Thursday 27 February 2014

Summer Stocktake: Fruit and Vegetables


As summer is coming to a close, I thought I would take a photographic record of some of the fruit and vegetables we have growing at the moment as I am trying to learn more about the best plants to grow at certain times. We have a number of fruit trees 'down the back' where I don't venture too much and I would like to try and save some of the fruit down there from fruit fly in the future. This year for the first time, we have picked quite a lot of figs after sewing calico bags and putting them over much of the fruit. It wasn't pretty but it was effective in the main.




I did manage to rescue a few guavas before the fruit fly got them and will have to do a bit of study about how to protect them in the future if that is possible without spraying.

 

The fruit of the three peach trees met the same fate due to fruit fly.

 

 We did manage to save quite a few figs as I have mentioned. The calico bags worked well.


The passionfruit is looking good so far. 


Our old tamarillo tree died due to lack of water but a new one has shot up thanks to some kind bird which obviously dropped a seed on the other side of the property from the old tree.

Next to the new tamarillo is a pawpaw tree which I didn't even realise was growing behind the guavas. I daresay we won't get any pawpaws as we get frost in winter here.


There are some persimmons growing at the moment so hopefully some will actually make it to the kitchen. The calico bags are being used on these at the moment. 

 

These aren't the most wonderful avocados but I don't think the three resident possums mind. Another fruit we have growing are rockmelons and it is so nice to be able to pick our own fresh from the garden.


The watersaver garden isn't looking too wonderful at present as I am going to pull out the beetroot soon and replant the garden with winter vegetables. We rarely add water to this garden despite the low rainfall we have had this summer. 
 

 I have so many carrots which have gone to seed that I will have enough seed to grow carrots for an army. I like to have them growing as much as possible in the garden so I don't have to buy carrots with spray on them.


 This is a Gympie Gold cucumber which is a yellowy/light green colour. We didn't get a lot of cucumbers from these two plants but there was a lot of foliage. We did have plenty of cucumber for salads each day though and thankfully didn't have an overabundance like we had last year when we grew a different variety...

 ...which was probably the same as this one which I put in recently to see how much it would produce before the cooler weather arrived. It's all a bit of trial and error for me I must admit.I also put in a couple of zucchini seeds even though it is probably too late for them.

Savoy-verona purple cabbage, rainbow chard, purple sprouting broccoli and chinese cabbage have all been planted and we are trying to protect the seedlings from the birds and all the wildlife around here. The mini-watersaver garden we made out of a wooden crate is going okay and the lettuce seedlings planted there have been attacked by birds a number of times so the garden CEO has covered it with chicken wire and now it looks like Fort Knox. The birds have done a lot of damage to plants this year which I didn't notice so much last year. Potatoes are growing well in a potato bag from Green Harvest and I hope to eventually grow sweet potatoes as well.


These cherry tomatoes have been amazing and just self seed and are no trouble to grow at all.

We also have three macadamia nut trees, a black walnut and a pecan nut tree but I have given up any hope of being able to rescue any pecan nuts as the cockatoos enjoy having them for afternoon tea. At least with three macadamia nut trees we do end up with some to enjoy ourselves.

I think that is about it. I also want to take stock of our herbs and flowers as having a blog is a great way to keep track of what is growing at certain times of the year. Sorry if it is boring for my readers though. :-)

What's growing in your garden?












































9 comments:

  1. We are winding down our vegie garden because ..... we have bought a house near Allora. So we have lots of things in pots and boxes waiting to make the move (bank permitting!). So, if the SLT group is still going, I will be a more regular attendee.

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  2. That's great, Barb. It should start up again after Easter when Margy gets back. I'm not sure what workshops she has got planned for this year but I am sure they will be great. I am hoping that the swap can be incorporated into the workshops as well seeing as the morning teas/swaps won't be going ahead again this year. I really miss our swaps.

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  3. Hi Nanna Chel,
    I had no idea your backyard was so big. Then again I'm not sticky beaking as I walk past (When I do go that way) LOL! It's a great garden. Thanks for sharing. -Shiralee.

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  4. Shiralee, these older blocks have 1/2 acre of land. You don't find big blocks like that in town these days. When you do walk past just look at the garden and ignore the rest. :-)

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  5. You have a wonderful vege garden. It's not boring at all in fact fascinating beautiful but pesky wildlife sharing in all the delicious things you grow.

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    1. Zena, I do use the crop tool a lot with my photos as we have lived here for over 35 years and someone (not mentioning any names) has accumulated a lot of 'stuff'. :-)

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  6. At end of each month I like to adventure out and visit new blogs....Your garden looks amazing. You must be in the southern hemisphere. I still have snow on the ground and just short time ago my garden seeds came by the way of snail mail.
    I've never heard of Tamarillo tree so I'll google it.
    I always I have some coffee on stop on by some time.

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    1. Welcome to my blog, Dora. Yes we are in Queensland Australia where it is the first day of autumn. We don't get snow here but who knows what might happen this winter after the record breaking heat waves of summer. I guess anything is possible. I hope it warms up for you soon.

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  7. Too bad about the fruit fly. I also need to look into it. Two of my mature peach trees yielded fruit, but we didn't eat any of it. We love peaches, so it was a pity. More research for me this coming winter.

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