Pea Harvest and Other Garden Things

Last weekend, we harvested quite a few peas - both shelling and snow peas. Here is a photo of the harvest.

Clockwise from top left, they are:

Yakumo Giant Snowpeas (tender, juicy and sweet even when 12cm long)
Greenfeast peas (shelling)
Red Flowering Pea (these turned out to have the purplish bi-coloured flowers common to snow peas, but they are a dwarf variety rather than a climbing pea)

I'm not sure that the photo shows off the quantity that well, but there were enough to eat fresh as well as plenty to freeze. I've never frozen snow peas before, but they seem OK so far. The snow peas and red flowering peas are both still producing and I've left the last few pods on the shelling peas go so we'll get some seed for next year.

Now to foam boxes - last weekend on Gardening Australia they showed ways to re-use common items in the garden. One of these was styrofoam boxes, which you can usually pick up for free from your local markets or greengrocer as they can only be used once before being thrown away. So, I went to the markets and picked up some boxes, figuring I could use them to raise seedlings, etc.

After planting up the boxes, a discussion with the Crone revealed that we shouldn't really be using these in our gardens because of the fumes they emit. Looking on the web, I found a site called Non-Toxic Life, which had this to say about polystyrene:

NEVER use Styrofoam cups, especially for hot drinks. Polystyrene, #6 PS, is usually found in foam containers and cups may leach styrene. Styrene, considered a possible human carcinogen, may also disrupt hormones or affect reproduction.

*SIGH* I thought I might be doing something to help the environment by re-using a product which is otherwise disposed of after a single use. Now it turns out it may not be such a good idea. But what I'm thinking is this - the boxes are not getting really hot like they would if filled with boiling water and if I take the seedlings out when they are large enough and plant them out into open ground, the likelihood of them having loaded up with much toxin is pretty low. After they grow on and produce food, the amount of toxin should be extremely low and the food will still be heaps safer and less toxic than the commonly available fruit and veges. Then the boxes go!

Sometimes I have to agree with Kermit the Frog - it's not easy being green! But all things considered, I'd rather be green than not.

love and light
naturewitch

Pics from the Garden

I snuck out into the garden this afternoon after class and took a few snaps to show you.

In the vege patch
Here are the snowpeas ready to get climbing. They are Yakumo Giant snowpeas and they can get as long as 12cm or so and still be lovely and tender.
The unidentified leafy green, which I think is English spinach. Its leaves are thicker than usual. Consulting my open seed packets reveals it may be Mediana variety.

The artichokes are really getting ready to go forth and multiply when the warmer weather hits.

And you can see the baby beets around them, gradually getting chubbier and ready to munch.

But what has been eating my baby artichoke?

And here's one of my purple asparagus seedlings. Doesn't look very purple at the moment, but it does have quite a way to go . . .
















Meanwhile in the herb garden
The Tarragon is just peeking through after its winter sleep . . .

And Yarrow has produced some babies!

Sweet Violet has just started to bloom . . .















And Melissa is growing under cover of last year's growth, yet to be removed.

The Applemint is creeping outwards . . .

And Pennyroyal is consorting with some mint (haven't worked out who just yet)!


Lovely Angelica has survived the winter thus far


And Rocket's in flower

Next to a self-sown seedling



And here's the first Comfrey leaf of the season
















Over to the fruit trees
The nectarine is in blossom . . . .

And the quince is about to burst into leaf



















For the soul
Gorgeous, fragrant blooms - Daphne, Jonquil (Erlicheer) and Hyacinth - what a lovely trio!






















Hope you enjoyed your little visit to my garden.

love and light
naturewitch

This Morning in the Garden

This morning was lovely - we are having a relatively mild winter so far, but there's plenty more time for the cold. I had such a great time in the garden this morning, I thought I'd take a few happy snaps to share - they are nowhere near as beautiful as Cheryl's or Herbwitch's photos, but here they are.

Baby Olive, who was given to me by my dear friend, The Crone, before she moved to WA a couple of years ago, has now grown up enough to be put in the ground. Here is a picture of her after transplanting. She is about 90cm tall now and doing very well. Under the mulch are some Calendula seeds, which I'm hoping will form a nice drift of flowers for the bees. And in the bed behind them are some Oregon Giant snow peas just starting to grow.

The early peach is starting to bud up and almost looks like she's ready to flower, although it will probably be a few weeks yet (at least I hope so - I want to clear away the grass growing underneath and give her a good dose of manure and mulch).

Underneath another peach tree, a jonquil is preparing to flower.

Beside the fence, in the square holes of the Besser bricks forming a raised vege bed, the nasturtiums are still smiling, despite the cold.

Here's a fine head of broccoli ready to be picked.

And here's a cheeky potato plant, thriving underneath the protection of the dead asparagus ferns I am yet to clear away.

This patch may look like grass, but Molly assures me they really are oats.

And here's the rhubarb, looking incredibly healthy for this time of year.

There was also a willie wagtail flitting about the garden, but alas he was too quick for me!

love and light
naturewitch

Today in the Garden

I am, as ever, thankful for the bounties supplied by my garden. A couple of months ago, I cut a couple of cauliflowers from their stems and didn't remove the rest of the plant. The result is that they have now sprouted a few mini caulis each. The biggest one (pictured) is now about 12cm across and I am looking forward to harvesting it very soon.

Meanwhile, the baby broccoli plants are getting a move on and the biggest head (pictured) is now about 10cm across. So, soon we will be starting on our winter pig-out on broccoli.

This morning, I also picked a colander-full of tomatoes, still surviving even though we've had a couple of light frosts now. And amaizingly (pun intended), the maize is still alive and the little cobs are starting to fill. I will definitely be planting it earlier next season.

I also dug over a new patch this morning and planted some oats and the old costata zucchinis, which produced so brilliantly this year, were cleared to make way for some Yakumo Giant snow peas.

love and light
naturewitch