Summer kitchen garden progress 2017

Hello! 

I've been trying to get my kitchen garden up and running again this Summer, I was a bit late planting things, due to an enormous clean up that had to happen first, but we had a cool Spring so things were slow to get going anyway. 

I'm happy to say that the things that I did manage to plant have grown really well! 

My boys wanted me to grow iceberg lettuce as it's their favourite variety.  I haven't had much success with this type of hearting lettuce before, but this year they have grown beautifully, and I have nice tight, heavy hearts of lettuce, the snails have done a bit of damage to the outer leaves but mostly they are fine. :) 

.......We have also had lots of snowpeas, which are my favourite vegie, I can eat them all day! .........

........ the tomatoes are starting to get bigger,  they are still very green, I think they are a bit behind because we haven't had a lot of warm weather yet, but they are starting to fill out now and there are plenty of flowers......

.......the Lebanese cucumbers are starting to come on too,  usually I plant these and they shrivel up and die, but not this year! Yay! ..............

...........along with the snowpeas I threw in a pack of sugar pea seeds, they are ready to eat now too, so sweet and crisp, much better than the shop ones. :) 

I have also got a few pumpkin vines on the go, some capsicums, spring onions, strawberries and blueberries.  I am a bit late with my climbing beans, but I think I'll still put some in and just have an Autumn crop.  The only flowers I've managed to plant are my dahlias, I'm hoping for a good show from them in Autumn, I have only just got them in the ground, but they are sending up nice healthy shoots! :)

So that's the kitchen garden in a nut shell at the moment, I think I'll do a monthly check in and see what is growing and happening in the garden through the season. 

Do you grow some of your own food? or lots of it?  Is gardening a hobby for you too? 

Have a great day!

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Garden Share Collective - September 2014

Hello! 

Well, we are into the second day of September so it is time for another Garden Share Collective post, I missed the August one, so am going to do a garden update even if my vegie patch is not doing much at the moment.  

Springtime is lovely around here, I always forget how many bulbs are in the garden and get a very pleasant surprise when everything starts flowering, we have plenty of jonquils and daffodils, iris and freesia are starting to open, and my pots of hyacinths are looking gorgeous ( sorry no pics of them tonight, I will dedicate a post to them soon I think!). 

I have started a big mulching program for the front garden. 

It feels like I haven't done a lot in the veggie patch recently, but thinking back there is more going on than I realised!  I have started weeding each veggie bed ready for planting Summer things, and have bought some interesting seed to try this year.  (Beetroots and collards)

Kept feeding and watering the broad beans, they are looking good, with lots of flowers.

I have been down to the Community Garden a few times this month, and there is a lot of different veggies  growing down there at the moment, it puts my garden to shame! 

Planting:  I sowed English spinach and snow peas, and planted out golden shallots.

Harvesting: Rhubarb, lettuce, potatoes, spring onions, lemons, limes, mandarins, lots of flowers.

To do : Sow seeds of tomatoes, beans, carrots and lettuce.  

Plant potatoes. 

Prepare an area for sweetcorn. 

Sow sunflowers, zinnias. 

Mulch and weed all the beds ready for tomatoes.

Here are a few snaps from my garden at the moment. 

......someone left the gate open and the chooks had a nice time pecking around the big garden, Franklin watched on from a safe distance........

So how is your garden growing this month?

Garden Share Collective February 2014

 Hello.

It is time for an update of the food garden for the Garden Share Collective, and how it's coping with the hot weather we have had this Summer.  

Well, it isn't looking great at the moment, I am keeping the water up to things that are looking like they will give a worthwhile crop, but am letting some things tough it out with lesser amounts of water.

Planting: During January I have not really planted anything new at all!

Harvesting: We are harvesting lots of beans at the moment, plus some potatoes that came up in random spots. We have also had lots of zucchini, some coriander before it bolted and the end of the carrots.

To Do During February :I will be trying to keep the tomatoes well watered as they are growing strongly and have quite a few tomatoes forming already ( I planted them quite late this year), also want to keep the pumpkins, beans and melons well watered as they are looking promising too.  I'm also going to keep an eye on the sweetcorn, as it is nearly ready to harvest and I don't want caterpillars to attack.

:I am thinking a sowing of salad greens, beetroot, spring onions and carrots would be good this month, so need to clear a couple of beds that have become weedy.

:I need to give the tomatoes a liquid feed.

:I need to keep on top of the mowing and whipper snipping!

......Pumpkins wilting in the midday sun....

 ....Rattlesnake beans growing well...

 ....sweetcorn nearly ready to pick, Yum!......

 ....my tomatoes are looking good, but no ripe fruit yet.....

 .....much of the garden looks like this Im afraid, too many scorching days.....

 ...... potatoes seem to like this spot though!

How is your garden growing?

Late Summer garden wander

this bed down our side fence has sweetcorn, french beans, tomatoes and basil

Hello, how's your week going?

We have been having a burst of gorgeous summer weather, nice and warm and sunny, and the garden has been relishing the great growing conditions. 

 I thought I would take you on a little tour of how things are growing in my garden at the moment.

 For those new readers to my blog, I love my garden, and it is my other major hobby along with making things.  

It is basically a food garden with some flowers grown for cutting for the house, I love growing our own vegies and some fruit, the fruit mainly goes to the birds though, so it is less successful.

Since I began my first vegie patch many years ago, my garden has spread and grown as my knowledge and ambitions for the garden grew, until today where it takes up most of our backyard with a lawny area for the boys to hang out in.  I have also got chooks who have a large run connected to the fruit tree area, they have been a lovely addition to our garden, adding their soft clucking and funny antics to the mix.

So anyway, here's what's going on today......

.....carrots growing well, I couldn't resist pulling a few up to see what was going on under ground, they're a bit crooked, but bigger than I expected, so not far off eating size.......

...........this is my sprawling tomatoes, I have since tied all those flopping branches up and it looks much more orderly!!  No ripe tomatoes yet though heaps of green ones, patience is a virtue when you garden!

.......this year I had a go at growing cantaloupes (rock melons) for the first time, I am very happy how they are going, there are lots of melons growing and the vines look very healthy.  We have grown these at our community garden for the past few years and they do really well, so much sweeter than shop bought ones, they are a bit smaller, but make up for it in flavour.  They are not a common thing to grow   in Melbourne as you would think we are too far south, but they actually grow really well over summer here, so I am looking forward to some home grown melons.

....the capsicums are producing many fruits, I planted four different capsicums so we could have colourful salads and so far they have been great!  These were planted in a raised bed full of compost, so it is nice and rich and stays quite moist which I think has helped with the prolific cropping.

........the cucumbers are kicking into gear and starting to be very productive, I picked eight big ones this morning! Now I've got to find something to do with them.

........I have two patches of sweetcorn going this year, I planted them a bit late so they are still a few weeks off, but they are looking good!  

...sunflowers for the bees.......

.......the baby lettuce patch has been excellent value, with many repeat cutting had from a small area.....

 ....I am even harvesting eggs from the food garden!!  I came across a nest that my explorer chookie made under some silverbeet and sage that had gone to seed, now I know why there aren't many eggs being laid in the actual hen house!  It seems the girls like my untidy garden habits, lots of good hiding places to be found.

....more glorious dahlias, they don't add to my food tally, but are an essential part of my summer garden for their colour and the pleasure they give me!

.....here is my explorer chookie, she likes to roam far and wide during her day, I can find her at many different spots scratching around for interesting titbits.

.....the climbing rattlesnake beans have been delicious, but now that the french beans are producing heaps, I am going to save the rest of the rattlesnake beans for seed for next year.  It is hard to buy and very expensive when you do find it!

.....and a bit more colour  from these zinnias!

I have had some disappointments too, my potatoes have not been great and did not produce well this year, and I only got about a dozen onions that fattened up nicely, but never mind, there is always next year to have another go!

Ok that's probably enough for now, sorry about the long post!  

Summer time is the part of the year that it is especially nice to be a food gardener, there are issues with keeping up with the watering, but generally it is a very productive time that rewards the efforts of spring planting.  I know it is incredibly satisfying putting food on the table that has come from your own backyard,  it gives me a real thrill!!  ( I know, I am pretty pathetic!! :) )

Do you food garden?  

Are you a gardener like me? 

Do you get absurdly excited like me when things work well in the garden?

What's growing in your bit of the world ? (Probably not much if you are snowed in!!)

Early Spring Snapshot (what's going on in the garden)

Hello!

It's been a lovely day here and I've been able to get stuck into the garden.  

This is an early Spring snapshot of what's happening in the vegie patch and other bits of our garden.

Above are the new box beds my dad and I made, I have planted them with potatoes, Otway Reds in one and Kipflers in the other, I still have 4 more varieties to plant, so will need to find some more good spots for potatoes.  

This is looking back towards our back fence, you can see my main vegie areas and the back of the chicken yard, you can just see my colourful fence over the other side surrounding my little chicken orchard run.

Inside the hot house, tomatoes seedlings are growing well........

....and my lettuce box is keeping us in fresh leaves for our sandwiches and salads, such an easy way to grow salad greens, I am planning to get another couple of these on the go with summer coming up.......

......basil seeds have germinated......

....and a new batch of kale seedlings are looking good, I'm going to try and grow these through the spring into summer, until the cabbage moths get too bad.

I bought a couple of boronias the other day, the most divine perfume in the garden I think.  Got to find the perfect spot for these, as they are difficult to keep alive through the summer, I can't let them get too dry.

The bearded iris are starting to flower, lots of lovely shades of blue and purple, I think I have a few dark ones too somewhere, looking forward to spotting them in the next few weeks.

The broccoli still has a few heads left, and the first planting of kale is tall and lush.......

.....I have spent today clearing out this bed of silverbeet and old peppers, and have given it a nice thick layer of mushroom compost.  I will let it sit for a few weeks and then plant it up with some summer things, planning to use the wire fence for climbing beans if I can get the chickens to leave them alone.

...I have been growing iceberg lettuces for Andre, and they are not too far away from picking....

....The raspberries are suddenly covered in green,with lots of little white flowers that promise a bumper crop (fingers crossed).......

.....while the flowering cherries have finished their blossom, the apples are just starting.  The ballerina apple tree in the middle of my main vegie patch seems to fruit every second year;  judging by the amazing amount of blossom on it, I think this is an on year for fruit....or maybe it's just because we have had a lot more rain this year compared to the previous 10 years.

......and the same goes for the crabapple, lots of pink buds ready to burst into gorgeous flowers, 

I will have to take a photo in a week or two and show you it in full bloom, it's quite spectacular!

....I have planted the last box bed with several different types of capsicum, hoping to be able to have nice colourful capsicum salads and all home grown too!

....in this garden I have heirloom snow peas, broccolini, red spring onions, celery and normal brown onions , plus a huge amount of weeds!

...I have a couple of blueberry bushes that need to go in the ground.  Just trying to find a nice acidic part of the garden where they can thrive, maybe up near the raspberries........

Well, that's about all I have to show at the moment, how's your garden growing?

Bring on Summer I say!