We reap what we sow....sometimes....gardening update.
It's been a while since my last blog post. My apologies for that.
We are now almost at the end of the month of April, in the latter part of Autumn (Fall for you Americans) and things have slowed down dramatically in the garden.
We've reluctantly had to admit defeat as far as our tomato crop goes. Due to only getting back to New Zealand in January, we were too late getting our tomato seeds into the ground and although some of our plants now have a few green tomatoes on them, they are unlikely to ripen before the first frosts come. Never mind, we will get them in nice and early next Spring.
(photo above.....Melons - maybe too late to fully ripen up.)
The same applies to our melons. We have harvested one good sized melon, but it needs sunshine to finish ripening. It's juicy, but bland. The sun would have sweetened it.
On the plus side, our runner beans have been phenomenal. We've had a bountiful crop and have eaten lots of them, frozen some, preserved some and either given away or bartered the rest.
Other successes have been lettuces, silverbeet, spinach, beetroot, spring onions, carrots, zucchini (now growing into marrows), peppers, chillis and in particular the lemon cucumbers.
(Photo above....once a zucchini, now a marrow......time to do some stuffing!)
(photo above.....peppers are still growing)
They, the cucumbers, were and still are the vegetable...or is it a fruit....that keeps on giving.
Again, like the runner beans we have had a magnificent crop of these yellow tennis ball size cucumbers and have eaten, bartered, given away, preserved by pickling, or transformed it into relish - so many.....and still there are some left to pick.
(photo above..... a colander full of lemon cucumbers awaiting processing)
Our peach trees did extra well considering their young age and we had a really good crop off our two small trees. Looking forward to the coming years when they are bigger trees and produce even more. All the peaches this year (with the exception of the older Golden Queen peach tree) were eaten fresh off the tree and were delicious.
The Golden Queen peaches - some we ate fresh and some were sliced and cooked to have with our breakfast.
Even though we have also had good crops of raspberries and strawberries this year, I think I love peaches the best.
Our two pear trees were too immature to produce fruit this year. We may have another couple of years to wait for them. And our apple tree, again very young, gave us just four apples.
Our guava bush although being very tiny produced a few guava, so things are looking promising for the future.
(photo above......guava)
The two almond trees looked like they were going to give us nuts, but they fell off early. Where as our walnut tree, despite the heavy pruning and topping I gave it last year has inundated us with nuts. Each day over the last month or two I would go out into the garden and collect nuts off the ground each morning and again early evening. Usually around ten to twenty each time, but after the storm we had, I picked up a hundred and eleven in the morning and found almost half as many again in the evening.
(photo above....an icecream container full of walnuts destined for the drying rack)
I knocked together a drying rack for the nuts out of an old window screen and some bits of wood and they are drying nicely, suspended beneath our carport. We still have some of last years nuts waiting to be used so I'd better get cracking on those.
Our citrus trees are going well. The ugly fruit tree (produces a large orange fruit, great for juicing) has been fruitful as usual - there are still ripe fruit for picking and new fruit is coming on as well.
Our lemon tree, or should it be shrub as it's less than a metre high, is thick with green fruit growing larger by the day. If it all reaches the ripened stage we will have a wonderful crop.
(photo above.....lemons on our lemon tree, still to ripen)
I did have some trouble with white fly a month or so ago - on the lemon shrub - but sprayed them with a mixture of neem oil, soap and water (organic spray - no nasty petro-chemicals) and I'm pleased to report that it did the trick.
I have been busy collecting seed for next year and cutting back and drying herbs for teas etc.
(photo above....freshly cut rosemary - to be dried for later use in the kitchen)
And of course it's always growing season for something.....broad beans are now flowering and keeping the bees entertained. If the flowers are any indication, we should have a good crop.
(photo above....Camellia Sinensis complete with bees)
The bees are also enjoying the blooms on our camellia sinensis....the leaves of which make green tea.
The peas are also doing well and have started to produce a few pods. We have about a dozen lettuces.....too small just yet for picking, but they will get there.
(photo above....carrots and spring onions in the left bed and peas and broad beans in the right bed)
There are on going plantings of carrots and spring onions and I have recently put in seeds for two types of brown skinned long keeper onions. However, if they survive or not is in the hands, or should I say paws, of the cats who seem to be hell bent on using the onion bed as a toilet and are digging holes all over the place.
Where ever there is bare earth, the cats defecate.
(photo above.....what's left of my onion bed after the cats have "used" it)
Serves us right for providing milk, food and cuddles to the neighbourhood strays. As I write this there are two kittens asleep on one of the dining room chairs and another at the french doors looking in.
Never mind, at least they are keeping the rodent population under control.
And yes Liz has named these little fury bundles of destruction - the female is Scarlett and her brother is Tiberius.
(photo above....the dreaded felines.....how can I be angry when they are so cute?)
Not wanting to appear to be lazy, I have also just dug out another garden bed ready for filling with compost in readiness for the garlic which will be planted on the shortest day.....and will be ready on the longest day for harvesting. No point filling it with compost until we are ready to plant or the cats will think it's a new purpose built latrine. And there goes yet another cat...a big male this time across what's left of the front lawn. Just how many cats our neighbour has is a mystery.
(Photo above....bed dug out ready to be filled with compost in preparation for our garlic crop)
If anyone needs any seed from organically produced veggie plants (particularly the runner beans) contact me. This is mostly for the benefit of New Zealanders as I am not sure what restrictions apply for sending seeds overseas. I will be using a lot of the seed I collect for next years garden beds and for growing seedlings for sale at the gate, but should have some spare seed of most of what we grow. I will definitely have spare runner bean seed.
Another post will follow soon with photos and recipes for the cucumber and apple relish, the pickled cucumbers and any other food related topics.
