@sofs-su has one of my favourite balcony gardens on HIVE - so inspiring and a place of joy.

You simply must check out her post which has some great photos to show just how beautiful you can make a very small space. Even better than that, she's been doing it with a bad back which has made it super hard, but still she's created a place of beauty.

Last but not least, @multifacetas, who says it well:

It is amazing that the year has passed so quickly, struggling and maintaining the garden with few resources. Although sometimes our body gets sick, we are insistent in taking care of the plants, it is the passion for nature. I admire every gardener in this community for following life's challenges.

Absolutely agree!

A Challenge for January: Win Up to 10 Hive!

Now, I don't know whether I missed them or not, but I couldn't find a garden selfie this month! Crazy. Are you all too shy? There was a few photos of people, but not so much selfies. Soooo the #gardenjournal challenge for January is this: share your garden post with a garden selfie or photo of you in the garden, and use the tag #gardenjournalselfie as one of your first ten tags and say something nice about the Hive Garden and the #gardenjournal challenge. That's it! I'll keep an eye on them and at the end of January I'll award HIVE to my favourites!

The Winners

This month I couldn't figure out which one to give a passion prize and which one to give the vegetable garden prize too. So instead I just decided to award @alt3r, @sofs-su, @kansuze, @jonyoudyer and @antnn 5 HIVE each. They were all high effort posts from people who regularly contribute to the community through writing and engaging with others and may not have won a prize in the last few months. Congratulations! I appreciate all that you do and are as gardeners and Hivers.

If you didn't win a prize, keep joining in - Hive garden posts get pretty good rewards often and the more you join in the more likely you are to win. However, as you know, we're all winners just for being in this community!

Happy Christmas and Solstice to you all, Hive Garden folk!

It's been a grand year and I'm super proud to be part of this community! I've loved getting to know you all and have learnt so much and been inspired so much by ALL of you!.

With Love,

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