The Winter Vegetable Garden

I'm very happy with the way the winter garden is growing this year especially after the dismal year I had last year. 

Mammoth Melting snowpeas July 14th, 2020

August 8th, 2020

Brassicas July 14th, 2020

August 23rd, 2020

The harvest has been small so far. Mammoth Melting snowpeas

More snow peas and a very early asparagus spear.

Red Kitten and English Medania spinach

Violaceo di Verona cabbage, another white cabbage, Red Kitten spinach, Freckles lettuce and another tiny head of broccoli.

I've harvested two beautiful Purple Sicily cauliflowers that grew from seedlings planted last winter but that never made it to maturity before the warmer months arrived. I moved them to another part of the garden not thinking that they would make it through summer, but make it they did and this beauty was the reward for my patience.

I've since harvested another of these as well as a white cauliflower which I think is a Rober, but I'm not sure.

Some harvests have been smaller than some others.

 A tiny head of broccoli

Tiny turnips.

     What could quite possibly be the worlds smallest cauliflower?

Freckles lettuce

Everything else is coming along nicely and in a few weeks, I expect to be harvesting lots of cabbages, broccoli, beetroot, Speckled snowpeas, more cauliflowers, potatoes and carrots.

The beautifully coloured flower of the Speckled snowpea.

I miscalculated how long potatoes take to mature and the spot I had set aside for them was where I will be planting my tomatoes mid-October so they are growing in pots this year instead.

Apart from some very small broccoli heads, the only other problem I have had in the garden this year is whitefly. Normally they arrive at the beginning of winter, stay around for a few weeks and then leave, but this year for some reason they have stayed around much to my annoyance. Luckily, this year I invested in some insect netting which protected my young brassica plants from them as well as the Cabbage White butterfly. They have been a very worthwhile investment. 

I think that's all for now, I will be back next week with another post.

Until then, stay safe and be kind to each other, Jan.

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What's My Gardening Philosophy?

Welcome to this months Garden Share Collective, hosted by Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb and Krystie from A Fresh Legacy. This months theme is PHILOSOPHY.

My gardening philosophy is to keep things as simple and easy as possible by cutting down on the amount of work that I need to do in the garden, and only growing the vegetables that my family and I enjoy eating.

Growing vegetables can be hard work if you let it be, so here are a few things that I have found that have made it a little easier for me. 

Install a watering system - Watering (especially in summer) takes up a lot of a gardener's time, and I don't know anyone who enjoys standing out in the summer heat watering the gardens to keep plants alive, installing a water system not only cuts down on the amount of time you need to spend in the garden, it also cuts down on water wastage.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch - I cannot stress enough how important mulch is in the vegetable garden or any garden for that matter. It helps keep the soil cool, which creates a good environment for earthworms who in turn help break down the mulch which enriches the garden's soil. It helps to keep the  soil moist, which means less time spent watering, and it suppresses weed growth which is always a good thing. *Gardening Australia's Peter Cundall does advise against mulching onions as they need the warmth of the sun to swell and ripen. 

Invest in insect netting - If you don't like the idea of using pesticides in the veggie garden then you may want to buy yourself some of this, it will not only stop the White Cabbage butterfly laying her eggs on your brassica plants, but it will also prevent a myriad other insects devouring your vegetables. Old net curtains bought from your local op shop will work too, as long as it has a very fine weave.

Only grow what you like to eat - Those glossy purple eggplants might look delicious hanging on the plant, but if no-one eats them, they will only go to waste, the same goes for trying to grow veggies that aren't suited to your local growing conditions, so save yourself the time, money and stress, find out what your family likes and dislikes and do some research on your growing area before you plant anything. 

So, that's my gardening philosophy, I guess it's nothing new, but it works for me, and I hope you find some of it helpful.

Harvesting

Lots of peas, Oregon and Melting Mammoth snowpeas, Purple Podded, Telephone, Early Crop Massey, Blue Bantam and Sugar Snap peas. 

Oregon snowpeas.

Purple Podded peas.

Early Crop Massey and Blue Bantam peas

Harvesting them has been made considerably harder by an unexpected guest.

Mother Blackbird sitting on the nest she made amongst the Telephone pea vines.

And the eggs she is sitting on.

I harvested the last of the cauliflowers which was small but perfect.

Also in the picture is the last of the asparagus. They did not do as well this year as in previous years and I only picked enough for a couple of meals, it could have had something to do with all the rain we've had over the last few months, but I'm not really sure.

My only other harvest for this month wasn't edible, but it did make me very happy.

Sweet peas, so beautiful and their fragrance (especially the white ones) is divine.

 I had forgotten how much pleasure growing your own flowers can bring and I will be making sure that these won't be the last for the year.

Sowing

The last lot of seeds I sowed was in early August and not one seed germinated, I blame it on the seed raising mix I used, it was a lesser known brand and it dried out very quickly. I have since bought a better quality seed raising mix and on Tuesday I sowed not only this month's seeds, but last months as well. I won't bore you with the names of all of them, there was a lot, I just hope that they germinate this time. I also direct sowed five varieties of bean seed.

Things to do

Lots of waiting happening at the moment. Waiting for seeds to germinate, waiting for the seed pods to form on the broccoli plants, waiting for eggs to hatch and baby birds to fledge, and waiting for peas to finish their growing season, so there isn't a lot I can do in the garden at the moment. As soon as all that happens, I will be able to sow the corn, the pumpkins and the salad greens. I am growing tomatoes, capsicums, chillies in pots again this year, hopefully next year I will be able to start growing them back in the garden again, and as I've never had any luck growing cucumbers in the garden I will be growing them in pots as well. I need to get the chick peas in soon as they need quite a long growing season, hopefully that will happen this weekend.

That's it for this month's Garden Share Collective, If you'd like to know the gardening philosophy of other GSC members drop by Krystie or Kate's blog. See you next month.

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Two Weeks In The Garden

I seemed to lose my blogging mojo last week, so this week you get two weeks of gardening in one post.

Tuesday August 16th

I harvested three cauliflowers and five heads of broccoli today. I let two of the cauliflower go too long waiting for them to get bigger and then I remembered that they are actually mini cauliflowers, I won't be making that mistake again.

There are now flowers on both plum trees. They always flower a couple of weeks apart, a fact that I seem to forget every year.

Wednesday August 17th

Lots of seed sowing today,  Rosa Bianca and Snowy eggplant, Hungarian Yellow Wax and Californian Wonder Bell capsicum, Honeybee, San Marzano and Rouge De Marmande tomatoes, Lyon Prizetaker leek, bunching shallots (my first time growing both of these), coriander, thyme and another sowing of spinach. 

I also sowed marigolds, zinnias, bergamot, two types of sunflower, alyssum and a bee and butterfly mix.

Thursday August 18th

Sunny and blustery today. It's the same every year, as soon as the fruit trees blossom it gets windy, hopefully there will still be some flowers left on the trees. My seed order arrived today.

Some new varieties to try out.

Saturday August 20th

I harvested three more cauliflowers and four more heads of broccoli today as well as a few side shoots and the first of the Early Crop Massey peas.

 I won't bother with mini cauliflowers again, they take up just as much room as a normal one, but you need three of them to get the same amount of cauliflower. I think both the cauliflower and the broccoli will be finished next week and it will be time to sow the chickpea and bean seeds.

Sunday August 21st

After three applications of the milk/water solution the eggplant is looking much healthier with no signs of powdery mildew at all.

Monday August 22nd

I bought six crowns of Torrey strawberries at Aldi today, I've never heard of them, but according to the packet they are easy to grow, produce an abundance of tasty, large to medium sized fruits. I hope they do.

Thursday August 25th

I spent some time in the garden today as it was too nice of a day to stay indoors. I potted on the two Rouge De Marmande tomato seedlings that I overwintered in the greenhouse, they were looking a bit worse for wear, but hopefully they will pick up now they have more room to grow.  Planted out some more Calendula seedlings and some carnations grown from cuttings taken from a bunch I bought at Aldi. The two borage seedlings I planted last week are not looking too good and I don't hold out much hope for their survival, time to sow some more seed I think. I also sowed some seed of Golden and Red Globe beetroot.

Golden on the right and Red Globe on the right.

So there you go, two weeks in the garden and although there is a lot happening there is also a lot of waiting happening too. All the pea vines are flowering, and I'm waiting for the pods to develop, the garlic is growing well, but I have to wait until at least November to harvest it, and I'm also waiting for seeds to turn into seedlings so they can be planted out into the spring garden.

There may not be a post about the garden next week with all the waiting going, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. There will be another post on Monday though for this month's Garden Share Collective, the theme this month appropriately is seeds. I hope to see you then.

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A Week In The Garden

It has been a slow week in the garden this week, with very little happening at all.

Tuesday 9th August

I went down to water and check on the "Baby" broccoli that I had planted last week only to discover that something had eaten every single one of them. I wonder what the chances are that they will regrow.

Thursday 11th August

 I spotted the first pea pod on the Purple Podded pea vine, such a beautiful colour!  I only wish the peas were purple instead of green.

And I just cannot get enough of their flowers, they are so pretty.

Three of the cauliflower are now big enough to see without having to look for them.

After this photo was taken I clipped the leaves over the top of the cauliflowers with pegs to stop the sun turning them yellow.

One of the asparagus has decided it's spring already and has started to send up shoots.

Hopefully the rest will wait until it's the right time to grow.

I harvested the first head of the "Green Dragon" broccoli and one stem of the "Italian Sprouting" broccoli today.

I'm really pleased with how the broccoli has gone this year, a big improvement on last year.

Both of the orange tree are covered in flower buds despite the fact that one still has fruit on it. Is this normal?

Saturday August 13th

Not really gardening, but still garden related, I spent some time today going through all the seed packets I have (a lot more than I realised), sorting them month by month, tossing out the out of date ones, and writing a list of the ones that I need to buy. 

I then placed an order at Eden Seeds for Golden beetroot, True Gold corn, Turkish Turban pumpkin, Brown Berry, Principe Borghese, Pineapple and Tigerella tomatoes, Purple Beauty capsicum, and Gold Arch Crookneck zucchini. Hopefully with the seeds I all ready have, this should be enough to keep us supplied with vegetables over the spring/summer period.

I harvested a bunch of parsley today,

and noticed that the plum tree has burst into bloom.

Just gorgeous!

Sunday 14th August

I paid a visit to Cheap as Chips to pick up some stakes and twine that I will be using to help to support the broad beans when they get bigger.

I ended up walking out with not only the stakes and twine, but also some seedling trays, seed raising mix, celery seeds, Harlequin carrot seeds and some Giant Dahlia zinnia seeds.  I really don't need any more seeds at this point, but I'm sure that a few more will sneak in when I'm not looking. I think it can be quite addictive, everything always looks so good on the front of the packet.

I put the eggplant out in the sun today, in the hope that it will help with the powdery mildew issue and as I was checking it over I found six more fruit which brings the total to ten now, and it is covered in flowers. If they all produce fruit I have no idea what I'm going to do with them. A nice problem to have though.

So that was this week in the garden and now that I look at the photos  I can see that a lot has actually happened in the garden this week, I just haven't had to do any of the work.

What's been happening in your garden this week?

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A Week In The Garden

There hasn't been a lot to do in the garden of late, this time of the year the garden pretty much looks after itself, providing of course there is enough rain and this winter there has been plenty.

I started a garden journal a few months ago to help me keep track of what happens in the garden, what chores need to be done, when I fertilised, pruning etc. It has taken me a while to find what works best for me and that is just making daily notes, even if it's just to note the temperature and how much it rained that day. It will be good to have a record to look back on next year. 

This post is a bit of a catch up post as I didn't do one last week. It isn't a day by day as I don't want to bore you with the weather report for every day over the last two weeks.

July 21st

I fertilised the broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, kale and garlic. The first peas appeared on the Dwarf Blue Bantam.

July 23rd

The lettuce and pak choi seeds have sprouted.

July 24th

 The first pea pods have developed on the Early Crop Massey.

July 27th

I spotted the first flowers on the Purple Podded peas, only two flowers, but lots of buds. The flowers are lovely. 

July 30th

The Nantes carrot seeds sprouted today.

July 31st

The Chantenay carrot seeds and broad bean seeds have sprouted,  I am especially excited about the broad beans as this is my first time growing them.

I was extremely happy to find today that the cauliflowers have formed heads, some are further along than others which is fine because I really don't need 13 cauliflower all being ready at the same time.

 A caterpillar has grown fat munching on the leaves of one of the cauliflowers, there is only one so I'm not going to worry about it.

I found six caterpillars of the White Cabbage butterfly today, most of which were on one tiny Curly Kale plant. I can't believe that it is the end of July and I am still finding these little buggers on my brassicas. Next year I think I will leave the nets on as they have done quite a lot of damage to my plants this winter.

And that brings us to the end of July, can you believe how quickly this year is flying by. I've only just begun to really enjoy winter and it will be over in just a few weeks.

What's been happening in your garden this week?

I will be back next Monday with another garden update, see you then.

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Seasonal

Welcome to this month's Garden Share Collective, hosted by Kyrstie from A Fresh Legacy and Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb, the theme this month is SEASONAL.

Seasons, they come and they go, and with each seasonal change the produce that we grow changes too.

My huge crop of oranges this year. 

Most fruit and vegetables have distinct growing seasons, peas grow best in the cooler weather that winter brings, while others like tomatoes and eggplants like it hot and grow best in summer. There are some vegetables that will grow in more than one season like cabbage,broccoli, spinach, silverbeet, beetroot and coriander but even they will do better grown in the right season.

Early Crop Massey

If you don't grow your own, knowing what fruits and vegetables are in season can help when you buy your produce. Sure, you can buy apples in December, but do you really want to buy fruit that's been depleted of all its goodness while it sat in storage, or would you rather buy something you know is fresh, that will taste better and be better for you, and in season fruit and vegetables should be cheaper. 

Seasonal growing can differ depending on where you live, what one person can grow in summer in say New South Wales I might have trouble growing here in South Australia, an example of that would be potatoes. I grow mine in the winter, because our summers are just too hot, a lesson I learnt the hard way. Coriander is another that I grow in winter as it is less likely to bolt to seed.

Broccoli in the background and cauliflowers in front.

Below is a list what is growing in the garden at the moment.
Peas
Garlic
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale
Turnip
Wombok cabbage
Lettuce
Spinach
Silverbeet 

And this is what I will be growing during the hotter months ahead, your list might look a little different. 

Asparagus

Basil

Beans

Beetroot

Broccoli

Capsicum

Carrot

Celery

Cucumber

Eggplant

Leeks

Lettuce

Pumpkin

Sweet corn

Tomatoes

Zucchini

For a month by month planting guide try Gardenate. It is easy to use and you can even have planting reminders sent to you via email every month.

The garlic is enjoying all the rain we have been having and is growing well. The plants on the left where the replacement that were planted last month.

For more information on what fruits and vegetables are in season in your state, click on the link below, it will take you to the Seasonal Food Guide Australia, then simply click on your state capital to see what's in season when. There is also a link that will show you where Farmers Markets are located in your state.
Seasonal Food Guide Australia

Harvest

Much the same as last month, but at least the parsley in the insect garden is now big enough to start picking.

Italian parsley ready for picking.

Planting

Broad beans - 26 seeds of Early Long Pod 

Turnips

Carrots - Chantenay - Top Weight - Nantes

Spinach - English Medania

Pak choi - Kwang Moon

Lettuce - Red and green salad

Things to do 

Not a lot really, by the middle of next month I should be able to start  sowing seeds for summer crops, before that though I might plant another crop of broccoli. 

That's it for another month of Garden Share Collective, thanks for stopping by. If you would like to see what other gardeners have been up to this month, pop over to either Kyrstie's or Kate's blog. I will see you next month for another round of Garden Share Collective.

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Garden Share Collective - July 2015

Hello everyone and welcome to another round of Garden Share Collective hosted by Kate, Kyrstie and Lizzie.

The month of June was a slow one, workwise, in the garden and a dry one too, with just over 16mm of rain recorded for the month.

 

The peas that I sowed in May have sprouted with about a 95% germination rate.

Melting Mammoth snowpeas.

The Green dragon broccoli hasn't done anywhere near as well this winter, they are only 1/3 of the size of the ones I grew last year and the heads are tiny.

I'm hoping they will get a little bigger than this before they have to be cut.

 

The Green Sprouting broccoli is coming on.

Broccoli in May on the left and June on the right.

As is the cauliflower.

The rhubarb is still producing stems, normally by this time of the year it has died down, but with the weather being all over the place as it has been I'm not surprised the poor plant is confused.

I have self-seeded tomatoes popping up all over the place, some of which are flowering. At last count, there were fourteen, if they all survive I won't have to worry about seeds or seedlings come spring. 

I pruned the grapevine back and I'm thinking I might have cut it back too far, I guess only time will tell. I will be repotting it into a half wine barrel soon and if it doesn't give me any fruit this year (it's five years old) it will be going into the compost.

Harvesting

I had a very small harvest of ginger, I had been expecting more considering how lush the plant was.

Apart from the ginger, pickings have been slim, almost non-existent this month, hopefully things will get a move on in the garden and next month's harvest will be bigger and better.

Planting 

I finally got around to planting the potatoes, 6 each of, Kestrel, Blue Royal, and Red Delight and that's it, it's just a matter of waiting now.
 

My hens Rosie and Ginger have been through their moult and they looked very tatty this year. The feathers have grown back now and they are looking like their old selves again, I just wish they would start laying.

Rosie and Ginger doing their best to turn over the new compost bin.

That's it for this month, I will see you all again next month.

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