Kitchen Garden in March: A VignetteWhen Peter arrived home after five days in Darwin, he was amazed at how the kitchen garden had grown. After one or two beautifully warm days, followed by days of steady rain, we now have quite a jungle on our hands. Our main worry is a combination of snails en masse, lack of sunshine to ripen the last of the tomatoes, and the massive amounts of rain that are turning our strawberries to mush and splitting the best of the tomatoes. Still, we keen kitchen gardeners will soldier on. Here's a little vignette of the kitchen garden that we would like to share with you: Left to right: The photo top left illustrates part of the kitchen garden, our latest beds are the corrugated plastic ones converted from a compost bin Peter bought at the recycling depot! He cut it into two, down the middle and voila, two beaut little beds. The strawberry bed still has masses of flowers, bruised by the rain, as you can see. We have several little bunches of celery, which are making good progress.
Middle rows: Our cucumbers have kept us well supplied. The womboks are a little on the lacy side, thanks to snails and cabbage moth, but they are nevertheless growing well. Our mint plants, which are in pots buried in the garden, are giving us lovely leaves to work with. We have chillies, scores of them! Two have already turned red. We are still picking palm sized strawberries, but even as I write this it is teeming with rain out there, so most will turn to mush before they can ripen! Similarly, due to the lack of sunshine this season, the last and best of our tomatoes probably won't get the chance to ripen. Bottom row: In the courtyard in pots, we have (a few) olives, grapes, Vietnamese mint and other potted herbs. I picked the last little bunch of Isabella grapes this morning and they were outstanding in flavour! After being burnt to a crisp during 30 degree days while we were in Sydney in January, the Vietnamese mint has come back with a flurry of growth. How are your fruits and vegetables coping this season? What are you growing and what is your most bountiful producer?
Lizzy
2/3/2012 02:48:30 pm
Thanks Eucale! I am hearing you on the green tomato chutney! Love that your beans are doing so well. Mine didn't make it this year! Thanks so much for popping in!
Lizzy
2/3/2012 10:47:31 pm
Moya, welcome! Thank you. Oh, a lemon tree, how fantastic... and date palms! I will investigate your blog further to see pictures and details!
Lizzy
3/3/2012 10:18:53 am
Thanks Celia! The cucumbers offer up a surprise every few days... they are growing as quickly as zucchinis do and we are finding mini zeppelins. Our garden will be struggling now too, it is just slush out there today! 3/3/2012 10:09:21 pm
My Vietnamese mint is loving this weather and has settled in nicely (it's new). I haven't cooked with it yet, do you have any favourite recipes?)
Lizzy
4/3/2012 06:15:15 am
Hello Tenille... so far I have used it in fresh Vietnamese spring rolls and also my Goi Ga. Peter is not terribly fond of it, so I have had to limit its use ; (
Lizzy
4/3/2012 06:16:47 am
Oh Maureen, having lived in a townhouse for a few years, I can imagine. Our kitchen garden is not terribly huge, but we are loving it!
Lizzy
4/3/2012 06:18:05 am
Misky, I bet! It is truly a pleasure to pick your own vegetables. Even this morning as I prepare my lunch, I'm using home grown lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes (well, what's left of the tiny toms after the rain!).
Lizzy
4/3/2012 06:19:35 am
Thank you, Heidi, that is very sweet of you to say. You are most welcome. I had started taking shots of the garden and posting them, as I thought it was interesting to share the progress. Light snow, how delicious! 4/3/2012 08:16:19 am
It all looks lovely, healthy and productive. I'm a bit scared to look out there today after all the rain this week. I hope everything survived! Here's hoping for some sun!
Lizzy
4/3/2012 01:23:08 pm
Hi there... I am crossing my fingers for your garden. We have SUNSHINE today, yay! Perhaps things will now flourish after all the rain. My issue at present is snails, gah! We should have coffee sometime!
InTolerant Chef
5/3/2012 07:38:13 am
Anytime Lizzy, just shoot me over an email. I'm still off work, so my days are mostly free and I'd love to meet 'real' you! 5/3/2012 07:00:07 pm
Despite what you say about the weather your garden looks wonderful. I'm very interested to see what you do with those olives.
Lizzy
5/3/2012 08:40:38 pm
Thanks Claire! We are loving it. Hoping for a few sunny days to ripen those last tomatoes! Hate waste. Hmmm. The olives, there is only about 8-12 of them in total... not sure if it's worth doing anything this year or waiting for the next season and hoping for more...
Lizzy
5/3/2012 08:42:30 pm
In response to ' Anytime Lizzy, just shoot me over an email. I'm still off work, so my days are mostly free and I'd love to meet 'real' you!' I would like to meet you too. Crazy busy at work right now, but will do! 8/3/2012 04:35:17 am
Love your garden! I don't have space for a large vegetable garden, but I do grow tomatoes, herbs, and citrus in a few pots. There's nothing like eating vine-ripened tomatoes you've grown yourself - they taste like the very essence of summer!
Lizzy
8/3/2012 06:29:01 am
Hi Laura! Our plots are not terribly large, but they do produce well. Now, if only it would stop raining, the last of our tomatoes might happen to ripen. We had no summer so speak of this year. Thanks so much for popping in!
Lizzy
10/3/2012 10:58:52 am
Hi Liz... I bet you are looking forward to summer! Bring it on baby! 10/3/2012 08:40:12 am
Gorgeous garden LIzzy and great photos! Really enjoyed this post : )
Lizzy
10/3/2012 10:59:04 am
Thank you, Mrs M! Comments are closed.
|
Welcome...Üdvözölöm
Cooking and writing have been a lifelong passion. Join me as I share with you my favourite recipes; postcards and morsels from my travels; conversations with cookery writers and chefs; and news on food, cookbooks and cooking. - Liz Posmyk
All
NB: I use Australian standard measuring cups and spoons in my recipes.
|