“Mum, have you ever set fire to a leaf with a magnifying glass?”
“Sure. Should we go and give it a try?
Oh, and put on some shoes in case you have to stomp out the fire…”
Daylight Savings Time started in Sydney last Sunday. It was the perfect excuse to spend a lazy day at home, enjoying the sunshine.
I baked savoury slices for lunch, using leftover bacon and Grana Padano cheese…
After lunch, we headed into the garden and moved the chook dome. The girls are now happily chomping and scratching away at the bed on which our winter peas and celeriac were grown…
We harvested all the carrots before the dome was moved. We’ve been planting the “Gigante Flakkee 2” variety from Franchi, and can highly recommend it…
A large clump of self-sown celery was dug up, and divided into three smaller bunches for sharing…
We were overjoyed to harvest nearly five kilos of potatoes from the bed next to the fence! In previous years, we’ve bought expensive seed stock which always grew poorly. This year we purchased virus-free Sebagos from Enfield Produce, for just $4/kg.
Of the half a kilo we bought ($2), we planted just five potatoes in the side bed (about $1 worth). Those five returned a kilo of creamy white spuds each…
In the newly renovated back bed, the dwarf beans are coming up…
Once the potatoes were harvested, we could reach the fat beetroots that were growing in front of them…
And our kohlrabis have grown large in the spring sunshine…
I love the way our garden is evolving. We’re constantly experimenting, and figuring out what grows in our backyard and suits our lifestyle.
We’ve found varieties of peas, carrots and potatoes that will grow well here. We only plant cos lettuce, because they’re easy to harvest, keep well in the fridge, and the boys love them.
We’ve learnt to cook the leafy greens that thrive in our beds, and now grow rainbow chard and broccoli rabé instead of spinach, as we find the latter much harder to manage and harvest. Our beds are no longer as densely planted as they were under Linda’s original plan, but they seem to produce ample for our needs nonetheless.
Perhaps the most valuable lesson we’ve learnt is this: some plants will grow brilliantly in our backyard, and others won’t. We no longer try to grow heirloom tomatoes (too many fruit flies) or apples (too warm). And whilst our aim is to grow what we love to eat, we’ve also learnt to eat what we can grow. After a couple of years of trial and error, it feels like we’re finally in tune with how our garden works!
. . . . .
Il faut cultiver notre jardin.
Let us cultivate our garden.Candide (1759), by Voltaire
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 