Tag Archives: gardening

Backyard Business

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When we moved to this house almost 3 years ago we downsized the land area from 1.5 acres to a 991 square metre block. While we did not utilise all of our land previously it was still a significant change. We have a long driveway as well as a shed so the usable space is not massive.

Nevertheless, we have more than enough space to grow some of our own food.

Yesterday I collected 17 passionfruit. The fruit are super sweet. This was in addition to a couple of similar hauls over the past few weeks and there are still dozens more on the vine. I scooped out the pulp and will freeze it.

Here is the result.

The passionfruit vine was here when we moved in but it did not amount to much. There were no fruit the first year and a few last year. The vine seems to have thrived in the past year despite no attention from us. We are now reaping the rewards.

The somewhat unexpected bounty of passionfruit led me to thinking about how much food you can produce in a relatively modest space.

This year I planted one Roma tomato plant which has been a raging success with over 20kg of tomatoes from this single plant. I managed to nurse it through the 40C+ heat in January and we are certainly nearing the end of the crop. The trellised archway provided the perfect support and allowed for plenty of airflow.

Of course, there were cherry tomatoes by the bucketful. Some have become passata, others tomato paste and there are multiple bags of them in the freezer which will go into winter casseroles or be turned into sauce.

The other summer success story has been the capsicums (bell peppers). I have had a couple of previous attempts over the years which have yielded small, green capsicums but nothing of note. These have been nothing short of amazing. I have harvested multiple large, fully red fruit and there are at least a dozen on the bushes. The main threat is the cooler autumn weather and the risk of the first frost which will finish them off in the blink of an eyelid. I am watching the forecasts closely and mentally designing a portable greenhouse to protect them for as long as I can.

You can see a red and a green capsicum in the foreground of the photo.

This morning I picked a bowl full of birdseye chillies. I removed the stalks and cut them in half lengthwise and here they are ready to go in the dehydrator. Once they are dried I will grind them to add to the jar of chilli powder.

We are not super-serious gardeners and put in only a minimum amount of effort yet we have been able to grow a variety of food across 2 distinct growing seasons – summer and winter. We have not grown all of these every year but this is a list of what we have grown here and gives an idea of the possibilities.

Grapefruit Cabbage Basil
Lemons Capsicum Chillies
Nashi pears Cauliflower Chives
Nectarines Cucumber Garlic
Oranges Eggplant Mint
Passionfruit Lettuce Olives
Raspberries Silverbeet (Chard) Rosemary
Rhubarb Snow Peas
Strawberries Spinach
Zucchini

According to AI this is our climate. It is absolutely accurate.

  • Climate Zone: Zone 6 (Mild Temperate).
  • Conditions: Mild temperate with distinct seasons, characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
  • Temperatures: Summer high temperatures often around 30°C, with increasing days over 40°C, and winter temperatures with regular morning frosts and occasionally falling below zero.
  • Rainfall: Relatively low rainfall, generally under 600mm annually.

I hope to be a bit more consistent with my gardening efforts and expand the range, specifically to include beans, peas and possibly other things too.

Harvest Happenings

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Even with a relatively small garden the late summer and early autumn harvests are enough to keep idle hands occupied.

We have 2 varieties of Nashi pear trees espaliered and we have had them netted for the past 3 months to allow the fruit to grow and ripen unhindered by our feathered friends.

Today we picked all of the fruit from one tree. 70 Nashi pears.

GMan has been busy for several hours peeling, cutting and slicing. We cooked them in batches in the microwave and they are now cooling before we freeze them. We use the lightly stewed fruit on our breakfast cereal.

The fruit from the other tree will need to be picked before too long. Meanwhile the tomato harvest continues. This all from a single plant. We have enjoyed generous serves of tomato in lots of meals over the past few weeks. I think I will need to dice and freeze some of them for use in casseroles and other cooking during the winter.

Additionally, the cherry tomato plants are now ripening so I am simply destalking and rinsing them and freezing in 1kg bags. I can see some sauce making in the not too distant future.

Seed Saving

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In 2023, the first year that we were living here, I noticed some sweet peas growing through a front fence as we were walking. Once the flowers were finished and the seed pods fully dried, I picked about 3 or 4. Each year since then I have saved the seeds and replanted them and am blessed with a bumper crop of long-lasting flowers.

The spring was particularly cool this year so the flowers lasted until early December when we had our first real burst of hot weather. The pods were not completely dried by the time we headed overseas in mid-December so I asked the housesitters if they would mind picking the pods once they were dry.

5 weeks later I came home – not only to dried pods but a 1kg bucket FULL of sweet pea seeds. All shelled and carefully saved. Not only had they done that but on top of the bucket was a delightful hand-drawn illustration.

I scanned and cropped the image as I wanted to use it on packets of seeds for other people. There was no way I was going to be able to use 1kg of seeds.

This is a pile of scrap paper from old diaries (2013-2015) that I have been slowly using but I honestly have far more scrap paper and notebooks than I will ever use so I decided to use some to make seed packets. They are A5 size.

I printed the image I had created and then folded the papers to make a small seed packets ready to fill.

How many seeds? I counted out 180 seeds which filled the tablespoon measuring spoon (15ml) so I decided that a tablespoon full of seeds would go in each packet.

Once the seeds were added, I folded the top over and secured it with a piece of sticky tape. I ended up with 46 packets of seeds as well as enough left over for my own garden.

I am planning on selling them for $1/packet at the upcoming garage sale.

It may seem flippant to be writing about seeds and flowers while the world teeters on the brink of a global war. There is not a lot that I can do personally about the escalating conflict, however, no matter what happens around us the plants will keep growing and producing food and flowers in abundance which we can share without being beholden to tariffs, oil or any other commodity.

Warm Weather Winners

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Midsummer in Australia is too hot for growing most produce but there are a few things in our garden which are thriving despite, or perhaps because of the heat.

Chilli bush. This is in a large pot on the front patio with a northern aspect. During the winter it was reduced to barely 2 dead-looking sticks thanks to a few heavy frosts. However, some warm weather and water and we have the start of another amazing crop of tiny, hot chillies. I use these fresh, frozen, dried and ground into chilli powder or made into my version of Tabasco sauce.

The small daisies are some escapees from a nearby garden.

Olive tree. Also in a large pot on the front patio. This tree is about 2 years old. Last season there were a small number of fruit which we completely overlooked. This year could be a worthwhile harvest so I will be researching how to brine and preserve them.

A close-up of the actual fruit.

Tomatoes. These are not loving the extreme heat hence we have them covered to protect them from the worst of the sun, however, there is a good crop on this single plant of the Roma variety and they are beginning to show signs of ripening. I am looking forward to a good haul and hope to freeze or bottle some for use during the winter.

A makeshift shelter.

Gradually ripening.

Garden Notes – Signs of Spring

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It is almost a month since my last proper blog post. I took some time away from writing as there did not seem to much of note that was worth writing about. Additionally, I find a certain level of inertia sets in at the end of winter. Autumn and the early part of winter have a certain excitement as we relish the change of season after a long, hot summer and we look forward to bracing walks, some cosy indoor time with our latest craft projects and the opportunity to indulge in pots of warm soups and comfort food. However, by the time late August rolls around I am itching to toss aside the multiple layers and once again be out and about in the sunshine.

We are finally beginning to see some real signs of spring.

The daffodils are in full bloom. You can’t help but feel happy when surrounded by their bright yellow blooms.

Other flowers include borage and the first blooms on the espaliered nectarine.

Lettuce are ready to begin picking for salad as the weather starts to warm up.

There was much excitement today as we had 2 rainwater tanks delivered. They are only relatively small but fit neatly between the shed and the back fence. The water collected will be a useful addition for the garden during the hot, dry summer. They will be connected and ready to go early next week.

I think a final word on the coming of spring here in Victoria needs to go to a Facebook friend who posted this. It just about sums up where we live perfectly.

Wishing you a pleasant weekend wherever you are and whatever the season may be.

Labour Intensive

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The last week of May ran away while I wasn’t looking so welcome to a new month and the first official day of winter here in the southern hemisphere.

Towards the end of last year I picked a good crop of garlic that I grew. In fact, I harvested 1.7kg of garlic. I have replanted some, given some away and used it as required for the past 6 months. There was still a substantial quantity left so I decided to make my own garlic salt.

I spent a good few hours carefully peeling and thinly slicing the cloves.

Here they are laid out on the racks and ready to go in the dehydrator.

15 hours later the pieces were dry and crunchy. Here is some of the results.

I then ground the dried garlic pieces to a powder and mixed them with an equal weight of salt.

This is the 300g of garlic salt which I now have ready to use in cooking as needed.

Although it was a fairly time-consuming project, I feel that this was definitely worthwhile.

Winter Weather

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It is technically still autumn but the weather has been feeling distinctly like winter the past few days.

We have had a couple of frosty mornings. This was the view of the paddock across the road yesterday.

There was a light frost on our back lawn, too. You can see the promise of a glorious sunny day though.

Meanwhile, we have planted some seedlings.

Cauliflower

And some spinach. They are tiny but will hopefully survive.

As if we cannot get enough winter weather here, we are off to northern Europe for Christmas and possibly a white Christmas. Even though it is almost 7 months until we leave, it is a good time to be considering what clothes and shoes we will need.

I bought this jacket in the snow gear sale at Aldi yesterday. It will get some use here during the winter but it is primarily for our trip.

Today we were walking in the main street of our small town when a display in the window of a boutique caught my eye. It was an absolutely perfect coat. I am now completely ready for winter in both hemispheres.

If only it would rain…………I would be happy. Stay safe wherever you are and whatever the weather.

Rhubarb Is Ready

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I have been away from the blog this past week as other things have taken precedence. We have enjoyed visits from two groups of guests. I has been a delight to show them around our town and the surrounds.

Here are a couple of photos taken from the summit of Mt Tarrengower which overlooks the town.

An almost full moon as we looked east towards the town.

Sunset in the opposite direction.

Our house guests of the past few days departed this morning so I need to get back to some food prep and meal planning. The first step was to cut a generous handful of rhubarb from one of the clumps which are happily growing near the back fence. We usually have some stewed fruit on our cereal each morning so I chopped and stewed the stalks and have containers of stewed rhubarb ready to go in the freezer.

Not My Garden

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There is always plenty to do in our own garden but we have recently been working in another garden. It is the garden area of our local Neighbourhood Centre which has been planted and tended in the past but was in need of a bit of care.

Along with another volunteer, GMan and I have been gradually working on a few areas. He slashed the grass around the fruit trees which number about 12. I am not even sure of exactly what they are yet.

I found a few raised gardens so have dug one over and planted some lettuce seedlings which are doing well. My friend planted coriander seeds in another and we have added garlic as well.

This photo is from a couple of weeks ago when GMan had cleared a lot of previous pruning to go to the tip as green waste. I had dug over the bed on the far left of the photo for the lettuces.

The other day I turned my attention to a massive clump of assorted succulents. They will probably not stay in the long-term plan but are OK for the time being. The most important thing was to remove the dozens of dead seed heads that would just self-seed everywhere.

The seed heads are in the bucket and the pile is dead foliage and stalks.

It certainly looks better now.

This is no massive garden blitz but more of an ongoing volunteer commitment to a community space.

An Average Autumn Day

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Although I often post about the significant and eventful happenings here, there are many days that just hum along as we do the things we do. I find this particularly so during autumn as the extreme heat and occasional storms of summer are behind us.

Autumn weather brings a benign mildness as the leaves begin to turn and we continue to harvest the last of the summer produce.

An outdoor view.

Picked from the garden.

The tomatoes I grew were from gifted seedlings from 3 different sources. I am not sure of all of the varieties but some were definitely ‘Beefsteak’ which is now my favourite tomato. So, when I discovered that one of these tomatoes had been attacked by some wildlife I decided that it was the perfect specimen from which to salvage some seeds.

Tomato seeds drying on some paper towel.

I did two loads of washing which included our bed linen. I remade the bed with the freshly laundered linen after it had dried in the warm sun and breeze.

An inviting bed at the end of the day.