Garden Journal Late January - Too Hot to Garden!
Okay PLEASE forgive my dirty feet. I've just been for a surf and came home to an already wilting garden. It's been really hot here in Victoria and as we've been away, the garden hasn't been watered as much as I would have liked, nor has anything been tended as much as I'd like. And of course, no house sitter in the history of me getting people to sit my house has ever managed to follow the instructions to check the zucchinis EVERY day so they don't turn into marrows. I guess I can't hold that against them. But looks like I'll be having zucchini slice, zucchini cake, zucchini pasta ribbons, zucchini stiry fry, zucchini fritters and everything else zucchini for the rest of my life.
Then there are the beautiful yellow butter beans. I'm already planning tonights dinner - a salad of steamed beans with a raspberry, basil and jalapeno oxymel dressing, with some of the tiny cherry tomatoes coming out of the hothouse. With zucchini, of course. I'm thinking zucchini parmigiana. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
The tomato garden is a mess. Yet another year has gone by when I haven't managed to fulfil my promise of pinching out laterals and tying up the tomato plants to have a neat tomato garden. And hidden amongst that lot are eggplants, cucumber and capsicum. Sigh. And it's literally too hot to get outside - I'm feeling dizzy with the heat and a little sick from it. I'll have to wait til it's nearly dark I think to get out and give it another good soaking.
As for the greenhouse, the chillis and capsicums are doing great in teh wicking beds but most of the other things are wilting and looking very sad. The basil is surviving okay, but my potted horseradish didnt get enough water - lucky I have some in two other places in my garden. Again, house sitters (as awesome as these ones were - my house was IMMACULATE when I got back - she'd even cleaned my oven and I hadn't cleaned my oven in six years) just couldn't keep up with what needed doing in the way I could. She did make me some lemon cordial though.
A few other things to mention (I simply can't go and take photos right now! I'll wilt!)
- The strawberries didn't pollinate this year. Someone said I should do it myself with a brush. Like I have time.
- The fruit trees are in their 'off' year but I am getting some nice japanese plums and some lovely apples.
- The pink yarrow is just gorgeous.
- Sooo much basil
- Lots of chamomile and mullein in the drying racks
- Calendula everywhere, spring onions everywhere - as they haven't been picked in three weeks I'm going to have to get out there and do that tonight when it cools down.
- Only one spaghetti squash survived, which is disappointing, as I got the recipe for cooking them with a lentil sauce just right last winter. I think there are six.
- Pumpkins doing okay, I think. A little wilted in the heat - hard to tell.
- Chickens got into my mugwort but half of it is still alive- fenced it off and scolded the chickens.
- Half of this year's baby chicken crop are roosters. Scolded them again.
- Nectarines are also doing well - thank goodness I netted half before Tassie.
Well, that's it for me for another week! It's going to be a hot and humid one, so I can only do what I can do. The new #gardenjournal challenge starts on February 1st with over 50 HIVE in prizes, thanks to @plantstoplanks, so get your posts ready! Thanks to @minismallholding for the #gardenjournal newsletter whilst I've been in Tassie - we usually alternate so I really appreciate her putting in the extra effort for us.
Hope your gardens are growing well and not too hot or too cold, too dry or too wet!
With Love,
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Hahaha. Sounds like breakfast, lunch and dinner is at your house this week @riverflows! Shall we bring something? Like... hands for helping to pick? 😅😉😍 !LOL
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Sounds pretty lush in your garden!
Dying for rain!!
We just had three days straight of it. Now it's super humid but things are well watered
I love the zucchini, it looks amazing, I'd like to chew it now (^_^)
It's so good!!! I do enjoy it!
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Hey River
This was such a nice update, I'm so sorry about the crazy hot weather, we're having it here too at the moment. Sounds like you found yourself a very nice house sitter, I wouldn't mind one that cleans the oven lol.
Your garden seems to be producing nicely, my mouth started watering reading about what you plan on making.
Have a wonderful day.
Cheers
Andy
I know right, I am terrible at ovens! I was very pleased but slightly embarrassed.
Yes, the zucchini.... I am enjoying the one plant only. I have given some to my neighbours but I am keeping up with it. This year the tomato seedlings were all weeded out as they appeared to prevent exactly that tomato mess you describe
I just haven't managed to tie them or trim them.
I've managed to find recipes for zucc so last year one plant wasn't enough! So now I have too many again 😂😂😂
Wow, zucchini is so expensive here in the Philippines. We miss them. Zucchini parmigiana sounds delicious. Craving for a bowl of ratatouille with imagined beef heart tomatoes in them.
You have such a lovely and abundant garden, so inspiring 😊
Thanks!!!! Haha this time of year it's hard to give zucchini away! That sounds lovely, might have to make that too!
Ooh these look delicious!😍
Nice garden
I wish I could say "it's too hot to garden" haha. I am freezing and my garden is at the grocery store with fewer options each day as the shortage builds.
Those items you have in the photos look heavenly. Good luck with the rest. It's amazing.
It's nice to be back in my garden and kitchen after a break. It's a different thing to cooking in a Landrover 😂 and fun turning vegetables I grew into a meal.
They cleaned the oven but didn't water enough the plants? It's crazy how we people prioritize things in such a diferrent way!!!
It snowed here yesterday (not very common for the area!) and zucchini, tomatoes, basil etc sound sooo exotic!
They DID keep it alive, but it HAS been crazy hot. Praying for rain SOON. I would have thought that basil and tomatoes etc would do fine there? I can never eat enough basil. So good.
Oh good!!! I got the impression that everything was perfect inside but not so carefully treated outside. When it is so hot, it is almost impossible to keep them all happy and all these cultivated species can be so sensitive...
I can't live without basil - the smell, the taste and the company :)
They do great here, it's just that it is so cold outside after the snow and all these summer goodies seem so distant and exotic right now :))
Hi friend
love your plants
zucchini is one my favorite vegetables
I like it too. What do you cook with it?
Holy zucchini! Well, I certainly know how those can get out of hand. As much as I have grumbled when ours go nuts, it's still a problem I'd rather have than not! Definitely itching to get the growing season going here, especially as food seems to be getting more and more expensive these days. I don't mind spending the money locally and supporting my farmers, but it helps the budget to grow as much as we can on our own! I look forward to getting to jump in on the #gardenjournal again soon!
Won't be long before you are brandishing Dr Seussian zucchinis and your own garden delights!!! It makes me laugh when I see the meat shelves empty because of panic buying and supply issues and big news stories about it and meanwhile, here's us stuffing ourselves with homegrown veggies. It's the way to go, isn't it?
With our -7 C temp here, your garden looks like paradise to me. The zucchini is going crazy - we make veggie moussaka with it. Potatoes, zucchini, carrots, (optional onion) sauteed slightly, then in the oven for some baking, then we cover with mix of yougurt and eggs, you can add some herbs in the mix too, bake till get nice golden color and ready.
For us here it is time to start some seedlings, isn't it crazy - we are on the same planet but we are experiencing the world so different right now....you surfing, me staying by the fire 😊 ...thanx Internet is the only thing I can say
That sounds delicious, especially with the topping!!! Do you use herbs?
Stay warm - Spring will appear soon!!
I always change my recipes...according to what I have in the kitchen or in the garden. Usually to zucchini I add dill, and other green herbs. :)
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wow... well that is a whopper of a vegetable... lol...
looking good. Its cooler here today and raining on and off so its cool enough to go outside with shoes on
chickens love mugwort.
we have been doing the garden beds today. i am SO EXCITED... like beyond excited that we are finally building the garden. its taken such a long time to get started.
ive just done a post about the first garden bed. i might be a tad excited... lol
thanks for the post, i;ll be doing lots of updates soon as the food forest gets created.
have a nice day
Sarah!
Wow! That's huge zucchinis! I like to steam the zucchinis with a bit of lemon squeeze!