Goings on in the garden: May

24 May 2018
Activity in the garden definitely slows down as we get closer to winter. It's nice to potter around and watch the change of the season though. Things grow much more slowly of course but over a month there is definitely change to be seen.

Unidentified brassicas getting bigger

Cauliflower seedlings.

The two pics above are of my space out behind our back fence. Previously housing pumpkin and tomatillos. You can see the edge of the pumpkin vine that I've left to die down and compost back into the soil. I'm still yet to dig up the sweet potato vines here, I'll wait until they get hit by a big frost. I'm happy to see the brassicas at various stages of growth as hopefully it'll mean I don't get inundated! The cauliflower seedlings above wont do much over winter but will hopefully fill the space of the spring hungry gap nicely.


Sprouting broccoli in a pot - nearly ready to flower.

Here is a mix of kholrabi, purple cauliflower, mangel wurzel and parsley.

More broccoli.

Super exciting to see the first signs of a potential harvest of broccoli. Sprouting broccoli first puts up a larder head in the middle and then continues to put out the smaller flowers as you harvest. I'm hoping that I'll be harvesting some across winter. Most of the other plants wont give me much love I don't think until the weather warms at the other end.

Berries and pomegranates losing their leaves. Guava in the background.

The deciduous bushes and trees in pots are starting to lose their leaves. The subtropical plants - guavas, feijoas and loquats, are still green. I'll keep my eye on these as the frosts start to get heavier and move them as needed to keep them protected.

Down at the community garden the digging continues.

Strawberries and globe artichoke.

Digging progress - getting close to half way!

Broad beans looking happy.

Lots of digging still to be done but definitely getting somewhere! I planted the strawberries out last month and they are going ok, although I've lost a couple. I've inter-planted with some lettuce that one of the other gardeners was giving away and scattered out some rocket seeds. I'm planning to make this a bit of a perennial bed within the larger garden bed over time. The broad beans and garlic continue to grow strongly. I'm so glad I was able to get these in as it's heartening to turn up to the patch and see some progress on the plants and not just be faced with weeds and more weeds.

No planting planned for the coming months as we move into winter and heavy frosts...at least I'll be able to keep warm with all the digging yet to be done.

How are things going in your garden?
What are you harvesting, planting or changing?

7 comments

  1. You have a wide selection of plants. Your gardens look nice and weed-free! That broccoli will be good! I can't grow anything edible here with the deer. Andrea

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  2. It's a shame you can't grow edibles Andrea. After seeing your picture of how close the deer get and how game they clearly are I can see why you don't bother.

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  3. I have broccoli growing in my garden too, Laura. I am waiting for that first little broccoli head to form. In the meantime, I'm picking kale, silverbeet and perpetual spinach leaves...and native raspberries! Meg:)

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    2. Yes, that first sign of potential harvest is always exciting. I hope your broccoli comes to the party soon - in the meantime you have those tasty raspberries to enjoy.

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  4. I have tried to grow broad beans here a couple of times but have given up, they just cant handle the sea spray at all. I have brassica's growing too, and sweet potato peas, shallots, leek, passion fruit, cape gooseberry and heaps more, pretty lucky being at the bottom end of the sub tropical line...great conditions mostly, except my proximity to the beach ;)

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  5. That's interesting to know about the broad beans and the beach. I've always thought of them as an 'easy' vegetable to grow but clearly not so in every case. Sounds like you have a few goodies going on.

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