Sunday 27 September 2015

October Garden Share Collective - welcome to rain and warm weather


Spring is always amazing in the garden, the longer, warmer days ensure you get out and weed, plant and reap your gardening rewards.

There is huge delight in picking the very first asparagus spear for the season.  There is one bed devoted to asparagus and every year they pop delightfully out of the ground.


We can grow spinach all year long but the Spring spinach is more lush and prevalent than the winter spinach.


This is the first time I have successfully grown Australian organic garlic.
It was planted on the winter solstice (24th June 2015) and will be harvested around the summer solstice on the 1st December 2015. The garlic seems to like the raised heavily composted/mulched soil and it is easy to keep the weeds at bay in a pot like this one.


A cross view of the biggest vegetable bed.  Broccoli, cauliflower, endive, lettuce, cabbages, sorrel, spinach and rainbow chard all growing in harmony.


These little beauties are coffee pods.  They turn from a bright green to red when they are ripe.  This is from my dwarf Arabica tree.   Roasted in an open pan, then grinded and put into the cappuccino machine, the flavour is unique and fresh.


One budding peach tree.  So pretty and it will be so productive producing at least one hundred peaches.  Peach trees are netted when the fruit is nearly at full size to keep the birds and fruit fly away.



Broccoli is also a staple in our garden, it will grow all year long, easily sown from seed.  These are the side shoots that appear after the big broccoli head has been picked and they are just as succulent and tender as the broccoli head.


Snow peas grow for a long period, give them a support to climb up and just keep picking snow peas for months. Occasionally fertilise the with a liquid fertiliser to keep the snow peas growing in abundance.



Here are some highlights of my October garden.  This is posted as part of the Garden Share Collective, you can see other member's gardens here.

Buon appetito, enjoy, Merryn xx

20 comments:

  1. you have a lot going on in your garden, merryn. I did an experiment with my garlic planting this year - half in the ground, half in a polystyrene box. so far the ground stuff is looking much healthier.
    happy gardening!

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    1. Very interesting, sometimes it pays to experiment. Another post saw one person plant garlic in manured ground and also in ground that had manure added to it one month after planting. The first garlic grew so much quicker and healthier than the second garlic plants.

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  2. Your garden is looking very productive, have a great month.

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  3. Wow you grown your own coffee too! Is there anything that you can't grow? :D

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    1. Thanks Lorraine, it is always a challenge to grow as much variety as you possibly can grow :D

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  4. Oh, I would love to grow my own coffee!! Your garlic is looking so happy :)

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    1. The coffee pods are delightful and I am so happy to finally successfully grow garlic.

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  5. Wow, I'm absolutely jealous of your snow peas! I haven't been able to get them to look anywhere as lush as yours, or as bountiful!

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    1. Well composted soil, fertilise every few weeks :D

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  6. Wow - coffee - how wonderful and what a lovely spring garden and I know the garlic will be wonderful.

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  7. My husband really wants to grow his own coffee however I really don't this he would follow through with the roasting, grinding to actually make a cup. I wont do it for him as I don't drink it. Love your garden and I agree that spring silverbeet is definitely the best - so lush!

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    1. You can't do everything for everybody Lizzie, so let him grow his own coffee trees.

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  8. Your garden is looking abundant Merryn. The garlic looks very healthy. Pity you can't transport smell on the computer yet, I 'd love to smell that coffee!

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    1. Thanks Kyrstie, I am happy with what is growing for this time of year. I would love to share the coffee :D

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  9. I have not processed my coffee beans - last year I had very few beans. This year the tree is covered in flowers so I anticipate a bumper crop. (I am in North Queensland) I thought the beans had to be fermented first, before being roasted?

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    1. I haven't heard of fermenting them first, roasting them in a frypan works well for a cup or two. If I had more they would be roasted in the oven. If you try fermenting them first, please share your process.

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  10. I've been away on vacation, and have come back to a garden that badly needs cleaning out! And, alas, clearing out -- fall is here, so there's not much left to harvest. So I get to enjoy your gardening season from afar. ;-) Fun post -- thanks.

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    1. I hope you had a great holiday and you are into the cooler months for gardening. There is plenty of time for that :D

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