31 May 2016

Leaves

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 LEAVES.

Leaves, what would trees be without them? Bare, that's what they'd be. Without leaves a tree would have no means of making the energy it needs to grow through a process called photosynthesis, it would not be able to grow bigger, or produce the flowers that with luck will turn into the fruits and nuts that we love to eat. Leaves are also the way that a tree releases oxygen into the atmosphere, a fact that we don't always appreciate. 


 Leaves provide all living things with shade during the heat of summer and in autumn leaves not only provide a beautiful display of colour, but they also provide nutrients to the soil as they break down.


Just think how boring our food would be without the leaves of the many herbs available to add interest and flavour to our meals, think rosemary with lamb, peas with mint, pork and sage, thyme, parsley, dill and coriander, just to name a few.
Coriander

Dill
Other leaves provide us with nourishment, silverbeet, kale, spinach, bok choi and pak choi are some of my favourite winter vegetables. 
Dwarf Curly Kale

Mendania spinach

Red Taipan bok choi

Silverbeet

Baby beetroot leaves make a tasty addition to any summer salad, 
Beetroot
as do the leaves of the nasturtium plant.
Nasturtium
So when you stop and think about it leaves are very important. They provide everything from the oxygen we need to survive to the food that we need for nourishment; they really are a vital part of our lives.


Harvesting

It has been weeks since I have harvested anything from the garden unless of course, you count this.
Is this the world's smallest butternut?

Planting

Silverbeet 
Spinach
Kale
Cauliflower
Turnips
Wombok
Pak choi


Things to do

12 more garlic plants have emerged since I wrote the post on garlic and peas bringing the total to 16. If no more appear in the next week I will be planting more.

Weed - I can't believe how quickly they grow.

Sow more seeds for spinach, turnip, wombok, pak choi and carrots.

Sit back and watch the garden grow. 


That's it for another month of Garden Share Collective, you should pop over to either Kyrstie or Kate's blogs and check out what others have shared about leaves.

9 comments:

  1. You are so right ... where would be be without leaves? Although I do love autumn watching them change colour and then fall so they can crunch underfoot :) Isn't home grown the best? Your post has prompted me to get the rest of my garlic in ...

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    1. There is nothing better than home grown as far as I'm concerned, I just wish I was better at growing it.

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  2. What a gorgeous post, I love the pics. I completely agree, food would be very dull without the leaves of herbs. What a cute little pumpkin. My pumpkin harvest was pretty dismal this year, I hope you got some big ones too? Great post, lovely to have you join us again this month Jan.

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    1. Thanks Kyrstie, I'm glad you enjoyed it, and no there were no big pumpkins, that was my one and only. The vines really struggled in my garden this year, out of the 8 watermelon seeds I sowed only one vine produced and it only produced one watermelon. Hopefully this coming summer the conditions will be a bit better and I'll get a bumper crop.

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  3. I loved your take on this months subject. You have inspired me to grow some baby beetroot again, and the red taipan bokchoy looks awesome. I love colourful leaves in my salads.

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    1. Thanks Gillian, I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'm happy to have inspired you.

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  4. I am green with envy about your garden love all the photos of the different leaves in you garden

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