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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Sunday

I was so annoyed with myself this morning because I thought I had slept in, it wasn't until an hour later when I looked at the clock in the kitchen that I realised that daylight saving had started while I was sleeping. Can I just say, and I know that I'm in the minority here, that I hate daylight saving time, I always have! I realise that there aren't actually any more hours of daylight, but  I think it's so unnecessary in a country that already has so many hours of daylight during summer to artificially extend it. If they moved it to winter when we actually could use more I wouldn't have a problem with it.

It was another overcast, windy day today and so much cooler than yesterday, the BoM keeps predicting rain but so far there has not been a drop, it would be nice if they could get it right occasionally.

I took a walk to Aldi and Coles to pick up a few groceries (the stores don't open here until 11am on Sundays) and dropped into Bunnings for "a quick look" and I didn't get home until well after lunchtime, these came home with me.

Tomatoes Genuwine, Rouge de Marmande and Blue Berries, a purple capsicum and Fairy Tale eggplant.

I have sown seed for tomatoes and a few have germinated but not many and the ones that have germinated are growing at a snail's pace so I thought rather than wait until they're big enough to be planted I would get a head start with these. The eggplant and capsicum haven't germinated at all, I am going to sow more seeds but just in case they don't germinate either at least I will have these. The eggplant is only a small one but as I'm the only one who eats them it is a perfect size.

I did get the beans planted and I will take a photo once they are established and growing, I didn't manage however to get any more seeds sown.

While I was down in the garden I harvested the last of the sprouting broccoli, the rest is starting to flower so I will leave it for the bees until I need the space, a Purple Sicily cauliflower, my first time growing them and I will be growing them again next year.

I picked the one and only Violaceo di Verona cabbage, it's my first time growing cabbage and I'm not sure it was ready to be picked but the whitefly has arrived and I didn't want it to be ruined, as it was I found two Cabbage White butterfly caterpillar feasting on the inner leaves. 

In the basket along with the cauliflower and cabbage are some Golden Podded peas another first for me this year, some Sugar Snap peas, the first snowpea (Mammoth Melting) and a single broad bean. The asparagus is doing so well this year that I can barely keep up with them, not that I mind they are delicious.

Tomorrow is Labour Day holiday here in South Australia and at this point, I don't have any plans, some seed sowing maybe, we'll see. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely day and if I do decide to do anything tomorrow I will be back with another post. Bye for now.

Edited: I actually wrote this last Sunday and for some reason, it didn't publish.

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