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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Bloomin' Lovely - Spring 2018

Spring is over and after a very mild spring, summer is definitely here, as I sit here writing this post (10 am ACDT), it is currently 36.6°C (97.8°F) with an expected high of 41°C (105.8°F).

Spring this year was the strangest one I've ever known, the weather was all over the place with days in the mid 30's and then dropping down to the low teens, it was unbelievably windy and nighttime temperatures got down as low as 4°C (39.2°F) which meant that up until three days ago I still had blankets on my bed, which I didn't mind as I love the cooler weather and dread the heat that summer brings, we did have some really good rain at the end of November, but it has quickly dried up with the heat of this week.

Despite the strange spring weather conditions the plants flowered as they normally would so I thought that I would share some of the flowers that bloomed in my garden during the past 3 months.

I bought some daffodil bulbs at the beginning of spring, planted them and although they all grew only these two flowered, the one in the bottom photo is definitely my favourite.

One of my favourite natives, Geraldton Wax, this one is "Raspberry Ripple".

I bought this Gerbera for $2 at a local nursery and managed to keep it alive long enough for it to bloom. The photo doesn't do it justice though as it is a lot more fluorescent in real life.

My "Lavish Rose" Lavender flowered so much better this year than it did last year it could be because I actually remembered to fertilise it this year.

I've waited five years for this Melaleuca "Apricot Delight to flower, it was worth the wait.

My rock orchid didn't flower at all last year so I was pleasantly surprised to find it covered in flower spikes this year.

I have never sown seed for or planted Hollyhocks, but every year they pop up in my garden, some years there will be a lot and some years like this year they will only be a couple.

I was lucky to have any Sweet Peas at all this year, every time I sowed seeds the Blackbirds would dig them up while they were hunting for bugs in the garden.

I love this Rain Forest Lily, the flowers last for weeks and when they are finished these unusual seed pods appear.

Scabiosa, it copes with whatever nature throws at it and the bees just love it.

They might be considered old-fashioned by some, but wallflowers will always be a favourite of mine, their fragrance alone makes them worth growing.

The Wonga Wonga vine was absolutely spectacular this year, but no matter how many photos I took I could not capture just how amazing it looked.

What flowered in your garden this spring? Do you have a favourite spring flower or like me do you love them all?

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Seeds

Seeds, where would we be without them?  They fill our flower beds with colour and fragrance, and allow us to grow tasty, nutritious food to feed ourselves and our family. They are the perfect little capsule, containing everything that is needed to start the next generation of plant life. They lay dormant sometimes for years waiting for the perfect growing conditions and then, they spring into life. 

This year I am trying to grow all my vegetables and flowers from seed.

What I'm growing

Sown 24th September

Melons

Hale's Best 

Sugar Baby
Luscious Red

Tomatoes

Honeybee 

Rouge de Marmande

San Marzano

Unknown truss (seeds were from shop bought tomatoes)

Corn

Kelvedon Glory

Jubilee Bicolour

Cucumber

Lebanese (sprouted today)

Zucchini 

Green Bush

Beans

Windsor Longpod

Brown Beauty

Butter 

Cannelini

Red Kidney

Borlotti

Leafy Greens

Cos lettuce

Green Mignonette

Salad mix which includes

Lolla Rossa

Bionda

Red and green salad bowl and

Great Lakes

Endive

Kale

Medania spinach
Celery

Eggplant

Snowy

Rosa Bianca

Capsicum

Hungarian Yellow Wax Sweet

Basil

Sweet Genovese

Thai

Radicchio

Palla Rossa

And a new one to try this year, chickpeas.

Flowers
Borage
Alyssum Rosie O'Day
Poached Egg Plant
Nasturtium
Zinnia
Candy Tuft
Calendula

So, hopefully not only will my vegetable garden be productive it will look beautiful as well.

This is my contribution to this months Garden Share Collective 

hosted by Lizzie from Strayed from the Table, Krystie from a A Fresh Legacy and Kate from Rhubarbs and Rosehips. To see what they and others have to say click on any of the links above.

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Signs Of Spring

It's feels like winter has only just begun and I'm definitely not ready for spring yet. But whether I'm ready or not the signs are there, telling me that spring is just around the corner.

 White Hyancinth

Gazania

Caterpillar of the black and white tiger moth.

Oriental poppy bud.

Sunflower

Peach blossoms in my neighbours yard.

Hydrangea shoots.

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