More gardening notes

Now that we're really into the Spring season, the veg garden is coming along. We're getting daily pickings of the snow pea 'mange tout' (Carouby pea), and we're pulling the odd reasonable sized carrot (plus snacking on them while we're in the garden working!).

Tonight we had our first broccoli.

It has been some time since we've had broccoli fresh out of the garden and it was a nice treat, especially the Romanesco broccoli which looks so pretty with its amazing fractal pattern! It even retained the light green colour after cooking (sorry no photo!). It was very tasty!

Up in the garden things are happening!

This photo of is the lower part of the garden and G is putting in macrocarpa boxing. We hummed and hawed quite a bit about whether to do this or not, but decided to make this half of the garden into permanent potager beds. I think it's going to look great once the paths are done and we've composted and mulched the beds more - until today the soil was getting pretty dry!

This is the other half of the garden at the higher end of the slope. It has been rotary hoed again and will be made into a large bed for potatoes in the foreground and the rest will be rows of strawberries. There'll be paths running through and also to the gate at the far end. At the end against the wall is a passionfruit (waiting to be tied up to wire). On the right is the globe artichoke plant which is producing well already. The fence on the left has yet to be painted.

 

I had a look back through the archives for some before and after pics!

The garden when it was new in 2007:

 

The garden in 2008! (note wind-blown wind cloth!):

The garden in 2009, poles in for the fence:

And 2010:

I'm quite excited about the next photo. This small plant is a hops vine! Probably keep it in a pot for now, until it is bigger and we have decided where it is going to go!

 

Cymbidium orchid flowers

Daffodils in the new planter

 And lastly......the strawberries are really coming along. Look at the size of this one! and that's G's finger there!