The weather is cooling down! First very, very light frost in early April, which prompted me to build a greenhouse over my tomato patch. The pumpkin vines died down, the cabbage moths also died off (thankfully!) so winter vege plantings have gotten under way...
The geraniums by my daughter's room are still flowering well.
The yacons are still growing well, as are the Calendula flowers planted in front of them. The pine cones have prevented the dogs digging under them so far.
I planted extra leaf lettuce seedlings in a tractor tyre, after I ran out of room for them in the main garden beds. That lemon tree in the pot is looking a lot healthier since I dosed it with Epsom salts - but it really needs planting out in the garden!
Tomatoes planted at the back of the herb bed (two plants) are getting pretty wild - they're growing all over the place, all but smothering some of the herbs. The parsley is still doing well long the front though.
My original four raised beds are still doing well. The closest contains my experimental rows of green beans (see post under Specific Crops). They're getting past their best, and I was also getting rather sick of beans - I ended up not bothering to harvest any in April, figuring I'd leave the remaining beans for seed.
The second bed is full of carrots, plus the rosemary bush. The rosemary gives us regular harvest which we use to make a herbal hair rinse. This is my first ever successful crop of carrots - and they're looking great!
The second bed is full of carrots, plus the rosemary bush. The rosemary gives us regular harvest which we use to make a herbal hair rinse. This is my first ever successful crop of carrots - and they're looking great!
The Mexican sunflowers have about finished flowering at the back of the third bed. They are easy to grow - once planted they seem to keep coming back each year - and the bright yellow flowers are much loved by the bees. In front of them are kumera vines, which seem to be doing well, and a couple of kale plants I cut right back due to cabbage moth catapillers, which are regrowing well.
The raspberry and boysenberry canes in the last bed have developed some late fruit. I hope to move them to another spot in the garden over winter.
The raspberry and boysenberry canes in the last bed have developed some late fruit. I hope to move them to another spot in the garden over winter.
My 8 main garden beds are doing well. Numbering them left to right starting with the back row near the blue barrel, I describe them in more detail below...
1) The peas have finished in the back half of this bed and been removed. There is still a chive plant doing well. The front half contains yellow dwarf beans and freckle lettuce which went to seed. It's a heritage lettuce variety, so I'm going to save the seed.
2) This bed has young carrots in the front half, and heritage corn plus more peas in the back. When I cleared out the peas, I found some had self-sown their seeds everywhere, which were starting to sprout, so I moved them to one side of bed (3).
3) The silverbeet in this bed is doing well. I've moved the beetroot that sprouted in this bed from seed sown, and topped the bed up with some of my manure/sawdust material. I tied a left over piece of reinforcing mesh along one side, to support the peas that were moved there.
4) The first bed that had brassicas planted out in it. A couple of weeks back the wind ripped the netting that was covering it and I removed it. The white butterflies have finally mostly gone. The buk choy (Chinese cabbage) along one side of this bed has run straight to flowers (seed). We've eaten some before it got too bitter, but I think the chickens may end up enjoying the rest. The brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower are all growing well.
5) and 8) Two more beds recently planted in brassicas now the butterfly season is over. A mix of broccoli, cauliflower (white and purple), cabbage, brussel sprouts and buk choy. I'm experimenting with square foot planting in the brassica beds.
6) A bed full of lovely beetroot, which are growing well. I've found that beet greens are really yummy, so looking forward to both the roots and the leaves!
7) This bed has leaf lettuce in the front half, ringed with spring onions, and leeks in the back half.
1) The peas have finished in the back half of this bed and been removed. There is still a chive plant doing well. The front half contains yellow dwarf beans and freckle lettuce which went to seed. It's a heritage lettuce variety, so I'm going to save the seed.
2) This bed has young carrots in the front half, and heritage corn plus more peas in the back. When I cleared out the peas, I found some had self-sown their seeds everywhere, which were starting to sprout, so I moved them to one side of bed (3).
3) The silverbeet in this bed is doing well. I've moved the beetroot that sprouted in this bed from seed sown, and topped the bed up with some of my manure/sawdust material. I tied a left over piece of reinforcing mesh along one side, to support the peas that were moved there.
4) The first bed that had brassicas planted out in it. A couple of weeks back the wind ripped the netting that was covering it and I removed it. The white butterflies have finally mostly gone. The buk choy (Chinese cabbage) along one side of this bed has run straight to flowers (seed). We've eaten some before it got too bitter, but I think the chickens may end up enjoying the rest. The brussel sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower are all growing well.
5) and 8) Two more beds recently planted in brassicas now the butterfly season is over. A mix of broccoli, cauliflower (white and purple), cabbage, brussel sprouts and buk choy. I'm experimenting with square foot planting in the brassica beds.
6) A bed full of lovely beetroot, which are growing well. I've found that beet greens are really yummy, so looking forward to both the roots and the leaves!
7) This bed has leaf lettuce in the front half, ringed with spring onions, and leeks in the back half.
The zucchini are starting to die back. The pumpkin vines are already gone - they all developed powdery mildew and then died off fast, so were harvested. But the zucchinis, which also have some mildew, are still persevering.
I panicked a bit when everything suddenly developed mildew - online research suggested that something must be done, or the fruits would be tasteless and not keep well. Turns out that this isn't the case - common for zucchini and pumpkin to develop mildew towards the end of the season, but doesn't seem to cause too bad a problem. All the pumpkin we harvested have tasted great, and the zucchini have been fine so far too.
I panicked a bit when everything suddenly developed mildew - online research suggested that something must be done, or the fruits would be tasteless and not keep well. Turns out that this isn't the case - common for zucchini and pumpkin to develop mildew towards the end of the season, but doesn't seem to cause too bad a problem. All the pumpkin we harvested have tasted great, and the zucchini have been fine so far too.
There is one pumpkin vine that's hanging in there though - it's sheltered in a corner between some overhanging iron and the grapevine. This particular plant came from seedlings given to me by a friend, and they've turned out to be rather odd crosses. This yellow ball that is growing - not sure what to call it. A Pumkini? Zumpkin perhaps? Wonder if it will turn out to be edible?
The tomatoes have grown considerably since we erected a greenhouse over them 3 weeks ago to protect them from the frost! It's now a constant battle to find time to prune and train them. Green tomatoes are everywhere - looking forward to eating them.
Turns out there are a lot of life lessons and spiritual truths you can learn from growing tomatoes! I also realised I've never really grown tomatoes before - a few small plants in pots definitely do not count! Planted in the ground and well nourished, a tomato plant grows much bigger and faster!
Turns out there are a lot of life lessons and spiritual truths you can learn from growing tomatoes! I also realised I've never really grown tomatoes before - a few small plants in pots definitely do not count! Planted in the ground and well nourished, a tomato plant grows much bigger and faster!
My potato patch is looking rather neglected - I need to harvest the potatoes soon.
The first (middle) bed of sweetcorn has been harvested. Fresh corn, straight from garden to pot, very hard to beat! YUM!
Bed 2 (right) is ready to start picking in the next few days.
Specific updates on corn totals and harvest facts in post about corn Here
Bed 2 (right) is ready to start picking in the next few days.
Specific updates on corn totals and harvest facts in post about corn Here
Comfrey is still doing well under the apple tree. Comfrey has deep roots and brings up nutrients from deep in the soil, making it more available to plants and trees. It's leaves are very nutritious, great in compost, to make compost tea, or add to mulch. It also has healing properties and is used as a healing herb.
A couple more of the pumpkin seedlings I was given by friends. Far too late for them to produce anything useful. I've left them in for the flowers for the bees, for as long as they continue. I decided to plant mint plants all around them in this piece of garden, as it's a spot where something that will take over and strangle out weeds would be a good thing! It's a fairly contained spot between dense impenetrable plantings of other things.
Orangeberries are slowly spreading - as hoped.
I planted a wee miniature rose in front of them, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best spot - must move it soon.
I planted a wee miniature rose in front of them, which in hindsight probably wasn't the best spot - must move it soon.
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