Seeds to be collected are everywhere, this lot are from the Rhubarb, which was tender and made delicious pies!
The garden is quite productive at this time of the year. Already I have dehydrated so many goodies for the next 12 months ahead.
From onions to peas, some early carrots and a boatload of silverbeet. Fruits are arriving and it is a race to protect it from those bloody birds who like to peck a bit and then jump to the next, rendering most of the fruit useless. Some netting around those have slowed them right down!
The Yellow Cherry Guava to the left is covered with an incredible amount of budding fruit, one of our favourite fruits, it is loaded with some real health benefits.
The Dragon Fruits have decided to take off at long last! We have both the Yellow and Pink, I am hoping they will fruit this year, although that may be a little unrealistic, they haven't been in 12 months yet lol.
The chooks are laying so many eggs. I love to be able to share them with the neighbours and family. This weekend I am going to be doing some pickled eggs to enjoy with the salads, yet another great way to extend our supply.
I planted like some possessed maniac this weekend: Amaranth,Basil,Broccoli,Cabbage,Capsicum,Carrot,Cauliflower, Cucumber,Coriander,Leeks,Lettuce,Luffa,Pumpkin,Rockmelon,Silverbeet,Sunflower,Tomato and Watermelon all went in:) It is a constant battle to keep the slaters at bay, one of the downsides of so much mulch.....anyone have any ideas other than upturned orange peel halves?
Most of the onions, leeks have been harvested. I still have a large quantity of the Welsh Onions left, it will be interesting to see how they go, first time planting of those!
The beauty of the Welsh Onion is that you never need to replant, just grab what you want over the year, it keeps multiplying via bulb, just be careful to plant where you dont mind it spreading!
The herb garden is the best it has been since we arrived just over 12 months ago. This lot of Evening Primrose has been harvested and dried 3 times and still has a mountain of leaves. This weekend I will do the flowers.
The herb garden is a mix of those herbs I use continuously for cooking and those I require for herbal remedies. I make mostly tinctures for medicinal purposes........much easier for the inexperienced hand like mine:)
In going through the store room yesterday I noticed I still had dried chillies there from 2 years ago so last night I utilised them in the dinner......you would never know they hadn't been added fresh!
How much do you process and store of your own garden produce? How long a shelf life do you expect to get from most produce?
11 Responses:
Glad to hear you've finally had some rain. It's been weird over here, above average rainfall and sooooo many overcast days. The sun has finally amde an appearance so I'm washing everything in sight at the moment. We never know when the next sunny day will be.
Your place sounds like a constant hive of activity. There is a lot of garden envy going on at the moment ;-)
After one year when I found I had a shelf of dill pickles two years old, and a new season of cucumbers coming on, I made a rule that I was not going to preserve anything unless
1. The preserve was tastier than the original.
2. The amount of gas, electricity, or firewood it cost was proportionate to how much tastier.
3. The amount of work it took was similarly proportionate.
I find while I have fresh in the garden, dried or preserved food mostly gets left on the shelf. I preserve things mostly as condiments (which is the category your chili would be in) rather than mainstays. Mostly I approach "what's for dinner" from the starting point of "what's in the garden", or at least, "what's in season?"
Oh, my - it all sounds so wonderful! You are out harvesting while I out shoveling snow. I do still have fresh tomatoes from the gardening that are ripening on the vine in the garage.
I am fairly new to gardening and thus don't tend to produce enough to require storing. I did however produce allot of spinach that I blanched and froze. Just yesterday I harvested my first bunch of onions before they all start to flower. I have hung them by a string in the shed to dry. Is that the right thing to do?
Congratulations. Rain does seem to make a huge difference, we've had a lot this year and you can really tell. I think when we water we put down the bare minimum whereas when it rains it often gets a really good soak. Let's hope you get some more, but not too much :-)
Glad you guys got some rain your way. It's incredible what it does to a garden in summer. Everything seems to double in size overnight!
We bought ourselves a pineapple guava this year and can't wait until it bears fruit. Probably another season or two away. Do you like that type of guava too?
I'm not real good at preserving stuff, other than jam and lemon butter, LOL. I'd like to buy a dehydrator one day, but the fruit trees have to start producing better first.
Just wondering if you've planted any carob trees in your garden. I hear the pods are delicious and wonder what they'd taste like dried?
Anyway, fingers crossed you get more rain. Maybe not as much as some parts of Qld and NSW, but a few more days of it (for your parts) would be great. :)
Hey Nev, good to see you! Send some of that rain our way pleaseeeee!
Hi Linda:) Thanks for your thoughts, I am with you on some of that, with the exception of the cost factor. To me home made is better for a few reasons: taste is infinately better, no chemicals of any description, food is canned within hours of picking, and the work to me is part of the satisfaction lol.
I always pick fresh from the garden for the meals where I can and use what I have preserved for out of season times. What I learned from the 2 year old chillies is that we dont need as many as I prepped, they are something we do not eat a lot of in comparison to other foods..as I progress in experience I am learning to adjust amounts I store (both for our use and gifts) over a year:)
Hey Tramps, thanks for stopping by! It always amuses me to think of the opposites in weather you lot are getting, I do miss the Canadian snow though, only ever saw snow once and fell in love with it instantly (easy to say when you dont have to live with it every year or shovel it lol)
Jason, well done on the onions and silverbeet, perfect way to go!
GF, thanks:) Send some of yours our way, if it wasn't for the heavy mulch here I suspect we would have lost quite a few plants!
Hey Chris thanks:) You're right on the rain and plants, everything seems to grow far quicker and healthier.
I've not seen the purple guavas, will have to keep an eye open. I have Indian Cream Guavas, Yellow Cherry, Strawberry & Pineapple ones.
I have a lemon butter recipe here on my blog that will keep on the shelf for at least 12 months and is to die for, look to the right under the labels if you are interested. Only needs the fridge once opened. Was my great grandmothers recipe.
I dont have carobs although it is something I have been thinking about, we have the room. I did buy a tea plant the other day to replace the dead coffee trees LOL!
I just found your blog for the 1st time. Very well done and I will be back on a regular basis! So much fun here!!!
Welcome and thanks Cindy, glad you are enjoying it:) Love your recipes btw.....I will be back too:)
I love reading your blog this time of year. We have snow on the ground, so it's nice to garden vicariously through you :)
LOL B2B, and with our summers as hot as they are I am wishing I had your snow!!
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