Happy International Day of Human Spaceflight!

Day 3 started with the delivery of the aggregate and sand, and ended with quite a lot of the blocks being laid. We’re not allowed to walk on them yet, though!

Last Monday evening I wandered out into the garden to shoo off a pigeon that was wandering around in my leek bed. On my way back inside I noticed the first flowers were appearing on my courgettes, and I did a little happy dance. Then, because this is the 21st century, I took a photo and posted it on twitter.

Header image: Suited up to simulate the conditions of working outside on Mars. Jonathan Clarke (the author, left) with visiting engineer Michael Curtis-Rouse, from UK Space Agency (right). Jonathan Clarke personal collection, Author provided.

Header image: Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage leaves prior to harvest aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA

Work started on the garden yesterday, and involved digging out where the paving will go, and removing the soil. The paving blocks were delivered and the spoil (very stony soil, I am keeping the best stuff to reuse) has been removed. Two fence panels and the gate have been removed temporarily, for access. The terrain looks very different now.

Today, the first Saturday in May, is World Naked Gardening Day. The idea is to pop out and do some gardening in the altogether (‘as nature intended’) to help improve our sense of what is normal and acceptable in terms of body shapes and sizes.

By the end of the day on Friday, the landscapers had finished edging the paths. The garden has a very different feel to it now – it feels like you’re standing in something, rather than the blank canvas that was there before. It’s taking shape, and it’s very exciting. The patio already has a magnetic quality, drawing you out of the patio doors (although it’s currently a big step down!) into the garden.

I have been out in the garden a bit more over the last week. Rather than wait until later in the day, when I generally don’t feel like going outside, I have started going out to do something first thing in the morning, before I sit down at my desk. The weather is very mild, and a lot of days have been dank and overcast, but on the brighter mornings I can happily potter about for an hour before coming inside. It’s quite often the nicest part of the day, weather-wise.

Header image: Born in space: I’d rather not come down to Earth. geniusdevil

And so it’s done – the paving is complete. We have a shiny new path from the front door to the garden gate, which extends in front of the patio doors and widens into a large patio. At the top of the garden another strip provides hard standing for sheds/ a greenhouse and the arbour.

Header image: NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio uses a video camera to photograph the Ant Forage Habitat. Image credit: NASA

Join Emma the Space Gardener as she explores gardening on Earth… and beyond! Emma’s guest on this week’s show is Dr Gioia Massa, a Project Scientist at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, working on the Veggie growing system on the International Space Station. Gioia talks about the challenges of growing plants in space, those blooming space zinnias, and when we might see astronauts eating their first space tomato!