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Monday, January 5, 2015

Garden Share

 
 
Quite a bit of December was spent indoors enjoying the rain. Heavy storms some days and lovely drizzle others. All up I think there was only 10 days in December that we didn't register any rainfall. Which was a surprise as the predictions were for a very dry summer. I know that other places even places that aren't too far away didn't fair so well as far as rain goes and I'm really sorry about that because things are dire in parts of our country.
 
The rain coupled with the heady, whirlwind of activities that's associated with the end of year and summer holiday time means that weeding went on the backburner last month and the garden looks like a jungle.
 

The pumpkin vines, in particular the self-sown ones, are taking over, relishing the rainfall. They grow measurably everyday as do the pumpkins that are on the vines.


 
It may be looking overgrown right now but it is in fact the way I prefer to garden anyway. Barely a bare piece of earth to see. The weeds in the raised beds get smothered out by the wanted plants. Except for the rampant kikuyu which could outcompete almost anything.
 


Not necessarily a part of the garden but very much a big part of its success, the bees have been busy. Two supers worth of honey this week and lots of lovely wax to use.

 Planting this month
Not a long list of things going in the ground in January. Perhaps just pop some carrots and beetroot or beans in when I find a space (that means when I clear a spot of weeds).
Having said that I most likely will plant more than that as usual.


 Harvesting
Waiting on pumpkins. They are a long way off yet but the promise of the autumn harvest is so good.
  • tomatoes
  • herbs
  • plums
  • flowers
  • carrots
  • eggplant
  • zucchini
  • chillies
  • beans
  • strawberries
  • cucumbers
To do in January
  • weed
  • water when necessary
  • enjoy the bounty
  • preserve the bounty
  • try to mow the grass (it's too wet)
Happy gardening!
Tracy
http://www.strayedtable.com/grow/garden-share/
The Garden Share Collective is a group of bloggers who share their vegetable patches, container gardens and the herbs they grow on their window sills. Creating a monthly community to navigate through any garden troubles and to rival in the success of a good harvest we will nurture any beginner gardener to flourish. Each month we set ourselves a few tasks to complete by the next month, this gives us a little push to getting closer to picking and harvesting. The long-term goal of the Garden Share Collective is to get more and more people gardening and growing clean food organically and sustainably.
The Garden Share Collective runs on the first Monday of each Month

14 comments:

Merryn@merrynsmenu said...

Your pumpkin and eggplants are gorgeous. This is such a stunning photograph of a bee, I try so hard to get good shots but you have done well! You were lucky to have so much rain, we had just enough in December to carry us through. Do you make salves and moisturisers with your beeswax? You have a lovely, very productive green garden with lots of variety. Happy New Year Tracy :D

lizzie {Strayed Table} said...

That is a hell of a lot of rain you had last month. We too had some great rain. The weeds do love to thrive in the heat with the rain. I too have had weeding in the back of my mind. I must however get on top it for our next round of planting.
Happy new year.

Anonymous said...

Your garden is so green and lush, it looks wonderful! A far cry from dry SA.

africanaussie said...

We eventually got rain too Tracy, the humidity in the build up to the wet has been hard to take. you have a good amount of room for those pumpkin vines to ramble about, I love that photo of the immature butternut. In South Africa they cook them like that, and they are delicious, and so cute. Your garden is always a joy to see.

Unknown said...

Your garden is looking lush and very productive. Happy New Year and have a great month in the garden

Anonymous said...

What abundance! And how exciting that you have your own bees. How long have you had them?

Anonymous said...

That's a start to your summer! We had a seriously wet and windy start too. Your garden looks fabulous! Love the pics. And as our pumpkins are almost non existent, I have pumpkin envy! :)

Joolz said...

We've had a few sprinkles over December but we face some hot days ahead and fires are the biggest concern at the moment.
Adelaide Hills have out of control fires and the next 2 days are classed as catastrophic days - and I have to go to Adelaide to take Brianna to have her wisdom teeth out on Thursday!
Will just wait and see what Wednesday brings as to if we cancel or not. We have only one way to get into Adelaide and if they close the highway then thats it!

My garden is so neglected - it gets watered by our sprinkler system but I havent pulled a weed for months, let alone dead headed roses etc.

Your garden, however, looks fantastic, so lush!

Cheers - Joolz xx

Bek said...

Those pumpkins look amazing. I also love a garden where no grass/ground can be seen - bursting with productivity!

Anita said...

Lucky you....I can't remember what rain is! lol We have 43C here in the west today, would love some rain. Love your pics, they're awesome.
Cheers, Anita.

Unknown said...

Wasn't the rain lovely Tracy! My garden has exploded with green too. I love your pic of the bee. We are seriously thinking about getting some hives organised soon. Great to see what you're up to this month :)

Our Neck of the Woods said...

Oh, to see bees flying right now! We are in winter and nothing green around at all. It is really hard to keep up with weeding when the garden is in full swing and we often fall behind as well. But I do love seeing all that green :)

Anonymous said...

Wow we could use rain like that,

Maddy said...

The rain certainly spurred things on in the garden including weeds. Have to do the work to receive the bounty. You patch looks great.