The Patch

Our vegetable patch was a couple of horse paddocks when we moved in, we had a pony staying there for a while but after six months of living here we experienced our first frost. We had lived only 10 minutes away for over 15 year but had never experienced a single frost. Our original plans for the vegetable garden to be positioned in the bottom paddock had to be changed so the two horse paddocks seemed the perfect spot as they were at the highest point on our 5 acres and therefore were the least impacted by the frosts.

So we replaced the fencing with something that might stand a chance at keeping the rabbits out and turned it into one big patch. It's around 600 square metres, larger than some residential blocks! It's also a lot of work and an ongoing battle against grass. How I hate grass.

In addition to the shade house, late last year Mr Homespun put a water tank, pump and tap in the patch so now I have constant access to water and no longer have to rely on consistent rains to keep the patch productive, something I battled with in the couple of years prior to the installation of the tank.

So this winter I'm continuing with the set up of the patch, it's so big I can't possibly do everything at once all by myself, especially with work commitments. But still, I'm making headway. I'd like to have a large bed along the bottom fence for flowers, both to attract beneficial insects, to keep my bees happy and just because I have a yearning to be a flower farmer after reading Kate's adventures this past season so I may make a start on that this year.

I also plan to write regular posts on what I'm doing in the patch so if that's something you are interested in, stay tuned.

xx

R

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April Alliums

Good grief, what a crazy autumn we are having! Just 2 days ago I took the girls to the cinema and when we left at 6.30 it was full dark but still 27 degrees! In the middle of autumn!!! Thankfully a cooler change moved in yesterday also bringing some much needed rain. Hopefully the cool temperatures are a sign that winter will actually get a look in this year.

I hear so many people say they would rather summer than winter but I'm not one of them. The cooler temps mean I might actually get out into the garden for a change. I find by the end of summer the veg patch is definitely looking worse for wear (picture the weeds taller than most of the veg plants) as spending time out there when the temps are high is the last thing I want to do. I swear with each passing year my tolerance for the heat decreases.

So every autumn I have to start the veg patch again, pretty much from scratch. Bummer.

But this self imposed exile also means that by the time autumn arrives I am really hanging to get out there.

Desperate? Possibly.

Extremely motivated? Most definitely.

Last year's garlic patch

So the next couple of weeks will find me weeding, adding compost to the veg beds and planting anything Allium. April = All things Allium. Onions, leeks, garlic and shallots are at the top of my list. I love each and every one of them. Last year's garlic was semi successful. I left it a few days late to harvest and by that time we had a lot of rain over the few days so some of the heads had started to rot. Some of them were also horribly small, edible, but a pest to peel all those tiny cloves to use when I'm cooking. So I have saved some of the larger heads for planting and hopefully I will have a slightly more successful harvest in spring.

Fingers crossed.

xx

In the garden

 The artichoke patch

 The garlic is going so well you can almost see it growing!

 The seed potatoes are now in

 Yummy loquats straight from the tree

The lilypads are starting to flower

All these photos were taken with my phone so please forgive the poor quality.

xx

Glorious garlic

As we slowly set up the permanent raised beds in the veggie patch I reserved one solely for the garlic as I wanted to have a largish crop this year. I purchased 6 bulbs of garlic from Diggers but when it came to planting them I was sure I was going to have to buy more, 6 bulbs just didn't look like it was enough.

Until I separated the cloves.

And ended up with 93.

93 possible bulbs of garlic. If that's not enough I don't know what will be!

So I planted them in mid March and they are doing very nicely now. There is a tiny bit of room left at the end of the bed so I might pop some leeks in too.

Have you planted your garlic yet?

xx