Potager, Summer 2016

Here are some photos from my summer potager. These photos were taken a good month ago but it's taken me a while to get them edited and uploaded! Still, the garden looks mostly the same (just fuller, bushier and more rampant) so let's have a stroll through the potager.

The lavender hedge attracts tons of bumblebees. They are such funny little garden companions, going about their harvesting business and not caring at all how close I get or whether I shove a camera in their face! They also love the bean and zucchini flowers.

I have Sunset runner beans planted on both arches. The pink flowers add the finishing touch, especially when they mingle nicely with the pansies.

In the First Quarter is a Kumato tomato plant - the only variety I bother growing outside the glasshouse now. Even with very little care besides staking (I haven't even remembered to trim laterals for a while) it's growing strongly and has plenty of fruit. Still, I better get in there and trim some branches so it can ripen! To the left is some broccoli and a cauliflower. To the right is a bare patch where I harvested the garlic - I've since planted bright lights silver beet and more broccoli in the space.

The Cheddar caulis that I sowed in spring did really well and I was able to harvest them at a good size, before there were any caterpillars around to do damage.

On the right in the Second Quarter is sweet corn. It grew strongly from seed but is a bit smaller than previous varieties I have grown, and each plant is only averaging one cob. They taste good but I'd prefer it if I was getting double the yield. I also planted heirloom beans between the corn plants, and there are self seeded pumpkins in there too, bursting out of the garden and hugging everything in their reach. The pumpkins are doing surprisingly well too, setting fruit and all. I've grown pumpkins before, both self seeded and purposely planted, and they never seem to manage to either set much fruit or get it very big. So I'll keep a cautious eye on these and hopefully they will continue to surprise.

Leeks are growing next to the corn. If they can continue to withstand the attack of the pumpkins, there will be a good stash here for winter!

Words to the wise.

Here in the Third Quarter are Borlotti beans. Since taking this photo, the leaves have started turning yellow meaning that it's nearly time to harvest. After that I'll put the bed to bed for winter.

Looking through the arches, past the beans and the pansies and the pumpkins and the rosemary. 

At the very back is my apple tree Monty's Surprise, which is so heavily laden that it's bent right over and I had to tie it to the cherry tree to try and hold it upright! I guess I will need to dig in some really good stakes over winter.

In the meantime there is plenty of harvesting to do - beans, tomatoes, zucchini, spring onions. Time to finish this up and get into the kitchen to deal with some of it!

Autumn potager

As we head towards the end of autumn, the days of big basketfuls of produce from my potager are at an end. But that doesn't mean an end to the growing season. Our climate here in Christchurch means that I can still grow plenty of things over winter, as long as they are frost hardy, so I like to plant accordingly. When evenings are dark I can't pop outside after work with my basket like I can in summer, so I usually take a tour at the start of the week and bring in enough for the next few nights. Spring onions, leeks and broccoli can be stored in the fridge, and herbs or leafy greens like silver beet go in vases on the windowsill. I'm even getting the occasional strawberry or raspberry, so if they're still fruiting at the end of May then that's really only about 4-5 months until the first spring berries start up again... not so long really!

My favourite season in the garden is summer, but I also really like the tidiness of the winter potager! I've trimmed the lavender hedges and the rosemary balls, and they'll provide shape and structure until the spring growth hits. I've also created some scalloped garden edging which really tidies everything up and looks great with the black metal arches. The edging was so easy to make and I'll share a tutorial very soon.

In this bed I have silver beet (not pictured), cabbages, broccoli and the last of the chillis. The chillis are doing well, they will last until frosts get them and provide a good spark of colour until then. In the bed behind are leeks and spring onions.

 In the two beds closest to the glasshouse, I planted a green crop of mustard, lupin and some kind of grass. I haven't grown a green crop over winter before so I'll see how it goes. I do intend to put garlic in one of those beds so half of it will be dug up, we'll see if it makes a difference! 

The cherry tree is always the last on my property to shed its leaves and it's doing so quite spectacularly! It's amazing to see how many different leaf colours and patterns come off one tree.

A sunny autumn day in the potager is like heaven. Hope you're having equally good times in your patch, wherever in the world you may be! xx

Talking about tomatoes, part 1 - Jan 2015

 It's tomato time... finally! We had a cold, late start to spring last year. I sowed my seeds inside and usually I just need to put them on a sunny windowsill and they sprout fine. Not so this time - they sulked, refused to come up, and those which did poke up a sprout wouldn't go any further, so I had to resort to putting them in the hot water cupboard. That worked, but I was well behind schedule, and even though the weather's been great for the couple of months they've only just started ripening. Better late than never though and I am now going to gorge myself on fresh tomatoes for hopefully the next three months at least. (Pictured above: Juliet)

 Tomato notes - glasshouse

• Juliet - first to ripen as usual. Always reliable, has lots of green fruit and flowers.
• Brandywine - I noticed very sporadic fruit set with a lot of unfertilised flowers on each truss.
• Brown Berry - looking promising with lots of ripening fruit.
• Black Cherry - lots of fruit. Starting to ripen. I'm not sure how dark the fruit has to get - I tried to pick one and it didn't want to release so I'll wait a bit longer.
• Black Krim - sporadic fruit set as well. Is this typical of beefsteaks? I grow Black Krim every year... I think it is normal as they grow so big.
• Yellow Pear - not much fruit yet, still flowers. As I recall it was one of the last seedlings to pop up.
• Green Grape - still lots of flowers. The fruit is starting to ripen too.

 The potager is filling up. The tomatoes are right next to the glasshouse. They are a forest of leaves and laterals... I need to spend some time in the evening pruning a bit!

Tomato notes - Potager

• Kumato - I was given two cuttings of this by a friend. I'm not sure of its qualities, but it's grown faster and developed fruit faster than the other tomatoes planted outside. Also it's less bushy than the other plants - I wonder if this is because the plants are lateral cuttings. Fruit is not ripe yet, but looking promising.
• Green Grape - has flowers and green fruit
• Brandywine - no fruit yet as far as I can tell
• Juliet - the winner again. Just started ripening.
• Brown Berry - some green fruit and flowers.
• Black Krim - some fruit.

So that's how the tomatoes are faring so far. It's also worth noting that so far, I haven't had any trouble with pests like caterpillars. I did add neem granules at planting and have also top dressed with neem granules again. I've used Tui Novatec as a fertiliser along with sheep pellets and compost.

Summer in the potager

 My potager is all planted up with happy growing seedlings for the season ahead. I love it in early summer.... the plants are growing well and looking healthy, everything is green, nothing has overgrown or flopped or fallen and it's all showing signs of promise, promise, promise.

 I've put all my tomatoes in the First Quarter this season. We'll see how they like it here... hopefully it's not too shaded from the tree. There are Sunset runner beans growing up the arch and sugar snap peas growing on the fence next to it. Basil is edging the path.

 The Second Quarter has garlic and shallots in the closest part. They have gone a bit yellow at the tips. This happened last year too... perhaps they didn't get enough water at the early stages. (I don't always water the potager much in the early stages of the season, at least until more seedlings go in.) Also, they've got infested with small black bugs that obviously like the tast of garlic (that's not supposed to happen!!) so I'll need to google those and deal to them.

In the second half is sweet corn, interplanted with some heritage bean seeds I was given. They are called Cherokee Cornfield beans, and since I've never tried growing beans and corn together before I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try.  I've also got a couple of pumpkin seedlings which have sprouted from the compost. Pumpkins never do well for me but since they're part of the traditional Three Sisters arrangement I'll chuck them in too!

 In the narrow Third Quarter I have borlotti beans, lavender hedging and chillis at the far end. I normally grow potatoes in this bed but they weren't up to much last year so I've moved them on.

 In the Fourth Quarter I have La Ratte potatoes at the left, broccoli and cabbages in the middle, celtuce at the right (a cross between celery and lettuce I believe? It's ready to harvest so I better look up what to do with it!) and yep, more beans at the back. I do like beans, luckily. The big clump in the middle are Sunset runner beans (so reliable) and I have some more heritage ones that have just come up. They're called Hidatsu Shield Figure Climbing Bean and they look like a borlotti bean that's been half dipped in white paint. It will be quite interesting to see what these heritage beans turn out like!

 I love it when the beans start to scramble over the arch. It makes it feel like a secret garden. I tried sweet peas on the arch at the front, but they don't climb very well. Back to the planning notebook for that one.

In the glasshouse I have seven tomatoes, six peppers, two pots of gherkins and a mandarin. Oh yes, three pots of basil, three hanging baskets of strawberries and some lavender seedlings. The tomatoes in the glasshouse are quite rampant, I do hope the fruit won't be too far away... (though they have only just begun to flower so it will). With this cold start to the season I'm even more grateful for my glasshouse though! The only problem is that with all the plant growth, there's no longer room for my chair. Guess I'll just have to sit on the ground...

Winter morning

Early in the morning, the rising sun is tinting the sky with palest peach. The early birds are busy, holding excited conversations in the topmost branches of the cherry tree.

Everything is still and quiet. It's going to be a beautiful winter day.

The price we usually pay for clear days in winter is a frost on the ground. It's been a good one this morning.

The rather neglected potager is coated with white. The clipped rosemary balls and lavender hedge provide the main accents here, along with some sturdy leeks ready for harvest.

Lovely Swiss chard... nothing knocks this one back! Cold weather only enhances it's rainbow beauty.

Can you hear the crrrrunch of the grass? 

Anything with water in it has frozen solid. These autumn leaves make a pretty pattern in the wheelbarrow.

Five minutes later, and the sun is gilding the top of the tree. The daily defrost begins. The birds descend on the bird feeder, and I go inside for breakfast. Don't you love the beauty of a winter morning?

Summer potager

 We had some lovely warm weather just before Christmas and the garden responded. Here is the potager, full to the brim with wonderful things to eat, some ripening and some ready for harvest.

 In the first quarter, several plants of different growth habits are nestled together. At the right hand side are spring onions and lettuces. They grow quickly and will soon be harvested, leaving room for the zucchini next to them to spread. There are some pumpkins at the back which will sprawl on the ground behind the glasshouse (this was formerly a weedy wasteland, which I've covered with weedmat to get somewhat under control. The warm, dry weedmat should make an ideal surface for nurturing the baby pumpkins!) Next to the pumpkins is a feathery patch of cosmos - essential for prettying up a vege garden in my opinion - and in front of them are cauliflowers (ready to harvest) and red sprouting broccoli.

 In the second quarter is a big patch of sweet corn. Next to that is the garlic/shallot patch. I harvested the garlic and shallots right after I took these photos because we had rain forecast, and it's good to get it out while it's dry. I'll dig this bed over and plant my leeks there in the next couple of weeks.

 In the third quarter it's all about potatoes! The nice deep green leaves and purple flowers belong to Heather, a pink-skinned variety I grow every year. The tatty foliage to the right is Laratte, an heirloom variety given to me by my mum's neighbour. I planted them early and they're ready to harvest.

 In the fourth quarter I have lots of beans. Along the front are borlotti dwarf beans. At the back, climbing the frame are Sunset runner beans, and cannelini climbing beans. I didn't have a very good strike rate with the cannelini seed for some reason, so there won't be many to harvest this year. But there are plenty of runner beans... I'll be eating them till they come out my ears! I also have six tomato plants in this patch and a row of chillis along the path.

 I love all the different textures together.

 One day's harvest: cauliflower "cheddar", zucchini, runner beans, Laratte new potatoes, strawberries, raspberries and boysenberries.

 I'm still loving the pinkness in the flower garden.

Storm clouds rolling in, and with them the rain. We had some beautiful days just before Christmas and have had nothing but rain and drizzle since them... and the forecast is similar for the next 10 days or so. Isn't it typical... I predict it will clear up on or around the 6th of January, when lots of people go back to work. Guess I'll be finding some inside jobs to do!

Hope you all had a nice Christmas, and that your weather is better than mine!

Fickle spring

 Our spring weather has been pretty crazy. One minute it's calm and clear, the next it's blowing a gale. We've had several wind storms during spring that have caused a lot of damage around the country.

 Last weekend was Labour Weekend, the traditional time to get your garden sorted out for the coming season. I had many jobs on my list. I started early in the morning and got a few things done, like emptying the glasshouse and hosing and scrubbing it out. Chasing out the spiders was the most horrifying part! My next job was laying out some weed mat, but by that time the gale had arrived and the wind would literally snatch things out of my hands and tangle or snap them before my very eyes. So dealing with weed mat was out of the question. I did manage to pot up some chillis and capsicums but I had to do that inside the glasshouse so they weren't snapped at the stem.

 So all in all, not a very satisfying weekend. The wind did drop on Monday and I managed to get my weed mat down, much later than anticipated. There's still a list of chores to carry over to next weekend, but that's usually the case anyway!

 Here's my potager with the chives in bloom. They line the main pathway with their nodding purple heads. There is also flowering calendula (soon to be pulled out to make room for other things) and the lavender lining the front path is covered in buds. It looks like there's a cross at the back of the garden but that's just my 'Potager' sign which blew down in the wind. It looked great on the arch but every time it was windy the sign would swing back and forth and make the arch wobble, so I think it's better on the fence, at least until I find a better home for it.

 I had this old pair of gumboots that have perished and started to crack. I was about to bin them, but I suddenly wondered what they would look like planted up and half hidden in the garden. I have to say, I quite like the look! They are planted with some pink mini carnations which only flower for a week or two in November, but I think the spiky upright foliage is interesting poking out of the top of the boots. I think they'll look great next to the delphiniums when they start to flower.

Finally a brief rose update. This year's winner and first to flower is this little white rose I took as a cutting last summer. I really wasn't expecting a flower so soon so I'm very pleased! I don't know the name as it comes from the garden of a friend who's renting, so I've called it Abbey's Rose. It has white flowers and luminous red hips in autumn. My other roses aren't far behind, but I do find it funny that they were beaten by a less than one year old cutting!