Fruit
Snakes in the garden
13 April 2008 19:33 Filed in: Harvesting
Life has been busy, and the garden's been thriving.
My discovery for this season has been the
'Rampicante' zucchini I got from King's. They haven't
grown like zucchini, but they're very grown! Huge
vines all over the boardwalk by the pond, and the
strangest fruit!
This one ended up at 95cm long, which is more than I could contemplate cooking in a single go.
The raspberries also grew more than we could eat, as did the paste tomatoes and the basil. So I've been giving away eggs, silverbeet, basil, and raspberries. Oh and plenty of baby fish :)
It really is the end of the season now, only a few raspberries left, the tomatoes are slowing down and the basil is getting mildewy. On the up side the grapes have just started to ripen, and the chinese gooseberries are looking like they're going to be great in a few months. The kohlrabi are just coming through too, having grown caterpillars for the chooks they're going to be dinner for me very shortly :)
I'm hoping to spend some of next weekend planting the winter crops. Two varieties of broad beans I think, plus peas, lettuces, more silverbeet, spinach and maybe potatoes. Then I'll see how much room I've got to sneak in some treats like some beautiful beetroot and radishes.
This one ended up at 95cm long, which is more than I could contemplate cooking in a single go.
The raspberries also grew more than we could eat, as did the paste tomatoes and the basil. So I've been giving away eggs, silverbeet, basil, and raspberries. Oh and plenty of baby fish :)
It really is the end of the season now, only a few raspberries left, the tomatoes are slowing down and the basil is getting mildewy. On the up side the grapes have just started to ripen, and the chinese gooseberries are looking like they're going to be great in a few months. The kohlrabi are just coming through too, having grown caterpillars for the chooks they're going to be dinner for me very shortly :)
I'm hoping to spend some of next weekend planting the winter crops. Two varieties of broad beans I think, plus peas, lettuces, more silverbeet, spinach and maybe potatoes. Then I'll see how much room I've got to sneak in some treats like some beautiful beetroot and radishes.
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It's been a while
01 March 2008 21:20 Filed in: Doing
Well it's been madness here! We have genuine honest
to God frogs in the pond, egg-producing chooks and
raspberries.
I'm so looking forward to Easter, by then I'll be down to only one job, studying will be under control, I'll have holidayed and it will suddenly seem doable again. At the moment I'm struggling with two jobs and two courses, plus a couple of out of work projects.
Last week I got the health stuff out of the way; the tests themselves were unpleasant, but the results were pretty good. We have a theory about the iron deficiency, and we're treating it with iron supplements, so I'm back to where I was beforehand but with a diagnosis.
I'm so looking forward to Easter, by then I'll be down to only one job, studying will be under control, I'll have holidayed and it will suddenly seem doable again. At the moment I'm struggling with two jobs and two courses, plus a couple of out of work projects.
Last week I got the health stuff out of the way; the tests themselves were unpleasant, but the results were pretty good. We have a theory about the iron deficiency, and we're treating it with iron supplements, so I'm back to where I was beforehand but with a diagnosis.
The harvest so far (spring to midsummer 2007-2008)
02 February 2008 15:23 Filed in: Harvesting
- Silverbeet (two crops)
- Peas (two crops)
- Broad beans
- Lettuces (successive plantings)
- Spinach
- Mesclun
- Basil (sweet, black and cinnamon)
- Perennial and biennial herbs (a wide variety including various thymes, parsleys, lemon balm, chives, garlic chives, marjoram, oregano, winter savoury, lovage, bay)
- Zucchini
- Coriander
- Rhubarb
- Beans (yellow bush)
- Cress
- Corn salad
- Sorrel
- Carrots
- Radishes
- Dill
- Garlic
- Shallots
- Plum (yep, one plum from a new tree)
- Black currants
- Blueberries (just starting, and again new plants so a very restricted crop)
- Raspberries (the summer flush on autumn varieties)
- Gooseberries
Photos from a windy summer day
12 January 2008 12:17 Filed in: Pictures
Sprouting seeds in rainwater
08 January 2008 21:37 Filed in: Doing
If it wasn't raining so hard I would take photos of
all the beautiful seedlings pushing their heads above
the soil. Although if it wasn't raining so hard
perhaps they wouldn't be growing so well.
After a few days away I came home to bush beans unfurling, little groups of kohlrabi (so obviously brassicas) and cilantro and dill (already feathery). The beetroot need thinning once I can get outside again, and the last few peas that haven't caught hold of the netting will need propping up against the wind.
Oh, and I have one meal of black currants and one meal of gooseberries left to be picked.
The garden is a constant joy at this time of year, every day there is change and growth. Each meal can have something fresh in it – particularly if it's silverbeet! :)
After a few days away I came home to bush beans unfurling, little groups of kohlrabi (so obviously brassicas) and cilantro and dill (already feathery). The beetroot need thinning once I can get outside again, and the last few peas that haven't caught hold of the netting will need propping up against the wind.
Oh, and I have one meal of black currants and one meal of gooseberries left to be picked.
The garden is a constant joy at this time of year, every day there is change and growth. Each meal can have something fresh in it – particularly if it's silverbeet! :)
And the tomatoes are in
25 November 2007 18:37 Filed in: Planting
More mad activity today!
The last of the tomatoes went in first thing this morning, and were visited by the chooks almost straight away due to a small fencing issue. The boysenberries (Mapua and McNichol's Choice) and blackberries (Black Satin) were next, followed by the final gooseberry (Pax) which is next to the two transplanted Invictas from last year.
Later, after an interlude with some hedge trimming, brownie baking (more cocoa than flour is the secret!) and visitors I planted the sweetcorn (Honeysweet) and put a higher roost in the chook house.
I'm looking forward to next weekend! :)
The last of the tomatoes went in first thing this morning, and were visited by the chooks almost straight away due to a small fencing issue. The boysenberries (Mapua and McNichol's Choice) and blackberries (Black Satin) were next, followed by the final gooseberry (Pax) which is next to the two transplanted Invictas from last year.
Later, after an interlude with some hedge trimming, brownie baking (more cocoa than flour is the secret!) and visitors I planted the sweetcorn (Honeysweet) and put a higher roost in the chook house.
I'm looking forward to next weekend! :)