Welcome to our summer garden … controlled mayhem or something like that.
The garden has gone berserk in the last month – loads of growth, lots to harvest and pests to share it with.
I don’t think I have ever known a year with so many flies .. horrible! And while there may be a dearth of paper wasps, there are loads of bumble bees. Sadly there are also loads of those sneaky green shield beetles, which are loving my tomatoes and beans!
Harvest
There really is nothing like home grown vege and fruit. Something very special about growing and eating your own … funny it always seem to taste better too. Now why is that? I do know that given the amount of seaweed and comfrey tea that I splash about – our produce is certainly nutrient dense. Nice feeling ..
We have been munching on spring, red and Egyptian Walking onions, garlic, squash, zucchini, herbs, cucumber, beans galore, tomatoes, beetroot and lettuce.
Nothing like making a salad using stuff hauled straight from the garden and washed of course.
Speaking of tomatoes, my plants are really disappointing this year, they have early blight for starters, have been hammered by summer winds and are now playing host to green shield beetles. I have decided I’m not growing them next year … yes I have thrown my toys out of the cot.
Our garden isn’t the only thing that has been providing us with super tasty treats. There has been buckets of peaches which are so sweet and juicy .. lovely to eat raw, or stewed served with muesli or baked with a crumble topping. Superb!
Of course we aren’t the only ones that think the fruit is terrific. I’m still battling with the wild turkeys who I’m sure think our orchard is their local supermarket!
There is fruit ripening … Damsons, persimmon, quince, crabapple, apples, Black Boy peach, guavas, figs, feijoas, olives and an assortment of pears. Time to think about preserving, freezing and making some more delicious Damson vodka.
To Do
So what is there to do in the garden? Lots! Always weeding, feeding and watering. I’m also standing by and watching things grow. I even broadcast some phacelia today which is a wonderful plant to use as a cover crop and also provides tucker for those lovely furry bees. Time to poke a few more salad plants in the ground and I might even haul out the dwarf beans and replant.
Well this is my first post for The Garden Share Collective for 2014, I just love being part of this group of gardeners who like me … love their gardens.
Have fun in yours!
I know what you mean about controlled mayhem! I find that I can grow cherry tomatoes easily enough (we have heaps of these) but other, bigger varieties always run into issues. At the moment I’ve noticed black spots on some of them. It’s so annoying as they looked really healthy a week ago. Grrrr….. Seems like the comfrey tea wasn’t good enough for them 🙁
Hey Miss good to hear from you. Yes I used to grow cherry toms easily too – I’m giving up on toms for a bit I think, every time I walk past their bed I cringe! 🙂
Those peaches look incredible Julie…my favourite fruit! I laughed at your “throwing toys out of the cot” comment. Tomatoes can do that to the most committed vegetable grower. I have had the same thought about next year too. Happy gardening and growing and cooking to you!
Hey Jane .. So nice to hear from you. Trying to get over those toms .. Happy gardening to you too! Love your pics ..
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I can’t wait for my peach and nectarine trees to bare fruit. They only went in the ground last year so I presume I will be waiting a while yet. Tomatoes have been a hard one for everyone this year, even I have struggled where i have never before. Also I love the photo of your red onions hanging to dry – I plan on trying to grow our own this winter.
Hey Lizzie .. Yes sounds like your peaches might be another year or two away.. So disappointed about my toms .. It is so nice growing the onions .. But the stars are the Egyptian walking onions. Give those a go! 🙂
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Your photo’s are beautiful Julie. What a great harvest. I was especially impressed with your garlic and onions! A lot of the garlic in SA comes from Mexico and China and is bleached to give the skins a nice light colour! I normally try and buy my garlic from the organic markets but it can be very expensive, given it’s long growing period.When we had our little Adelaide Hills property, I remember googling how to plat garlic. It was amazing to see how many people posted their techniques on You tube! It was great fun and I very much miss those days. Enjoy your beautiful garden and I promise to drop by your blog now and again. GX
Hey lovely … so good to hear from you. Glad you like the pics. Don’t have to say as much. Ha ha. Yes our garlic and onions are amazing. I tried platting a few years back with not much success (too impatient). Pop back when you do Miss! 🙂
Your exotic sounding list of fruit – persimmons, guavas, figs, feijoas, olives and peaches – makes me very jealous. On the plus side, tomatoes are pretty easy to grow over here and we don’t have wild turkeys. Lovely to read about your summer harvest while we’re in the middle of winter. Have you tried Damson Gin?
Thanks Anne. Yes the orchard has loads of yummy treats. Love Damson gin .. Made it a few years back. You are so lucky you don’t have the wild turkeys.
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i am seriously in awe of your garden and your harvests, julie! i feel quite small-time (i usually get a hefty doss of envious admiration reading all the garden share posts from everyone – and yours is no different!). i can understand your approach to growing – or not growing – crops that do’t do well. i am considering that rhubarb and beetroot are things that are not worth the effort i put in – they are rather quite pathetic! you do have to be practical abut these things.
thank you for a lovely tour around your beautiful garden.
Hi so nice to hear from you. I do know what you mean about crops that fail. Still can’t work out why they fluctuate so much from year to year. Oh well 🙂
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where ever did you find the Egyptian onions? i just read about them today and started searching. this is the first site that showed up for NZ Egyptian Onions during a search.
i read they can last for decades and decades and then some. happily progating pretty much all by themselves. sounds a winner in the onion stakes. 🙂
Hi Jeanne. Check out Kaiwaka Organics they sell them. Wonderful onions so worth growing. And yes they do a ‘top’ job propagating themselves 🙂