Gardens and Orchards

A new friend has used his little Fergie tractor to rotory hoe the yard behind the second cottage. This area was a vege garden in a previous life so the soil is very soft and friable, and with the addition of some manure and mulch will be very fertile.

In this area I have planted corn, potatoes, tomatoes, bush beans, peas, brown onions, leeks, garlic, chickory, pak choy, strawberry spinach, rainbow beets, capsicum, eggplant. globe artichoke, mixed lettuce, zuccini and green button squash.

I have watermelons, red pumpkins and borlotti, kidney and haricot beans, comfrey, borage and scarlet runner beans to go in yet.

I also have lemon basil, sweet basil, thyme, chocolate mint, lemon balm, olive herb, pennywort and carraway in pots up at the house.

There is a bay tree to go into the centre of the driveway loop, there are already golden nugget pumpkins there, and there are pumpkins and potatoes in the yard around the greenhouse.

The fruit trees in the orchard have thrown leaves, the redcurrent is in the middle of fruiting and the blackcurrant is about to start ripening. The thornless blackberry is flowering (as are the blackberry stands down in the forest) and I have a yellow peach ready to plant in this area too.

The plum trees down on the boundary fence are starting to show colour and the two trees near the dairy seem to be cherries.

Five of the six cider apples are in the ground with the hole dug for the sixth. You can see two chooks visiting at the dog water bucket, I think I will plant mint under the tap there.

We are late starting the vege garden, but I have chosen early maturing varieties where possible. Hopefully we will get at least half the plantings to eating stage before the first frosts. Next year I will be better prepared (or even for the autumn plantings !) and we should start seeing a continuous crop of leafy greens.

* First two photos C. Turley