October Garden

Jasmine dripping from the front eaves / "Cecil" the Indian Runner Duck having a splash / Blossom / Superb Fairy Wren / "The Captain" our Silver Spangled Hamburg Rooster

There's been very little action on the blogging front lately (more on that in another Post) but there is plenty going on in the garden so for now I thought I'd give you a little tour of the Veggie Patch.

It's essentially a 13m x 13m Veggie Patch broken into 4 rows with Raspberries down one side and Sunflowers down the other. It has been neglected ever since the Kangaroos got in last year and in one evening decimated all of our hard work. Almost a year on and faced with the prospect of being eaten out of house and home by the five youngsters we decided it was time to get serious about home-grown food again. We basically started from scratch again 2 months ago. Everything has been planted from seeds using mostly Heirloom varieties.

Needless to say, we've made some adjustments to make sure nothing can get in. The height of the fences has been increased with the use of some Tiki Lanterns that were found languishing in the shed, leftover from my 30th Birthday Party a few (or so!) years ago. The fences have also been dug into the ground about a foot for further reinforcement. Despite all this, the rhubarb curiously disappeared one night. No time was wasted buying a possum trap and that night the scoundrel was caught and relocated at another corner of the farm.

Row 1 (top) - Artichokes, (Globe and Purple, a smaller Italian Variety). We planted them by seed 4 years ago and they are thriving. The first flowers of the season are starting to appear now. We also have 4 Rhubarb which are coming back after the possum incident.

Row 2 - This row had the Potatoes last year. The Teepees for the Climbing Beans and Cucumbers were erected on the weekend and seeds sown, with Marigolds in the centre of the Teepees. Sweet Corn were planted next to the Teepees and the remaining space is left for the sprawling vegetables like Pumpkins and Zucchinis that will go in next month.

Row 3  - The Potatoes went in last month.

The Snow Peas and Bush Peas are coming along and the carrots are starting to sprout. The Tomatoes were planted and staked on the weekend.

It's generally the rule around here that Tomatoes don't go into the ground until after Hobart Show Day (25th Oct) but there was a rather unfortunate incident which meant the Tomato seedlings got 'hardened off' a bit earlier than expected.

Me: What on earth are you doing?
Him: Putting together a little hot house.
Me: You've got to be kidding! Remember what happened last time?
Him: This one is a bit different.
Me: Please don't. This one looks just as flimsy. Where is it from?
Him: The $2 shop.
Me: Seriously then, it's not going to last 2 seconds. Don't you remember what happened last time?
Him: I'm going to peg this one in.
Me: I'm deadly serious, even the slightest bit of wind will blow that thing away and the precious little Tomato seedlings will be all over the place and ruined. And I'll be cranky because we've had this conversation
Him: Mel, it would have to be serious wind for any of that to happen and it only needs to hold up for a couple more weeks. (Rolls his eyes and continues to place flimsy plastic pole into other flimsy plastic poles.)
Me: Allrighty then. I'm not going to tell you "I told you so".

I go off an do groceries. The wind picked up and it was actually one of the windiest days on record. Two hours later I pull into the driveway and the hot house is a jumbled mess of plastic rubble jammed down beside the caravan. Dear Husband is scrambling around the yard collecting seedling survivors. "Not a word!" he says. As if any words were needed, I say in my head but I'm sure my message was received in the non-verbal form.

So....the Tomatoes are now in the ground and we're crossing our fingers there is no frost in the next couple of weeks.

Row 4 - Here we have a Strawberry Patch, a Broad Bean Patch, a patch with Radish and Mizuna and finally the Brassica Patch (Kale and Broccoli). There is also Lettuce and Spinach throughout this row too.

So, not much in the way of harvesting other than the Mizuna which we have in salad as well as the school lunches but if the animals and the frosts stay away there should be a lot of progress to report on next month. It is such a great feeling to have the Veggie Patch up and running again.

Are any of you growing your own food at the moment? I'd love to know what's happening in your garden right now.