Summer Veges

We hope that everyone has had a relaxing start to the new year, and wish that the coming year brings peace and happiness for everyone.  For our readers that have / will head back to work soon we are thinking of you.

There have been some record temperatures here at Seven Springs over the last week or so.  We thought we left 40+ temperatures back in Perth !!  Remarkably, the vege garden has pulled through very well, with only minor heat damage sustained to the borlotti beans and the chard that was left over from winter's plantings (it's only chook food now anyway).  The ability of the vege gardens to weather the heat is due to thick mulch and the shade cloth over four of the beds.  We think it is about 20% shade cloth, just enough to see the tomatoes and other things through the worst of summer.

This summer we are growing:

Beetroot & parsnip

Two varieties of beetroot - early wonder and bulls blood.  Bulls blood has the purple leaves and matures later.  Parsnip variety is called hollow crown.  Not sure if they will be all leaf and no root, but we will see.  We'll plant more in Autumn.

Beans

Two bean varieties - borlotti (for drying and using over Winter) and a variety called 'lazy housewife bean' (that's my kind a bean !!) so called because it is stringless.  They are cropping very heavily and we are saving seed if anyone is interested.

Corn, cucumber & watermelon

For the first time we tried a technique we have read about which is to plant three things together - corn, something to climb up the corn (usually beans) and something as a cover crop (often pumpkin).  We chose cucumber and watermelon.  It seems to be working very well with easily a dozen cucumbers harvested to date and more on the way.  The watermelons are going well but have yet to set fruit - we really should have gotten them in a little earlier.  This method of planting three crops together apparently dates from the Aztecs, and is a great use of space.  We'll definitely do this again next year.

Zucchini

We have yellow and green zucchini.  Since this photo was taken the zucchini have been stricken by what I think is red spider mite, which proliferates in hot dry weather.  Interestingly, the green zucchini are affected much worse than the yellow.  So zucchini yields are down, but there are additional seeds planted in the bare patch.

Sweet potato

Also in this bed are butternut pumpkins, planted after the photo was taken.  The sweet potato are starting to spread so its time to cut off the shoots and plant them for more tubers.

There are also tomatoes in a separate bed - mixed heirloom varieties we won't know which ones till they fruit, and a variety called San Marzano which is supposedly the best for bottling.  It will have to be extremely good to beat the giant tree tomatoes.  They are all starting to set fruit so it won't be long till the taste test.

At the moment we are harvesting:

Cucumber, zucchini, beetroot, tomatoes, beans, mangoes.

We are also harvesting corn, but it's not very nice.  We planted two different varieties side by side, to see which grew better in this area.  However, they have cross pollinated which has yielded a maize like result - tough and not sweet.  But the cows like it so it's not wasted.

Cucumbers are being made into bread and butter pickles - strangely some of the locals have never heard of these.  May be an item for the markets...

We haven't eaten this first mango yet, but it is ripening well and smells delicious.  It is a whopper, unfortunately they are not all that size, but if we can get them before the fruit bats we should have plenty to eat fresh and a few jars of mango chutney (note Ian has forbidden they be sold at the market as he wants them all for himself - selfish !)

There are a few jobs remaining from the Winter crops.  The last of the carrots that went to seed will be pulled out, and the seed saved, to make room for more borlotti beans.  The garlic and onions will all be dug up and hung to dry in one of the sheds.  And the last outstanding job is to pull out the giant tree tomatoes from winter, which will be replaced with chick peas.

Everything may seem rosy, but there have been a couple of setbacks.  Corn, as mentioned above.  And while we had lettuce over winter, the seed just wouldn't germinate in spring / summer.  Neither in the ground nor in trays in the shade house.  Time for new seed I think.  And the capsicum and aubergines haven't done well either.  Not sure what the problem is here - maybe started them too late?  We'll try again next year.  Watermelon and rockmelon seeds had to be sown twice - the first lot got eaten when they were very small.  Although in the shade house, they weren't enclosed, so we think grasshoppers may be the culprits.

Well, those jobs are waiting, and it is nice cool day, better get back to it.



Foxy: "but I don't need to go to the toilet before bed!"