When I look out from my house towards the garden I see an unruly tangle of olive trees, eucalyptus trees, rosemary, succulents and off to one side my pride and joy, the vegetable garden. There are also weeds, mud, things that need pruning and paraphernalia belonging to dogs and children.
There are creeks and dams expertly dug by George and Annabelle’s mud kitchen used for whipping up gourmet
mud cakes.
Once upon a time my garden was polished and pretty, nowadays it is a lot more practical, shall we say!
In amongst all of this the vegetable garden continues to thrive, largely thanks to copious amounts of horse manure, plenty of winter rain and a little bit of luck. This year I planted my entire winter crop from store bought seedlings rather than raising seeds as I have done in previous years. Seedlings certainly got my crop off to a quick start.
I have been gifting cauliflower and broccoli to friends and neighbours as well as using them in every imaginable way myself. Homemade pasta seems like an obvious partner for home grown broccoli teamed with plenty of salt, pepper and chunks of parmesan.
The warm weather has me thinking about my summer crop. Manure and mulch needs replenishing and I am yet to decide between quick and easy seedlings or the rewarding process of raising seeds.
How is your garden growing?
Brassica city at your place?
Wishing you some sunshine and fresh vegetables on your Sunday.
Jan
What a delicious bounty! Mine are just hitting their stride and I expect to have a glut of broccoli and cauliflower in the next two weeks.
Jane S
Good luck with it Jan!
Say Little Hen
Your vegetables look perfect Jane. Homegrown is so much tastier – and I can imagine it would be absolutely delicious paired with your own pasta too!
It's blowing a gale outside today so it's definitely an "inside" Monday. Lots of chores to catch up on anyway 🙂
I hope you have a good week,
Sarah x
Jane S
Thank you Sarah, oh those chores never stop do they? x
e / dig in hobart
wow YUM look at that amazing cauli and broccoli! jane, I'm so impressed/envious. I bet it made for a delicious dinner.
Jane S
Thank you e.
Anne
That cauli and broccoli look wonderful. We've just about given up growing them because they get attacked by bugs and I end up pulling half of them out. I haven't bought seedlings but think I may try them for crops where I only want a few plants. Do you find any more successful that others?
Jane S
Hello Anne. In relation to achieving an end result I don't find much difference between raising seeds or using seedlings, no matter what the vegetable. The difference in raising seeds is that I am able to order a large variety of heirloom vegetables which are not available at the local plant shops. However, the major advantage of buying seedlings is speeding the whole process up, without having to tend to tiny seeds.
CountryMouse
The delights from your garden look amazing. We've gotten a few pawpaws and a couple of tomatoes so far. Not that exciting really. I often have more success with seedlings although one brand of seeds I get sometimes work really well.
Jane S
It is all trial and error at times isn't it? Thank you for calling in!
Paula
Lovely photos as always Jane! That pasta looks delicious, I`m sure your vege patch isn't too much of a mess, you do such a good job og it 🙂
Jane S
Thank you Paula x
cityhippyfarmgirl
Next year I'm hoping for Brassica City, this year though it's a lot lighter and we are still finding our grove with new soil and sunlight so I'm happy with what has been grown. Planting some seeds and some seedlings at the moment. In Autumn I was lovingly tending all my seeds but I need a new spot that is safe from enthusiastic pups 'lovingly' tending them for me.
Jane S
Oh yes Brydie, pups can challenge the most skilled gardeners! Happy growing x