This week in the garden…

This week our garden got a little neglected. I was going to spend the weekend in it, but then we had a fire in our house, so the garden kind of got forgotten! Thankfully we are ok and the house was saved, but it was still a very scary experience…

Storing food for winter is an important skill when you are practicing sustainable living and growing your own produce as we are doing.

We have 3 baskets of Irish Potatoes,, 2 baskets of Tomatoes (plus one more still ripening up), 4 large Pumpkins and Squash (plus 2 more still hardening off), 1 basket of Yams, 2 baskets of Maori Potatoes, about 20 Garlic, 1 basket of Brown Onions & 1 basket of Red Onions (with more of both Onions still growing), 1 large Marrow and 1 basket of Carrots (with more growing). It is not as much as we would have liked to have but the season was pretty shocking weather wise.

This (above) is the view from our “cold store room” – the laundry off the back of the house, which never gets above 10C in winter!

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This weeks harvest was a bit slack… the unseasonal frosts of the last few weeks and the storms wrecking havoc means that a lot of the produce I should have been picking, was either frost burned or ruined by being blown to pieces or broken beyond repair.

We did however, still manage to pick this little bit of food:

1 bowl Tomatoes
1 bowl Rhubarb
1 cup Chilean Guavas
2 huge bunches of Brussell Sprouts Leaves
1 baby Carrot by accident – and I ate it as a snack, it was VERY yummy!!
1 bunch of Tat Soi

At least the Blue Shelling Peas are doing themselves proud – they are cold tolerant, the frost does not seem to have harmed them at all and they are still flowering and fruiting madly. We have been washing the frost off the flowers each morning though, as although Peas are frost tolerant plants, any frost can damage the flowers and prevent them from fruiting. You could also put frost cloth over the plants. Even better, they are EXTREMELY wonderful to eat 🙂

You can buy them here: http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Vegetable+Groups/Organic+Veges/Organic+Pea+Blue+Shelling-3462.html?id=9HyxA8G8&mv_pc=s

The Collards plants we put in just few weeks ago have been fedding us well and they are growing more leaves back again already.
The Cauliflower are starting to heart up JUST and the next lot of Savoy Cabbages are growing well and also just starting to heart up a little.

The Tat-Soi and Misome Asian Greens are also going well. We have had several pickings off them now. These are both cold tolerant and quite frost tolerant vegetables as well. You can buy these ones here:
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+C+to+D/Cabbage+Tat+Soi-7165.html
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+L+to+O/Misome+F1-7860.html

The big Brussell Sprouts that nearly all blown over in the high winds during storms last week, I managed to prop up straight again, with a bunch of bricks I rescued from the edge of another garden. They are already looking happier, so that is great news.

The Kohl Rabi are coming on nicely and the next lot of Savoy Cabbages are nearly ready to pick, so we should have something more in the next week or two. These ones you can buy here:
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Organics/Organic+Vegetables/Kohlrabi+Azur+Star-5175.html
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Organics/Organic+Vegetables/Kohlrabi+Noriko-5178.html
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+C+to+D/Cabbage+Vertus+Savoy-7162.html

The latest lot of seedlings I have planted out are Mesclun – Winter Mix, Kale Mix and Oriental Mix. They are doing really well and I have discovered how yummy it is to pick fresh Mustard leaves from the garden and munch on them while doing the gardening! I do not use them as Mesclun, I use them as a way to get a huge range of different greens without having to buy 20 packets of seeds! I plant them in seed germinating containers, then transplant the plants out.

You can buy these ones here:
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/What+can+I+sow+this+Autumn/Mesclun+Winter+Greens-7831.html
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+L+to+O/Mesclun+Kale+Blend-7833.html
http://www.kingsseeds.co.nz/shop/Vegetables/Alpha+Search+for+Vegetables/Veges+L+to+O/Mesclun+Oriental-7838.html

These seedlings are the last I will be planting out this week. They are Globe Artichoke and Romanesco Fennel. They are also doing well in the cooler weather.

I hope you have enjoyed my this week in the garden. Wherever you are and however you garden – if you do, I wish you a great gardening week (and peace), Suz

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