The garden share collective......February

 

 

 

Here is my garden update for February as part of the Garden Share Collective.  Thank you for all the advice regarding my unruly tomatoes.  You can see in the photos above that they have now been tamed, cropped and staked.  The three tomato plants are producing lots of sweet cherry toms......the smell stays on your hands after picking them, just delicious.

The capsicums are plentiful, as are the chillies - a branch or two have succumbed to either small children or animals (no one is owning up) - so I picked the small chillies off the broken branches, bagged them up and put them in the freezer for winter cooking.  The ones that are still going strong on the plants are growing to a really good size.  Pretty pleased about these.

The zucchini (courgette - is it the same thing?) plant is enormous!  If I had known that they get so big I would have planted it somewhere with more space around it.  I'm constantly learning things about growing vegetables all.  I love zucchini grated into salads and will be making up a batch of fritters with them too.

My celery are growing well, now they are no longer hidden away under the tomato vines.  I now have space for more plantings - I just need to decide on what to put in.  Any suggestions?

One thing that I can't seem to grow is broccoli and cauliflower.  The leaves grow but the heads NEVER form.  Does anyone know why this would be happening?  We eat a lot of broccoli so it would be great if it is something I could produce in my garden.  The guinea pigs however are benefiting and enjoying the green crunchy leaves.

Growing in the garden I have:

Tomatoes
Capsicum - red/orange/yellow
Chillies
Zucchini
Celery

Jobs to do:

Start another herb garden
Decide what to plant next
Weeding and soil turning
Netting over crops (I still haven't done this)
Extend the vegetable garden (remove some of the compost and clippings, turn soil and lay down manure) - this is my long term plan.

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."



 

The garden share collective....a Summer garden

  

 

 

There has been a huge amount of growth in the garden in the last few months - you can see the difference from my last Garden Share Collective post here.

I ended up moving all of my plantings from the raised garden bed under the Apricot tree to the one above.  The soil just wasn't holding the water and was just so dry.  Since moving them they have flourished here.  There is a bit of shade from the hedge and because the garden bed is low it holds water really well.  At the end of winter I also put down a lot of manure which I'm sure makes a huge difference too.

I now want to extend this garden - I have compost on the other side so the plan is to dig the compost, and lawn clippings up, turn the soil and put down more manure and get this planted up for winter.

My tomatoes have gone crazy and are taking over.  They are stretching themselves over my celery, zucchini and cucumbers - this seems ok at the moment as they provide good shading and protection from the birds and bugs.  Is it okay to trim the tomato plantings back???  Or should I let them go wild???

We have been eating spinach from the garden.  And as it's summer and BBQ season I have been using the lettuce that is growing for our salads.  The tomatoes are now ready to be added to our meals too.

Our fruit trees have been pants this year.  After two years of bumper plum and apricot crops, this season the trees are almost bare.  I was told that with apricot trees it's year on year off so I guess we are due for an "off" season.

With the raised garden bed under the apricot tree now bare I was thinking of putting in more strawberries.   Any other suggestions would be appreciated - it needs to be a crop that can tolerate dry conditions, and a lot of sun.  This spot isn't sheltered well from winds either.

In the last year I have really taken to gardening - vegetables and flowers.  I had no idea how rewarding and relaxing I would find it.


Growing in the garden I have:

Tomatoes
Capsicum - red/orange/yellow
Chillies
Broccoli
Spinach
Zucchini
Cucumber
Lettuce
Spring onions
Strawberries

Jobs to do:

Weeding and soil turning
Netting over crops
Extend the vegetable garden (remove some of the compost and clippings, turn soil and lay down manure).

 

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."




 

The garden share collective - Summer vegetables

 

Spent this afternoon in the garden, putting in my summer vegetables.  I had weeded and turned the soil over last week and with overnight rain it was an easy task putting everything in.

I went to the plant barn in town.  Such a great set up.  You grab yourself a tray which has sheets of newspaper on it.  And you take and wrap the plantings you want - all for 25cents each.  Tomatoes and capsicum plants are $2.50.  I will be heading back again next week to pick up some chilli plants.

Growing in the garden I have:

Capsicum - red/orange/yellow
Broccoli
Spinach
Zucchini
Cucumber
Lettuce
Spring onions

Still growing from previous plantings:

Carrots
Kale
Strawberries - think we will have a bumper crop this year.

Jobs to do:

Mulch down around the new plantings
Covering for the strawberries (before the birds spot them)

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."



 

The garden share collective - July

 

  

July is flying by and this is my very overdue July Garden post.  I've been harvesting in the garden but have yet to replant.  I have weeds that need pulling and soil that wants turning.  I didn't use any of my garlic and chilli spray this month and it shows, there are a lot of holes in the outer layers of my cabbages, bugs don't seem to bother the kale.  Strange.

I'm still finding my feet with my new part time job and making sure all the other day to day things are getting done.  The weather hasn't been great so I haven't been in the garden as much as I should.  I spending more time in the kitchen when I have spare time.

I have picked the last of the celery, some of which I have frozen to be added to soups and stews - the smell of home grown celery is so noticeably stronger and you can really taste the difference too.

There has been a burst of green capsicum growth and small bunches of broccoli.  The savoy cabbage is coming along nicely (this grew really well last year too).  The kale is looking strong and healthy.  I need a few more Kale recipes though so will have to ask Google.

Now I need to put in new plants for the coming months and just spend a bit more time getting my hands mucky.


Growing in the garden I have:

Capsicum
Carrots
Broccoli
Savoy cabbage
Kale
Silverbeet
Strawberries - STILL!

Herbs - none at the moment.

Expecting to harvest/sow:

Strawberries
Silverbeet
Kale

To do list:

Same as last month..........

Weeding and soil turning.
Another spray of my chilli and garlic spray.
Sheep poo in both gardens.
New plantings

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."



 

The garden share collective - June

It's been a good month in the garden, I've been picking silverbeet, spinach, kale and celery - all of which are plentiful.  I add them to my cooking where possible.

I've also joined a local fruit and vegetable swap group and this week have traded kale for kiwifruit and mandarins.

I am going to put in more spinach this week - Mr H likes his green smoothies in the morning so it's great to have a lot of "green" on hand in the garden for him.  I treat our guinea pigs to some of the silverbeet leaves, they love them and demolish them unbelievably quickly - little guts.

And we have had lots of rain over the last week which has been great for the garden and water tanks.

I'm hoping to get to the farmers market this weekend to buy some more vege plants to fill in the gaps where I have harvested - I will see what the plant man has available but he sells most for only 25cents a punnet.  I need to do a bit of reading on starting my own seedlings.......something to think about a little further down the track.

I feel really satisfied with how my garden in progressing, it finally feels like I have a working kitchen garden.  It is a really nice feeling to be able to step outside and pick a few things to add to whatever meal I'm making.  Very satisfying indeed.

Growing in the garden I have:

Capsicum
Celery
Carrots
Broccoli - will see how these go.  My summer crop was not good.
Savoy cabbage
Kale
Silverbeet
Spinach
Strawberries - STILL!

Herbs - I need to replant my herbs.  None left at the moment.

Expecting to harvest/sow:

Strawberries - if George hasn't got to them first.
Celery
Silverbeet
Spinach
Kale

To do list:

Monthly weeding and soil turning.
Another spray of my chilli and garlic spray.
Sheep poo in both gardens.
New plantings

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."



 

The garden share collective - May

These monthly posts seem to come around really quickly.  Even though we haven't had the rainfall that we had last month, there has been a very noticeable growth in the newer vegetable garden - you can really see the difference.  Last months rain and the manure and compost have given this crop a really good start.

I also ticked the scarecrow off my to do list.  We still want to make another one for the vegetable garden that sits under the apricot tree.  I have added some compost to this garden too and with the sheep having newly arrived in the vineyard next door for the winter months I will be scooping up the poo and adding to both vegetable gardens throughout winter.

I haven't put up any covers yet but have sprayed my plants with a homemade chilli and garlic spray which I think may be working as there is minimum chomping going on.

Growing in the garden I have:

Capsicum
Celery - I've been adding this to lots of meals throughout the week.
Carrots - my first crop has been harvested and a new crop has been planted.
Broccoli - newly planted
Cauliflower
Savoy cabbage
Kale
Silverbeet
Spinach - newly planted
Strawberries

Herbs - parsley, flat leaf parsley, coriander and a rosemary hedge.

Expecting to harvest/sow:

Strawberries - with the still warm weather around we are still getting these delicious berries.
Celery
Cauliflower

To do list:

Monthly weeding and soil turning.
Another spray of my chilli and garlic spray.
Sheep poo in both gardens.
Watering, we haven't had much rain these past few weeks.

Happy gardening!

Joining in with Lizzie from Strayed from the table.

"The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably."