Autumn Update

I love Autumn.  We will see the leaves start to drop soon.

Autumn Equinox

I need to plant my Autumn seeds and get organised, but we are so busy it has been hard to find the time. I have new veggie beds built, and a load of soil from the feedlot to build them up. Soon!

Yesterday we harvested the last of our potato crop.  Another 9 kgs of spud!  It has worked well for us to leave them in the ground until we needed more in the kitchen.  If I had of dug them all at once I would have needed a lot more storage room inside.

The cockatoos ruined half my pomegranate crop.  I then netted the tree with what netting I had which did keep the cockatoos away, but not the King parrots.  We lost the lot. 

Capsicum and tomatoes are both growing well and will be ready for picking soon. 

Last night we ate steak and vegetable for tea, all grown here.  Today's roast lunch will also be from all our own produce too.  It is a great feeling!

Autumn Planting

The last few mornings have had a chill about them which makes me think of Autumn, which is not far away.  We have been sleeping under blankets and the days are getting shorter.  Autumn is such a beautiful time of year.  It means we need to stockpile wood, and that the sheep will be joining soon.

I have planted some seedlings this past week.  Beans, peas, cauliflower and cabbage.  I need to get some seeds in too so I can ensure a good crop of veggies for the next little while. 

I have dug some compost into the empty beds before planting.  I now have a dedicated compost area which has three sections at the moment but also has room to expand should I need it to.  Things like this are slowly coming together which is wonderful.

  

We put a new veggie bed in the front yard which I have started preparing but I think a load of soil from the feedlot might be in order to finish it off.

I love this old iron bed head that it a perfect for for the width of my garden beds and acts as a bit of a trellis.  It was nailed to the front porch as a decoration when we moved in but this is a more useful way for me to use it.

Squash Glut

I found out that squash can be grated and frozen in the same way as zucchini.  It can then be used in stews, to bulk out mince meals and in soup too. 

Hurrah for that because we have a squash glut right now!

We also discovered that squash was delicious when thinly sliced and fried in garlic and soy sauce.  A great way to add another serve of vegetables to a meal that even the children love.  We are having it again tonight along with steak and homemade coleslaw.

Harvesting

Yesterday we harvested 13kg of potato.  This takes our total to about 17kg dug so far and we still have another couple of rows to do yet.

We picked 750g of cherry tomatoes too.  I think these will end up as chutney to compliment the cold meat we eat through the week.

Our Pomegranate shrub is covered in fruit, but not quite ready for harvest as yet.  I don't think they will be far away.  We are nearly ready to pick apples too!  I have to check the pistachios and see how they are going.

I am picking Figs now and am going to turn a lot into jam.  The spinach is growing faster than we can eat it so I am going to freeze a lot over the week ahead.  It is good to be busy!

Pesky Pets

It would seem that once again my fat and spoilt horse has stood between the Mr and his BUMPER CORN CROP.   And I don't think it is entirely my fault given the Mr's horse and the Small's pony were also in on the act...

It would seem corn is irristable to horses, and don't think planting it safely away in the orchard will save it.

It could have been worse, we got to chuckle over corn woe of old while shucking what was left and we still got 20 good(ish) ears now cut, blanched and frozen in the freezer.

Start as you mean to go on.

Happy New Year!

This morning we were out in the garden while the dew was still wet on the grass.

We harvested carrots and rhubarb, some for the fridge, and some already blanched and in the freezer.  It is a great way to keep yourself in veggies all year and not waste the excess.

I collected the eggs and fed the chooks the scraps from last night too.



The veggie beds in the front yard looking through to the orchard.

2.5 weeks post settlement and I have already been busy outside. 

There has been hard work clearing rubbish and cleaning up.  Already I have turned the soil in the garden beds ready for veggies. I have pruned over 30 fruit trees in the orchard which is something that I suspect has not been done in some time. It was hard work with my small pruning saw but I feel like I know each tree now.

Harvest from our trees!

We have juiced lemons to freeze for cooking throughout the year and we have enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice too.  The sheep have been eating the mandarins and I have decided not to do anything with the kumquats this year.

We have all enjoyed the mild Winter days in the garden and orchard and there is still a lot of work to be done but i think we are slowly getting there!

In the first week we had 21mm of rain and yesterday we had a further 15mm, the garden will be thankful as will I with all the weeding and digging yet to be done!