Well it is no news that the drought has been tough and it is by no means over especially from a farming perspective. There is little feed about in the paddocks for livestock everywhere I go and there are plenty of SORRY, NO HAY signs up outside the lucerne farms. It is how it is.
On the gardening front though I have enough water for that and the rain we had recently has lifted not only spirits but garden growth as well. There is nothing like the magic of rainfall (when it is needed) to get plants to shoot onward and upward.
This is my guilty secret. There are strawberries in the garden. Not many, one or two a day are ready and no one else here knows about them. I eat them when I am working and I haven't told my family. Sorry Tim... not!
Tonight's dinner. Not sure exactly what as yet but what is in the basket will be on the plate. I'm feeling in the mood for some gnocchi so it just might be a ratatouille type sauce with the gnocchi.
In two days time it will be autumn and it really is starting to feel like there is a slight change in the weather. I didn't think it so much today when I was working outside and it was 35degC. The asparagus knows it though, there is some yellowing of the fronds and...
there are some thin little asparagus that can be picked and eaten. At this time of the year the stalks don't rush to unfurl their leaves as quickly so you can pick a few if you are lucky.
Harvesting this past month has been a mixed bag. All of the summery goodness, tomatoes, chillies, capsicum, zucchini, eggplant, beans, onions, herbs, finger lime, blackberries, corn.
Trays and trays of brassicas.
Radish
Lettuce
Carrots
Silverbeet
Beetroot
I loosely follow the guide on Gardenate.
My poor jasmine |
- first job, fix or rather replace this arch that was holding up some jasmine plants. Those cheapy arches are obviously not up to the job.
- plant some lavenders to replace those lost in the heat/ dry -about 10 plants.
- keep sowing seeds
- making pickles and chutney etc as necessary
- grate zucchini
- mow- it only takes a tiny bit of rain for the 'lawn' to take off
- start preparing beds for winter vegetables
- order any seeds I 'need'
- keep up with my weeding rota
Cinnamon basil |
Sometimes Garden Sharers offer seeds to give away and this month I can offer some Cinnamon Basil seeds. This plant has grown well for me. It isn't as basil-y pungent as regular basil but still very nice. The leaves aren't as large as ordinary sweet basil either.
I can only send within Australia and not to WA or Tasmania unfortunately. Just send me an email with your details. My email address is on my profile page (I hope).
Happy gardening
Tracy