Last month I mentioned Sydney decided to chuck a tanty and forgo spring because the weather was hot hot hot. Then like 30 seconds later, it chucked another tanty and the weather became cold cold cold! I sit here, it my robe and uggies writing this up on the first day of summer.
Welcome to the last Garden Share Collective post for 2013, a collection of vegetable patches across the globe all thanks to Lizzie from Strayed from the Table
Please take the time to take a sticky beak at my previous Garden Share collective posts to catch up or take a refresher on my progress.
3 of our 4 pallet beds are finally planted up. We’ll get to the 4th when I catch my breath!
A lot of prep work went into getting the patches ready. First weed mat was lined along the sides to stop the grass from growing through the pallet boards.
Then 3 layers of thick cardboard was laid down to stop the weeds from sprouting through. Then the fun and smelly part of preparing the soil. My husband spent many weeknights sifting soil to make sure there were no onion weed seeds and to that he added compost, cow manure, mushroom manure, 5 in 1 mix, dynamic lifter and finally chicken shit. Noice.
Next it was time to plant! We planted up the first bed with tomatoes and basil. It looked like this when first planted up (first week of November):
And 3 weeks later (the power of a shit load of rain and a shit load of shit) it looked like this:
The 2nd bed turned out to be a ‘bits and pieces’ bed and contains tomatoes, eggplant, basil, parsley, chilli, leeks and poppy flowers
The 3rd Bed (my favourite) is neatly lined with our new crop of leaks, more tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers. We planted these up 2 days ago, just in time for this post
I love the way the leaks border the patch. We made sure to plant the leaks at about 20cms below the rest of the veggie patch to bank up the soil as they grow throughout the next few months.
The other veggie patches are coming along nicely. I won’t show you the kale because you’re probably sick of hearing me talk about it, but just know that they’re still there, they’re thriving and they’re still going berserk.
The purple climbing king beans are doing just that, climbing. We’re yet to see any beans yet.
Our dwarf French beans though are producing masses and masses. I pick a generous handful every single day. Most of the time it doesn’t make it back to the kitchen as they get devoured straight from the plant.
Our Hungarian yellow chillies are rewarding us well. They are surprisingly incredibly chilli!
Finally, as hoped, we had much more success with our Pontiac Potatoes. I wanted to leave them to grow a bit longer but we had some really crazy storms in Sydney throughout November, and lots of rain so it was time to harvest them before they rot or go mouldy. These red gems were uncovered after planting only 4 potatoes in the hessian sacks.
And there it is, my last Garden Share Collective for the year. Happy Gardening everyone
You two have certainly been busy! What a lovely garden. I’m envious that you can wander to the garden and get dinner.
Thanks Maureen, you can’t get fresher!
Lisa, Your garden is fantastic, thanks for the update.
Thanks Glenda! You should join us on the Garden Share Collective family too 🙂
Yes, the weather has been all over the place. I’d just like a little consistency. Every morning I never know what to put on as you don’t know what the weather will do – so many extremes. I love how everything in your garden is doing so well – and your husband is a true gem for making sure no onion weed made it into your veggie patch – hero! xx
Those tomato plants really like your garden conditions don’t they – so much growth in just a few weeks! It’s interesting to see that you can harvest French beans and chillies so early in the summer, I’d be waiting until at least mid-summer before I could pick any. Does everything in your garden grow so well?
Thanks so much Sarah! The weathers been so up and down, even the plants are confused!
Great post – you have so much going on. Your garden is looking fab! Well done … 🙂
Thanks so much for your kind words Julie!
The new beds look fabulous and wow quick growth! Love that your hubby sifted for the onion weed, that stuff is a terrible pest so good for him. You are going to get a huge harvest from those new beds 🙂 Enjoy and have a wonderful festive season. K
Thanks Kyrstie! Yes, he’s been sifting and sifting and he’s still sifting for the 4th bed! Dedication 🙂
G’day Great post Lisa, true!
I have just started a very small herb and veggie garden, but you sure inspire me to do! Thank you! Well done!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks so much Joanne! Its wonderful how the blog world inspires so much. I had no veggies at all up until April this year and look at the garden now! Small steps 🙂
I am so envious of your new garden beds they look wonderful! Hasn’t the rain been great for the garden? Mine has grown like crazy too.
I so hope I can get a few potatoes from my patch.
I think you might have to start a stall outside your house!
Thanks so much Claire! I hope you have success with potatoes! We had limited luck with our kipflers but the Pontiacs did very well! Trial and error 🙂
You will surely have a bountiful garden this year. Great job Lisa!
Thanks so much Lidia!
i cannot believe all that growth happened in THREE WEEKS!!!! my lordy. i too love your border of leeks – it’s important to have a good looking vegie garden. so abundant and lush, it must be a pleasure to harvest for dinner 🙂
I know, I can’t either! Hubby thinks I’ve been secretly feeding them steroids! LOL
Wow you must have some special rain in Sydney – those tomatoes took off crazy like for three weeks growth – amazing. Your spuds look really good too. You have been busy in the veggie patch but looks like you will be rewarded with a great harvest soon.
I didn’t really believe it myself Lizzie until I looked back at the photos! Its a crazy combo, all that manure and fertiliser combined with lots and lots of rain. Magic!
You are going to have an abundance of tomatoes 🙂
I really hope so Tandy!
I never really thought how you gardeners must be faring but this weather has been crazy! Well done for getting all of this fantastic harvest!
Its been so up and down Lorraine! The plants have been loving the rain and humidity, not so much the cold though…
Everything grows so fast! Good to see the progress of the pallet beds. When you harvest your leeks be careful not to use the side of the bed to lever your fork on – I did that and the side fell out.
Wow Lisa, I am so impressed! You and V are very dedicated. Good to hear about the rain also. I also love the fact that you can ‘browse’ the garden to see what is for dinner. Can’t wait for the day you cook for me again 🙂
Thanks love! xx I cant wait either! When are you in town?
Lisa – WOW, what a fabulous result after all your and your husbands hard work. You are going to he richly rewarded with all your veggies.
Have a super day.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thanks so much Mandy! I hope so, I’m looking forward to having a glut, ideally I’d love to share with family and friends!
My, my, Lisa! How your garden does grow! Your tomatoes really did grow and in only 3 weeks. That was quite a handful of beans you held there, too, not to mention the pot of potatoes. You’re going to reap quite a harvest in the not too distant future. 🙂
I know John! I had to double then triple check the dates on the photos, and yep, just 3 short weeks! Crazy!
Love your new garden beds, they look great. I wish we’d used grass mats!! Your garden is looking amazing. Wish we had rain like that here! Love your spring onion border, great idea!
Thanks so much for your lovely comments! We are quite proud at how nicely its all coming together 🙂
You busy have worked so hard. Look at your lovely garden! I wish I could go back to gardening again but I’m reluctant to until I’m in my own place again.
Your garden is rewarding your hard work, look at all the gorgeous bounty!
I hope it flourishes for you, my dear! Looking forward to seeing what goodies you make with it all. And I’m upset there’s no photo of the kale…..
I think you should Nazneen! You can do so much in pots and they can follow you if you do decide to move to a permanent spot!
Oh I promise I’ll post the Kale, just for you! xx
Your garden is pumping!
It certainly is! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
How fantastic Lisa. You are not going to be hungry. There s such a sense of fulfilment in this isn’t there?
Absolutely Tania! Thanks for the lovely comments x
To me, your potatoes are the perfect size ~ I remember as a kid, my mom would boil the really small ones and we’d mark them with butter and just pop them in our mouth. So good. Beautiful garden!
Great garden! We planted some tomatoes yesterday, hope they do as well as yours. I’ve forgotten what real tomatoes taste like…
Sweet Michelle, very very sweet! Nothing like the shop bought varieties 😉
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