Garden Share Collective: Slow and Slow

Time again for the monthly garden round up, thanks to Lizzie of Strayed from the Table who puts on the show known as the Garden Share Collective. So, let's see what's been happening in our spring garden.

marjoram - I just love the look of this plant in the garden

To be honest, very little has happened in our garden this month. A few reasons for this. Firstly chickens. That age old problem again, chickens with free access to the vegie garden, which has been a major deterrent in any thoughts of planting seedlings or seed. It's just too frustrating to see your hard work undone so quickly by rouge chickens, so I've held off from doing too much. Although it's getting too late in the season to continue like this much longer, so it's looking likely that a temporary fence will go around the vegies until a more permanent chicken solution (new chook run) is found. And  apart from that, well, we're going to change up almost everything about the outdoor layout of this place and the vegie garden area will be the first to change. I guess that sitting in the back of my mind isn't helping my motivation to get out there and plant. But anyway, I will need to use the current location for the summer season at least as we'll be pushed for time to get new plans under way (despite my impatience to start digging over the current driveway-soon to be vegie garden right now!).

So progress has been slow. But still, slow progress is still progress, and there are signs of life in the vegie beds. Also - they are weed free! If you recall from my post last month, we were growing some serious weeds in the vegie garden beds and it was looking like a huge job to clear them out. Thanks to lots of helping hands from our neighbours, the whole lot was gone in an afternoon. To say I am most grateful is a huge understatement. So really, I should have all beds full of goodies that are starting to take off, but… chickens. That temporary fence is starting to become a serious priority. 

healthy looking curly leaf parsley

oregano that I've planted has somehow survived chickens and starts to grow

My favourite things right now are not anything that I've planted, but were here already: a sea of coriander emerging in one of the vegie garden beds (I was looking at all the seeds scattered from a plant when we first moved in and they looked like coriander, but I wasn't sure; now I am sure), the beautiful marjoram in the herb garden and a healthy looking curly leaf parsley. I've also planted out seeds of carrot and beetroot (actually in the same place as the coriander seeds), and there are a few survivors of these amongst the taking-over coriander. I look forward to carrot and coriander soup already. Potatoes - I've planted about 20-odd seed potatoes into a bed and just noticed the first one emerging now. I should also add that I've done next to no watering, so these guys are relying on the water that falls from the sky and that hasn't been much. Bits here and there, but things are starting to brown off considerably here. It's pretty dry.

the first potato

coriander, anyone?

look who else is growing amongst the coriander

a carrot fights for space amongst the coriander

Planting:

• zucchini
• cucumber
• carrots
• beetroot
• silverbeet 
• maybe some more potato

Harvesting:

• herbs (coriander, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, marjoram)
• rainbow chard

To Do:

• mulch the existing vegie garden beds
• set up a temporary chook-proof fence
• plant seedlings (I've all but given up on seeds for now, toddler and chickens being the reason)
• water more regularly

That's me for this month. Not too much happening, to be honest I'm more excited about plans to relocate the vegie garden to the place where a car is currently parked. It will take a bit of digging, a bit of earth moving perhaps and then a lot of soil improvement. But it will be so nice to have a view of the vegie garden from our lounge room windows rather than a view of a car.

Thanks as always to Lizzie for putting together the Garden Share Collective. Have you taken a look lately?

Garden Share Collective: It's winter again.

On the first (official) day of winter, it's time once again to take a peek into my little vegie garden. Linking up as always with Lizzie of Strayed from the Table and the Garden Share Collective. Have you joined the collective?

Stevia, a little sweetie flowering.

And so it's winter. Not that it feels like it, and apparently the garden isn't sure it's winter yet either. But the conditions are lovely all the same, and lots of greenery is growing in the garden. Mostly weeds, mind you, but some vegies are doing their bit as well. 

Currently on the go in the vegie garden is celery (I am loving this, I planted it back in summer and now I just take stalks as I need them for soups and stocks and lentil bolognese), rainbow chard, broad beans, peas and broccoli. And about twenty million snails, mostly little ones. Any ideas on how to remove snails sans snail bait? I haven't tried beer yet, as we just never buy it, but I wonder if wine would have the same effect. Any ideas fellow gardeners?

The herb garden is also ticking along quite happily, albeit slowly now as it's a fairly shaded area. Currently growing is rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley, mint, rocket, chives and a stevia plant I found at the market. And a bunch of weeds in between.

I absolutely love silverbeet and rainbow chard. Can't get enough of this stuff. Nor can the chickens.

Planting

In June, I'll be planting garlic, some more rainbow chard, spring onions and some brown onion seedlings from the nursery. A few weeks ago I planted out cauliflower and mini cabbage seedlings and they all got eaten by those darn snails. Very, very disheartening to see, especially as I made quite the effort to get them in the ground, and all for nothing. Gosh, I sound so bitter!

Harvesting

At the moment it's just celery and rainbow chard plus herbs as needed. We had a few more zucchini's during May but I finally had to remove the biggest zucchini plant I've ever grown and make space for new plantings (the ones that got eaten..).

The broad beans are flowering. So pretty.

To Do List

Well, I'm keeping my garden To Do list to a minimum at the moment, so apart from planting out a few bits and pieces, possibly into pots, I'll be keeping an eye on frosty nights to cover up flowering peas and broad beans if needed and not too much else. Regular checks of the broccoli to make sure the white moths aren't attacking it again, making sure the peas and broad beans are supported. The garden could do with a nice big bed of pea straw but I'm not sure I will have the opportunity to get to it.

Winter garden greenery.

Anyway I'm very happy with this little winter vegie garden, it is surprisingly productive and is without doubt the most productive winter garden I've yet produced. I'm loving watching the flowering of the peas and broad beans and just seeing the greenery flourish against the cool season backdrop.

So how is your garden looking as we start June? 

For more gardens, head over to the Garden Share Collective page and take a look, there are bloggers from all over the world taking part so there's sure to be someone near you.

Garden Share Collective: Autumn in Full Swing

Another month has passed, once again it's time to take a look at my little vegie garden as part of the Garden Share Collective, joining in as always with Lizzie of Strayed from the Table. Also congratulations are in order to Lizzie, she's now a mum! Wishing Lizzie and Roy all the best with their beautiful baby girl. 

A plant must be very resilient in these parts.

And on to the garden… You know this is the first time in my years of vegetable gardening that I've really embraced the autumn/winter vegie garden. Normally I get to the end of summer and things tend to shut down for the winter. And last year I planned my autumn/winter garden and then - baby - and nothing at all happened. Well, nothing that I did anyway. So I'm loving spending time out there in the cooler weather and having different crops on the go.

Currently growing happily are broad beans, peas, rainbow chard (still going from summer), celery, lettuce, a couple of beetroots and some other hangers-on from summer that will soon be finished - zucchini, capsicum, leeks, basil. The herb garden is doing well, I've been busy building a rock wall and creating quite a happy little space in that area of the garden. One day there will be photos. Mostly I spend my outdoor time trying to protect the vegies from toddler feet, toddler hands and rogue chickens. Again. Always the chicken issue. Thankfully broad beans bounce back fairly well from being stood on and sat on.

New season growth - broccoli, broad beans and peas, with zucchini and capsicum in the background.

Planting: Hopefully over the coming month I'll get some cauliflower and brussels sprouts planted, and maybe some more broccoli and spinach. I don't think I planted anything during April, the peas and broad beans all went in late March. So it's probably time to get planting again.

Grow little pea, grow!

Harvesting: Quite a lot during April actually. The zucchini is still going, albeit at a slower and slower rate, but it is still giving us beautiful zucchini's every few days or so, particularly after a dose of rain. I cannot bring myself to pull out that plant yet, it is such a good provider. Maybe this month. Also harvesting the last of the leeks from summer, heaps and heaps of rainbow chard, and capsicums too. The little capsicum plants came good after all and gave us a lot of fresh, crisp green capsicums. William's favourite thing to forage for at the moment, as well as the rainbow chard for the bright stalks. Celery is still in plentiful supply and I take what I need for soups mainly, as and when needed. And for distracting William away from capsicums. Plenty of herbs being harvested too - parsley, oregano, thyme, sage and rosemary mostly. The basil is still there, I'm about to bring it all in and dry some for winter, the mint is our favourite 'snack' plant (again, a distraction against more untoward things for a 13 month old) and the chives remain untouched. Must try some of the chives.

Not what you want to see on the broccoli leaves.

To Do List: A few jobs to be done in the garden this coming month. Very first up is to get some dipel out onto the broccoli. I've lost a couple of seedlings completely and removed a few caterpillars, and there are plenty of eggs on the undersides of the leaves. I knew it was coming, I've seen those little white butterflies in the garden so it was only going to be a matter of time. Then some more planting, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Maybe this will be the month when I pull out the zucchini. The capsicums are also starting to suffer with cooler nights so they will probably go. Then I have to put up some support for the broad beans, and possibly get some sort of frost protection measures in place. And fertilise with my weed tea again (I did this once last month). It seems I have a busy month ahead in the garden. Time to get busy again, I've not done much other than harvest for the past month.

So that's me and my little garden for this month! How is the garden growing in your part of the world? Have you had a look at the Garden Share Collective page recently? There are so many bloggers contributing from all around the world, there's bound to be someone close to you.

Wishing you all a month of happy gardening!

14/52

"A portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2014."

William, my little garden explorer. A favourite spot, in the herb garden, that happens to have a little rock ledge perfect for a boy to climb on. The oregano is a hardy plant, surviving not only a hot and dry summer, but little hands that grab and pull this way and that. I love being in the garden with this little helper.

Linking up with Jodi's lovely 52 Project.

Garden Share Collective: Summer Ends

Another month down, another Garden Share Collective post. Hosted by one of the most enthusiastic gardeners around, Lizzie of Strayed from the Table. Have you been for a look yet?

February has been a slow month for garden work, but an abundant month for garden harvests. All the work from earlier starts to pay healthy dividends. We have been eating from the garden daily, with zucchini, tomato, rainbow chard, leeks and celery featuring regularly. And from the herb garden, which is doing surprisingly well, getting the hot afternoon sun as it does, we've been enjoying basil, oregano, thyme, sage, dill and rosemary. The mint and chives are also doing well, but for some reason they are always forgotten. Poor things.

Finally they are ripening.

The garden is now showing signs of wear and tear, the end of a long, hot and productive summer. The tomato plants are browning off, and we're not watering much to avoid splitting the already-large fruit. The tomatoes themselves are still ripening regularly and we have just loved the sweet taste of these fruits. I gave up buying tomatoes from the supermarket a long time ago, and really, when I eat these, I am reminded all over again why I made that decision. Plus William squeals for the tomatoes every time we go out there - at 11 months old, he is a master tomato-picker, foraging among the leaves and coming up with the goods. Sometimes green, which he has a good nibble at, and when he finds a red one, it's like a jackpot. He eats the whole thing in a juicy, tomato-stained mess. Just gorgeous.

Potato flowering, some capsicums and celery.

The potatoes are flowering like mad. I'm still waiting to see how they go, what with being sown so late in the season. But I'm heartened to see such abundant growth in that section of the garden, which stood bare for so long with nothing much seeming to take, except for weeds. So we shall see, perhaps by next month I will have a bumper potato harvest to report, or perhaps not very much. 

Leeks - what can I say, they have grown beautifully. Occasionally I pick a large one, but more often than not I take the smaller ones, the ones being crowded out by the zucchini, or that have suffered from baby-squash or cat-squash or chicken-scratch. Serious conditions, all. And out of 36-odd onions that I planted out, I harvested 5 small ones. The cat slept on all of them. All of them! Thank goodness for the leeks to flavour our dinners.

The zucchini has once again been a star performer. From only one plant, we've not run short of zucchini for about 2 months now. Lucky we all love eating them in this house. I've not had enough to entice me to make a zucchini chocolate cake, although now I think about it, there is a large one in the fridge, a bit too large for my liking, which could just suffer that fate. And then I would have to eat cake. The things you have to do!

Rainbow chard has been one of my favourites, as always. It is also one of the chicken's favourites. Now what are the chickens even doing in the vegie garden? Yes, my question exactly. They've not had enough greenery in their run so I take pity on them and let them out, and of course off they go to the vegie garden. I had basically given up shooing them out, since all the plants were established and they couldn't do too much damage. Apart from devouring my rainbow chard. Sharing is caring, I suppose. Anyway they now have a significantly larger run with lots of greenery. So the vegie garden is to remain chicken-free, unless I invite them in.

The oregano starting to wander.

My little herb garden continues to thrive, provided the water is kept up. Oregano is starting to do it's thing and spread out over it's rocky home. Sage is growing like mad, thyme is also growing well. These all went in as tiny little seedlings and grew ever so slowly for a few months there. I look forward to seeing them bed in a lot more over the wetter months to come. Mint is flowing, basil is flowing, dill is flowering, there are even little thyme flowers to be seen.

Mint flowers.

I've managed to finally tackle a new bed in the front garden, where I'm planning to put lettuce, beetroot, kale, broccoli and probably some more silverbeet. Nothing is planted yet, but the old flowers have gone, sheep poo has been dug through, it's had a drink and is now resting soundly under a solid bed of pea straw. Monday is the day for seedlings, photos to follow. I'm loving creating a new bed for a new season.

So in summary:

Planting in March will be broccoli, kale, beetroot, lettuce, silverbeet. Possibly broad beans.

Jobs in the garden for March will be to clear out the tomatoes and zucchini when finished, dig in compost, add fresh pea straw and think about what goes where for the autumn/winter. Lots of greens, I'm thinking.

Currently harvesting tomatoes, zucchini, rainbow chard, leeks celery plus the herbs. Hoping to get a harvest of potato and some capsicums as well.

It's me, digging sheep poo!

That's me and my garden for this month. For more garden inspiration head over to the Garden Share Collective page and see what's been happening in other gardens. There's bloggers from all over the world taking part, I always like to know what's going on on the other side of the globe. Happy gardening!

In The Garden... things are flowering

The evening light fades, the last rays hitting the metal fence. Little potato flowers forming are illuminated in the reflected light.

The coriander is flowering, a small plant that we've not even taken any leaves from, except when I pulled off some early flowers in the vain hope of slowing down the march of nature. And it made me want a Thai green curry so badly. 

The smallest rocket plants ever, I think. Seeds planted months ago, promptly germinated and grew into seedlings and and and... didn't get much bigger than seedlings. I thought they had gone in the heat, but no - standing less than 3 inches tall, they are now flowering.

And some chickens. Always some chickens. Bertie and the babies. So far Bertie is the only one to have a name. We're pretty sure Bertie is a boy.

What's happening in your garden this week?

I'll be doing this post weekly, on Friday's, so if you would like to join me and share something In The Garden, please do! Any and all gardens, plants in pots and balconies, the gardens at your local park, any garden will do. Leave a link to your blog in the comments and I'll be there to take a peek.

Garden Share Collective: The Changing Summer Garden

Another month has passed and it's time once again to take a peek into my vegie garden. Linking up as always with Lizzie of Strayed from the Table and the Garden Share Collective. Have you visited yet? It's well worth a look.

The zucchini that just keeps on giving.

And now to my garden. I'm very happy with how the little garden is going right now. We're harvesting from it most days and despite some extreme hot weather, I am happy to report that it is thriving. No losses in the vegie garden from the heat, mainly due to watering in the evenings [husband does a great job of that..] and a good amount of pea straw much. I love the stuff. Without it, I would have a wilted and dried up mess of a vegie garden by now, with the heat we've been experiencing lately.

Pretty leeks all in a row [or two].

Potatoes! Who said you can't grow potatoes in January?

Harvesting this month: 

Zucchini, plenty of zucchini. I only have one plant on the go and it's doing a fantastic job of providing us with yummy produce. Every time I harvest [usually 2 or 3 at a time], I can always see another four coming through. 

Leeks. I'm so happy with how my leeks have gone. I started off harvesting some small ones that were planted close to the ever-expanding zucchini, and now I'm branching out to some of the larger ones. These are so pungent and the smell of the cooking is lovely in the house.

Beetroot. During January I pulled in the last of my beetroots that I had planted. We enjoyed eating them in salads mostly, cooked up and then cooled and chopped into chunks. Tasty.

Lettuce. We ate plenty of lettuce. I chopped it up and added it to vegie burgers for a hint of green, we ate it in salads and husband enjoyed his lettuce and tuna salads for work lunches. All the lettuce then went to flower, I let it go for a while before pulling it all up to create more space.

Rainbow Chard [silverbeet]. Always a favourite, it has finally found it's feet and is doing an amazing job. Interestingly, the yellow-stemmed plants are producing really well, whereas the reddish-stemmed plants have bolted and gone to flower. 

Herbs - oregano, thyme, basil, dill and sage have all featured in our meals lately. Conditions are a bit harsher over in the herb garden but they're slowly growing along and coping pretty well. Mint and rosemary are also growing but we've not eaten them much. Must eat more mint over the summer. 

Oregano amongst the rocks.

Sage has found it's feet.

Planting this month:

More zucchini. I'm not sure how they'll go, being planted out as seedlings in January, but they're growing quite well. I planted three, and lost one to a rogue chicken in the vegie garden. The other two survived the attack are are looking happy. These were some heirloom seeds from Diggers that I was keen to try.

Potatoes! Against all wisdom, I took a punt and planted out some potatoes on 4 January. In the patch of terrible soil at the very end of the vegie garden where nothing much was growing, I wanted potatoes in there to help break up the clay soil. They are thriving. Granted I planted them quite close to the surface, but they're all up and looking set to flower soon. So I'll see what comes of it.

Still waiting to go in the ground - more beetroot, more lettuce, some broccoli, kale and a passionfruit to climb in the chook pen. I'm waiting for a day when it isn't ridiculously hot.

Waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

To do list for the next month:

Plant out beetroot, lettuce, broccoli, kale. 

Possibly dig some new vegie beds in the front garden [since we seem to be running low on space, and the front yard is in dire need of some TLC].

And hopefully harvesting a few more things - still waiting on tomatoes that are taking an eternity to ripen, but they look wonderful. Celery is doing much better [thanks for the tips last month, I've been keeping the water up and giving it a feed of seasol when I remember] and I'll bring it in over the next few weeks, mainly to make vegie stock with that I'll freeze for when we need it.

So that's where my little vegie garden is at right now, two months of summer down, one month to go. Apart from planting out a few more seedlings, I won't be doing much other than harvest, then let it have a little rest before a big tidy up in autumn. Which I'm already looking forward to.

Thanks as always to Lizzie for putting the Garden Share Collective together, please do show some love and take a look at some of the other gardens on display. I love taking a peek into people's vegie gardens!

Garden Share Collective: The Summer Garden

Another month gone, and it's time for the Garden Share Collective once again. Thanks as always to Lizzie of Strayed from the Table for putting on this show and getting a lot of bloggers on board for this little link up.

My trusty garden helper examining the tomatoes.

Well I'm finally seeing the results of my work in the new garden. Summer is here, and we're harvesting almost daily from the small but abundant garden I've been toiling at for months. There are, as always, winners and losers in the garden, but despite some plants not thriving, most are doing well. And the truth is in the harvesting. 

My one surviving zucchini plant is doing a wonderful job of feeding us. Granted I don't have quite the zucchini glut that I've come to love [zucchini chocolate cake is the answer], but we've got enough zucchini's coming in when we want them, and they are delicious. And my baby loves zucchini, so it's all the better for me. The lettuce has been going strong for weeks now, and the rainbow chard has picked up after a slow start. The beetroots are wonderful and small fresh leeks cooked up with fresh zucchini is just divine.

We've had plenty of these little beauties.

Colours of the rainbow chard.

Beetroot and lettuce have done very well.

Tomatoes are slow to develop, I'm only just seeing small fruit set now, after what feels like weeks of flowering. I've got some little capsicums in the ground, growing well but a way off flowering. They went in quite late so I'm hoping for some capsicums before the summer is over. I've also got celery doing not very much. It's there, growing ever so slowly, but I would have hoped for more from it by now. I had the same thing happen last summer - is there a trick to celery that I'm not aware of? Apart from better soil perhaps.

Finally, a tomato has appeared.

Me, the leeks, some weeds and a basil that's just hanging on.

Celery doing not very much and some little capsicums that need to grow big and strong.

Beans have been a source of disappointment for me. I've had two attempts now, once with seeds straight in the ground, which sprouted and promptly got eaten, and then with some seedlings I grew in punnets, only to see them whither and fade in the not-very-improved soil. Blah to that. So I've given up on them for now and instead put seed potatoes in that patch of soil, if nothing else, to help condition it for next season. I also lost a couple of zucchini plants and a cucumber to bugs, snails I think. I must put out some beer for them to have a drink but it's not something that gets purchased much these days, so it hasn't happened yet.

A surprisingly happy little basil over in the herb garden.

My herb garden is ticking along, the sage is taking hold nicely and I'm surprised to see some basil looking quite healthy out there. Not huge, but growing happily all the same. Oregano and thyme are slowly growing, as is the rocket. I must say again the soil quality is ok but not great over there so I guess I'll just have to condition it over time. When I get time! My poor little chamomile didn't make it. I'm a bit disappointed about that, I guess it wasn't happy where it was, and before I had a chance to do anything much about it, it was too late. 

So all in all, I'm happy with where the garden is at right now. You win some, you lose some and if all else fails, rely on the good old zucchini and silverbeet [rainbow chard]. Head on over to the Garden Share Collective page to check out what other bloggers have been up to, both in Australia and around the world. Happy gardening to you!

Garden Share Collective: Coming Together

Once again it's time for the Garden Share Collective. I'm not sure what happened to November but it's been and gone, and now December is here it's summer time. And I'm starting to see my little vegie garden come to life, thankfully!

One of many.

Early flowers on the tomatoes.

We're eating lettuce every day now, and it just keeps coming and coming, and coming. The tomatoes are flowering already which I'm happy to see. Soon enough we'll be able to put together a salad from the garden. The zucchini is doing well, after losing two seedlings to snails [I think], and I did find a replacement at the farmers market. Which also got attacked but seems to be surviving. 

Beetroot looking happy.

Leeks, which need some building up around them.

The beetroots are flourishing, I'm looking forward to harvesting them and getting beetroot stains everywhere when I cook them. Leeks are doing really well, except some are too close to the zucchini so they'll be the first to be harvested, as the zucchini does it's ever-expanding thing. A row of onions have suffered from cat-squash. That is when the cat decides to lie on them for no apparent reason. It's only ever the onions. But most of them are going well.

Bean seeds were planted out, tiny little seedlings started to emerge, and then they got eaten. So I'm disappointed and will now go buy some seedlings from the nursery I think. Rainbow chard is in, taking a while to get going, but then so did the lettuce and the beetroot. I can't wait to start harvesting. I had no idea how dependent I had become on having a constant supply of silverbeet. Seems it's become one of my kitchen favourites. 

My first chamomile.

They're small, but in this corner is an abundance of sage and oregano.

Over in the herb garden things are slowly coming to fruition. The chamomile is doing well, I gave it a good chop back a week or so ago and it's come right back to life with plenty of flowers. I've had my first homegrown chamomile tea! Also planted out is dill, basil [please grow, little basil!], rocket, sage, parsley, oregano, thyme and mint. I have a feverfew waiting to be planted, and I did put in seeds for chives but I'm seen no sign of them. I have not had much success with chives yet.

And that's pretty much where the garden is at. There's also a plum tree which is dropping little plums all over the herb garden when the wind blows - they're almost ready for picking, but not quite. The chooks are getting lots of fallen plums right now. I've never made plum jam, but maybe this year will be the one. Time permitting of course!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my garden. As always, head on over to the Garden Share Collective page to take a look at some of the other great gardens being shared. Thanks to Lizzie of Strayed from the Table for putting this show together.

In My Herb Garden

Little things are happening in my herb garden. Little things that will one day be big things. I've pulled out monstrous succulents to make way for this garden, and unearthed the interesting features that will make this garden into something special. A little pathway cleared, a little hill, lots of white quartz rocks to hold everything in its place. 

Lambs ears were already there, most are gone. But some will stay because it's beautiful.

Little sage will one day be big, plentiful sage.

Oregano to grow big for summer, to flavour and garnish and dry.

A border of thyme, just because.

Grow little plants, grow.