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Sunday, August 31, 2014

Garden Share

www.strayedtable.com/grow/garden-share/
 The Garden Share Collective is the brainchild of lizzie from Strayed from the Table. It's a fun way to link up and share what's been happening in your garden over the past month and what you hope to achieve in the next one.

August has been a mixed bag weatherwise. Frosty some days and warm enough for short sleeves on others. The best news for the month though is rain. 95mm in fact which is the highest monthly tally we have had for 2014... so far. The paddocks are green, grass is growing and I'm itching to plant.

Our bees have not had much of a rest over the winter. Quite a few eucalypts have been in bloom and now the wattles are joining in. The gardens are just a secondary source of fodder for the bees really but I really do think they enjoy all of the flowers which are coming out now.

 Harvesting in August
  • lettuce
  • rocket
  • herbs
  • peas
  • beetroot
  • radish
  • daikon
  • broccoli
  • cauliflower
  • lemons
  • rainbow chard
Certainly enough variety for winter but a little light on in quantity. I can't give up the greengrocers just yet.

broad beans

Yellow podded peas

Rainbow chard

Purple sprouting broccoli

 Thanks to the Garden Share Collective I was out and about taking pictures today. All was well on Friday but sometime between then and now, birds had decided to raid the lemon tree.

 
So some spur of the moment lemon harvesting in my ad hoc basket. It's the same basket I use sometimes for some high risk egg collection. I think lemon drizzle cake might be in order.
 
Planting
There is that springtime feeling now so planting and sowing just feels like the right thing to be doing. I sowed corn last weekend. Three punnets worth and once they are doing well, I'll pop in another batch. I also sowed directly some radish, lettuce and kohl rabi.
 
It's September that will be the big seed sowing time though. All of those frost tender vegetables will go into the greenhouse.
 
To-do in September
  • make compost
  • turn compost
  • mulch the fruit trees
  • seed sowing
  • mow
  • check bee hives
  • shear sheep
  • collect manure
  • and loads more things I can't think of. Plus deal with the minor dilemmas that always crop up
 
Happy gardening
Tracy
 

   
 

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like you I'm itching to start planting but need to hold off at least a few weeks longer. Your purple sprouting broccoli is gorgeous, as are your lemons. When we lived in Melbourne, possums would peel our lemons leaving the pith on the tree -- very frustrating!

Anonymous said...

Oh that chard is SO red and those lemons so yellow. Makes me happy just looking at the pictures. Wish I could come for a walk around your place!

Merryn@merrynsmenu said...

What beaautiful greens you have, the silver chard and brocoli and gorgeous. Lucky you saved those lemons - isn't it amazing how birds can take the fruit just for the seeds! Your bee photograph is stunning :D

Mark Willis said...

Lovely photos, but to me a little depressing because they remind me that your Spring means our Autumn!

Lisa said...

Oh, Tracy - today I made a lemon tart; I'll let you know how it tastes - we're having it tomorrow. I have high hopes for it - whisk tog one cup of plain greek yogurt with half a cup of sugar. Whisk in two eggs, one at a time. Then whisk in the zest of a lemon and half a cup of lemon juice. The crust was the type where you cut in the butter into the flour, etc. Bake at 350 F 25 to 30 mins. till set. Cool, then refrigerate.
I am very eager to taste it.

The Webbers living a life at the beach said...

I wondered too if it was a possum eating your citrus! At least we can shoot the darned things here! ;-D Coming originally from the UK I still can't get over citrus in my garden. We're between lemon trees, the cows & goats have 'pruned the original one down to just 3 lemons this year. The grapefruit is okay though. They were in the garden but it was too big to manage so we put a fence in and we no have an extra paddock.

Anonymous said...

Hi Tracy such a busy time in the garden,its always producing,thats awesome ,we gave our garden a spell for the year so cant wait to do some spring planting,hope you have a lovely day my friend.xx

africanaussie said...

What a colourful post, love the purple brocolli and the rainbow chard. Wish I could pop over and join you for a cuppa and some lemon drizzle cake.

lizzie {Strayed Table} said...

Congrats on the rainfall. It was definitely needed here too. Sounds like you have a busy month planned getting your spring veggies organised. The bees are humming in our garden with the cobblers pegs and the lantana in flower which surround it. Enjoy the start of spring and see you next month.