The food garden

It is such a good feeling to be growing food again. Last night Ivy helped me transplant the corn from the seedling pots to the garden bed. She was amazed to hear the seedlings would be producing corn in about 10 to 12 weeks.

There are lots of seedlings coming up in the green house. I have tried to stick with planting the veggies and fruit we actually eat, rather than the things I think we should be eating. So there is watermelon, rock melon, lettuce, butternut pumpkin, cucumber, tom tomatoes, loads of basil, capsicum, egg plant. I am also giving some ALL YEAR broccoli and spinach a go. Plus a few herbs.

Both the orchards are full of fruit and I am still not sure what to do to protect the fruit. The only thing I seem able to look after properly is the figs. We lost all the peaches, I netted them, but the worms got to the fruit, and the fruit was very small. The tree probably needs to be pruned properly. The pear tree is full of fruit and again, I am at a loss about what to do with them. There is also plums and some other variety of stone fruit, which I am unsure of.

It was an amazing mulberry season, every tree in the region was dripping with fruit.

The last flush of lemons are maturing and there are still some oranges and mandarins on the trees. Citrus is easy, although the oranges and mandarins have a rust on them, though it doesn't seem to affect the taste of the fruit.

There are not many nuts on the macadamia tree this year, which is strange as the local commercial industry was predicating a bumper year.

Xavier is also keen to grow some flowers again this year, I will put in the usual marigolds and sunflowers, but I am also interested in finding out more about using flowers for companion planting.