It’s time for another The Garden Share Collective update. A monthly community of like minded garden bloggers who put pen to paper to share their vege patches with all those interested – the trials and tribulations of growing your own! Love it.
Autumn is here! Goodbye summer what a season you were, so very hot and dry and windy. Our poplars in one day gave up the ghost and dropped their leaves in disgust, probably something to do with the lack of rain. Can’t say I blame them.
So what’s been happening in our neck of the woods?
Harvest time
We are still munching on those rather large spring onions which I hauled out and poked in the fridge. Beetroot and celery are being juiced regularly with home grown pears, apples and peaches. The beans are all but finished and will soon be hauled out and replaced with some peas. I’m feeding the chooks cooked squash, sorrel leaves and giving them chopped toms that the green shield beetles have been feasting on – the girls don’t mind one bit.
Lettuces will soon be sharing their leaves in salads, and our home grown spuds are divine .. mashed, baked with garlic and rosemary or sliced and topped on fish pies.
It is so nice being able to enjoy our own red onions and of course the star of the show are those fabulous Egyptain walking onions. You must try growing some.
What’s happening in that garden?
Those lupins I broadcast as a cover crop aren’t doing much yet – I have to say I’m wondering if the seed is past its best. But the borage in the same space which is self seeded is growing like mad.
The carrots, radishes and spring onions are a disaster. Even though I have been watering them regularly, only a couple of radishes have germinated, their greenery resembling small hats.
I have at last started to transplant my winter seedlings into their own pots and will leave them outdoors in a sunny spot. As the white butterflies will be more than happy to share these with me, I need to cover them with some frost netting, which works a treat.
Our chillies are looking fabulous … I shall be burning my mouth very soon. Yummo
The corn tassels are out and the silks are ready and waiting. More corn is on the way.
Prima heritage apple .. splendid
Things to do
- Run like mad through my orchard with Dan barking and me screeching – turkey scare tactics
- Pick the majority of the fruit from the orchard ready or not – I just can’t keep sharing it with the birdlife
- Throw some horse pooh around the bed that provided those yummy spuds and get it ready for lupins
- I’m considering sowing more carrot seed (I know go figure), but this time I’m going to pop down wet newspaper to keep those seeds moist and the birds at bay
- Start pruning my stone fruit trees – much work to do here
- Net the quince and the fig tree any guesses why?
- Gloat at the olive trees – they are laden
- Grab the seaweed lying on the beach for my garden and fertiliser bins
Nearly time to finish, I’m tapping away on my computer watching a black bird bath itself in a pet’s water bowl. Nice!
Thanks Lizzie, from Strayed from the Table it is so nice being of a group of gardeners who just like me, love their gardens.
Happy gardening!