Autumn Gardening

Last month time was taken to clean out the garden beds of their finished Summer crops. Those were the things that had gone to seed or finished fruiting. Seed was harvested, the plants and any weeds mulched, chipped and composted. Slowly new vegetable seeds and seedlings have begun to fill the vacancies.

A few Broccoli plants into an unprotected bed. Well, the two garden chickens are getting on in years and can't jump high enough to reach the raised beds. After a week the Broccoli looked tatty and leafless. This went on for a while and then it dawned that the Peacock was an agile young bloke. The mesh protectors soon proved that to be the case.

Peacock damage

Recovery

Some other members of the brassica family went into other sections of the garden. A few Cabbage, but not many as we still have a goodly store of Kim Chi and Sauerkraut. Kohl Rabi is a delicious vegetable and a few seeds sprouted and were transplanted and a variety of Asian Brassica found a home.

Asian Greens

Onions are cheap to buy and we use heaps but provenance is critical and space is found to plant some bought seedlings. There is a secret to sprouting Onion seeds and growing seedlings and as soon as that mystery is solved it will be a topic of this blog. In the interim any good quality items found in punnets are snapped up and planted. This way the only other challenge is how to stop them bolting and make them form bulbs. There's always an opportunity to learn something new in gardening.

Bunching Onions

Then of course these cooling periods of the year are perfect for Lettuce as well as Radicchio and other bitter greens. The more bitter and unpalatable the better. You can feel them doing you good as you masticate, adding as many different flavourings as possible to modify the taste. It helps to include a good mix of lettuce, rocket and some strong flavoured herbs including chopped or sliced Onion as well as a strongly mixed dressing. Another enhancement is seeds, nuts, Fetta and chopped boiled egg. All these dilute the bitterness to acceptable proportions. These monster salads form a great part of out evening diet as an adjunct to whatever main dish is created. No shortage of fibre I this diet.

Red Radicchio



Radicchio

Carrots, Beetroot and Radish are continually being planted and soon harvested. There never seems to be enough when you want some. The Parsley that seeded is now generating offspring and an ongoing supply is assured. Salsa Verde is in continuous production in this kitchen.

Parsley

There are still Summer leftovers floating around the garden. Lots of Hungarian Yellow Wax Capsicums, Climbing Beans and Shallots. Potatoes are still being harvested and of course the Pumpkins taste good. The last of the very late Watermelons is an Orangello grown for the first time. A small sized melon but deliciously sweet and an excellent partner to yogurt and the less sweet Dragon Fruit.

Snake Beans

Hungarian Yellow Wax

Eggplant resurgence

It's not possible to starve at HHF