Broad Bean feast

The broad beans are coming to the end of their season. Not as prolific as usual, but productive enough - can't complain :)

The End of the Spuds - frickin chooks

My Magnificent spud patch fell victim to voracious worm hunting chickens

It was solid green before

The spuds were about a month off being harvested.

But, being one to make mashed potato out of, um, potatoes, I set my beady-eyed spud harvesters to work, to clear it out for me.

We got around four kilo's worth

And planted it up with some zuchinni's (plus room at the front for more carrots - you can never have enough carrots).

Zuchinnis - yes they are in there somewhere

The self-seeded Peachterine

Two years ago a little seedling came up in the tomato bed, it looked like it might be a peach or a nectarine, so I named it the Peachterine, took a chance and nurtured and cared for it.

This year it was covered in stunning pink blossom that has resulted in...

Peaches, white ones I reckon

Its doing brilliantly, and my next big challenge is keeping fruit fly away from it.

Yes, I know this is not a fruit fly

This year two more peachterine seedlings have popped up.  Can't wait to see how they'll go.

:)

Oh the Purpleness

Purpleness is bursting forth in the garden.  A lot of heirloom vegies have a purple version, and as purple is my favourite colour...

Purple shallots

Purple carrots

My purple podded peas (try saying that six times fast) which were pruned by a possum, have made a comeback.  Nothing spectacular, but hopefully enough to save for planting next year.

I have generally found that the purple versions of things are more robust.  The carrots are ready sooner, and less likely to get all neurotic about soil conditions (within reason, I mean they are carrots after all), though they do seem to be hairier (ie more roots - maybe that's why).  The purple shallots have survived where as the wussy green ones didn't even try (well, this may have something to do with where they were planted and where the wretched chooks chose to go worm hunting - but yanno, details).  And the purple beans are more prolific - and also awesome when you cook them and they go green. 'Mazing that.

I'm feeling a bit of a purple summer coming on actually.  Have been fossicking about on Diggers and looking at all the purple versions of artichokes, basil, beans, eggplant, passionfruit, garlic...  I reckon I could declare it the Year of Purple and plant purple everythings.  That could be so much fun (well, only a gardener would understand the funness of it, the rest of you will have to humour me).

:)

3 Year Old Apple Trees

This is the third year I've had my apple trees in.

To my utter delight it looks like the Granny Smith is going to bear some fruit (famous last words!!).

Love that pink

As I have banged on about before, our climate, here in the northern 'burbs of Sydney, is exactly in-between sub-tropical and temperate.  When I bought the apples and pears for the front garden I was under the impression we were temperate, but since then I've figured out that we're a bit too warm to be properly temperate.  As apples need set times below certain temperatures to bear fruit, I've always had a sneaking suspicion that we're not going to get very far with them.

But, the Granny Smith is performing this year, and all the others did the right things, ie went dormant at the right times, so maybe, eventually, we'll get something out of them.

Potential apples

In hindsight, I would've bought sub-tropical type apples from Daleys Fruit, rather than temperate type from Diggers.  But, yanno, live and learn.

The pears are not happy, by the way, not happy at all.  I expect I'll eventually move them to some quiet corner and leave them to their own devices.

This is an On My Mind post, with Rhonda at Down to Earth (brilliant blog if you haven't discovered it yet).

Bed 1 Harvest

Spent Saturday afternoon working in the garden.  This is Bed 1, root vegies.  I took out a row of potatoes, which hadn't been doing well, or so I thought until I earthed up a heap of spuds.  Where the potatoes had been I put in some chard, carrots, beetroot and some beans.
At the front of the photo there's carrots and swedes which are just about ready for harvest, then behind are more carrots which went in about a month ago.

Bed 1; Root vegies

This is what we had for dinner...

Spuds, a turnip and baby carrots

Salad from the garden

Salad from the garden to go with dinner tonight...

Spring is nearly here :)

Yay Us, and Snowpeas

Pshaw!  What a week.  Feel like feet haven't touched the ground since Monday.  Is good though.  It looks like we are finally, finally going to get some proper help with Miss 5 after being given the run around for such a long time.  (You know, right now, I want allcaps on and to be typing bad bad words about those individuals who brushed us off when we were begging for help, and O.M.G. how I want to let rip about the person who told me the issues were due to my 'failure to bond' with my child - but I shall, as ever, be circumspect. SIGH).

But, really, my desire to slander some choice individuals is beside the point.  Things are coming together, and with support I think life might be going to get better for everyone involved. So yay us.

Anyway, snowpeas.

Snowpeas doing nicely

These are in the front garden, and something has been doing midnight raids on the front garden and beheading my calendulars and parsley.  So, I am having low expectations.  Still, they are looking good at the moment.

:)

Planting Seeds

This, my friends, is my 901st post. Yep, that's a lot of blogging.

Today I spent the morning getting seeds planted.

Seed raising department

We've got...

• White box on the left: 
• Rockmelon (rockmelons of the world mix)
• Watermelon (moon and stars)
• White box on the right: 
• Lettuces
• yellow leaf 
• lollo mix
• Blue thingy, left side
• something (Honesty?? (the flower))
• Squash (spagetti)
• Zuchinni
• Black beauty
• Tri colour mix
• Blue thingy, right side
• Eggplants (long purple)
• Onion (barletta)
• Red spring onion
• Leeks, Leeks and more leeks
• Celeriac
• erm, something else that will be a big surprise
• That's probably it

Now they just have to survive dogs, cats, possums, birds, chooks, snails, too much water, no water at all, Miss 5...

Spuds

Spuds are doing marvellous things.

Am mulching them and hurling about fertilizer with gay abandon.  They seem to like it.  Hopefully there's lots of potatoes under there.

Bed 5: Sweetcorn & Pumpkin

Bed 5 has grown its green manure, been dug over by the chooks, been sprinkled with chook poo and bloodnbone and then been dug over by hubs.

I declare Bed 5 ready for implantation

I'll be growing the 'three sisters' in this bed.  Sweetcorn, pumpkin and beans.

Sweetcorn seed soaking - pink is the anti fungal stuff it comes coated in

When the sweetcorn starts to sprout I'll plant it out, and then once its looking like it might survive long enough for me to have fantasies about home grown corn cobs, I'll plant the beans and the pumpkin.  I got out my bean and pumpkin seed packets yesterday, and hubs caught me talking to them aka Gollum.

"Hello, my pretties..."

What?

:)

Bed 3: Onions

Here is the onion bed in June...

June 2011

Here it is, six weeks later, in early August...

August 2011

You would be entirely right in thinking that absolutely nothing of interest has happened amongst the onions. Why indeed, even the old dog chew toy nestling in the corner there has not been moved.

Onions. Yawn.

Bed 1: Root Vegetables

The root veggie bed is doing glorious things.

Turnips, swedes, carrots, beetroot and carrots all doing very nicely.  We're eating the turnips already.  Well, I'm eating them, hubs is eating them without knowing what they are, and the children would rather die of starvation than eat them.

Bed 1: Root vegies

The peas and snow peas along the fence are going nicely as well.

:)

UPDATED: I wrote this post last night when the peas and snow peas were indeed doing well. Now they have been eaten down to the ground by a possum. sigh.

Bed 2: Legumes

The broad beans are pretty milquetoast this year.  Usually I have a dense thicket filled with snails, which I spend many irritated hours tying up, only to have them all fall down again in the faintest of breezes. But these ones are lacking in enthusiasms and even the snails couldn't be bothered.

Unenthused Broad Beans

Still, the few that are actually trying, are starting to flower, so there is some hope.

:)

Spring Asparagus Miracle

I put in six asparagus plants last year.  Despite the best efforts of the chooks, I have three plants STILL ALIVE. (Yes, miracles do happen).

Look! Look!!

And now they're even starting to produce spears that are big enough to eat.

This can't be right.  

Small signs that I'm feeling better....

Was utterly thrilled to discover a local has started a seedling and organic veg business, and yesterday I rocked up at the monthly market to scare her with my enthusiasms say hi.  It was only 11am and she'd already sold out of most of her produce, but I was still able to grab a few veg for us.

It is not the size of your carrot, but what you do with it that matters.

I'm getting my bounce back, can you tell?

:)

Apple pickin

It was the annual family trip to go apple picking in Bilpin on the weekend...

OMG We're going to pick apples, OMG let's run up and down and fall over

Why yes, I would love to pick all the apples for you and put them in your bag

Beautiful Sundowners

Yep, that'd be around 20kgs of apples just there

First kilo got dried

So now I have 30kgs of apples scattered around my house.  In hindsight maybe 30kgs was a little excessive, I've got one hell of a lot of peeling to do.

We've split them up as follows...

• Blackberry and apple jam (lots, its our family fave)
• Pie filling for x12 pies
• Eating
• Drying 
• Apple puree for muffins etc
• Bottling - ie, preserving whole apple slices

We went to Shields Orchard - a wonderful pick your own orchard, they're nearly at the end of their season now though, check their website for details

:)

The Great Tomato Caper - Part 2

So I have been waiting for the Second Pumpkin-of-Hope to ripen before I could get on with The Great Tomato Caper. Part 1 is here.  Long story short; am planting self-seeded tomatoes as my main crop of tomatoes, and doing it months earlier than I usually would. (Wacky and radical me, sometimes I can barely stand it).

Second Pumpkin of Hope has ripened - Princess Zuzu is still not amused
Called Pumpkin of Hope because after garden annihilated by weather in late Jan, pumpkin sprang up on its own and produced two pumpkins

I moved the self-seeded tomatoes from their various locations, stuck them in the end of one of the veggie beds, and left them to see who survived (everybody).

Getting somewhat crowded

My tomato bed is actually two beds.  In the left one I cleared out the tatty remains of the pumpkin and dug it over.  In the right one I dug in the green manure that was growing there, with a few handfuls of leaves.  It'll be interesting to see the difference between the bed with the extra 'nutrition' and the one that just got replanted.

Why yes, the swimming pool is bright green again

Then I planted out my overcrowded tomatoes and mulched (yes it keeps the soil temperature low, but its so dry/windy at the moment that I chose mulch to try and keep in some moisture - also hides weeds)

Now to see if they survive the winter

So that's the tomatoes sorted out.  Tick.

:)

Autumn Planting: Bed 3 Onions/Alliums

Wretched chicken got out yesterday and wreaked havoc amongst my seedlings. Not. Happy. Jan.

Well, at least it wasn't all four of them. sigh.

Bed 3 is my alliums bed; 2sqm onions, 1sqm spring onions, few random shallots, 1sqm garlic and 1sqm leeks.

Lovely garlic just coming up; yes raised beds are falling to bits

 I got the garlic I planted here from the organic produce stall at Hornsby farmers market.  Not sure what sort it is, but I wasn't too fussed.  Given last years garlic disaster I didn't want to spend a heap on garlic from Diggers or somewhere.

Some red spring onions are in there somewhere - also some basil, eggplant and capsicum from this being the tomato bed last year.  They'll come out in the next few weeks.

1sqm spring onions + other stuff

 Here is my poor poor onion patch - big hole in the middle courtesy of damn chook.  Have a few onion seedlings hanging about, so shall replant, sigh.

Chook damaged onion patch - note lame chook defences

So really the alliums bed is pretty much done - just watering and TLC from now own (and laser heat seeking missile chook defence system).  I've got to put in a square meter of leek seeds, which are going in a bit late for around here, but leeks usually do okay regardless. 

:)

Autumn Colour in the Garden: or Things that are actually alive...

Gave the strawberries in the front garden a drink of seaweed tea about three weeks ago, and now we have a few very late season fruit.  The flavour isn't anything like the pre-christmas lot, but its strawberry-ish enough to be lovely.

Strawberry

I love these Fairy Tale eggplants.  I thought this one had died in our Disaster Of Late January - when everything got cooked by a week of 40+ temps, westerly gales and UV levels that were off the scale - but its bounced back.

Fairy Tale Eggplant

Shall be including this one in dinner :)

Capsicum; Zodiac Capricorn

And that's a sweetcorn seedling coming up next to it on the left - not grass, I think...

:)