It's Been A While.

It's been a long while since I last updated my blog. I have been rather ill-motivated recently due to some incidents regarding a neighbour who was renting the next house. It's nothing to do with gardening, just really affected by her character especially when we treated her like a sister. Anyway, she has moved out and our lives' sort of back to normal except some losses we have suffered. I had been doing a little here and there whenever necessary. I finally went back to my garden in full swing yesterday. I have been waiting for these two larger strawberries to ripen under the bare sunshine we were receiving lately. Finally my boy and I harvested them and each of us had one. So sweet having sun-ripened strawberries. The thought of it makes me drool!

I do have more strawberry flowers blooming. Such dainty flowers, so sweet and pretty as usual. One of the tasks for winter would be to divide all my strawberry clumps up. I have 8 pots to do and that's a big job! But if I dont divide the plants up, I wont get big berries next season.

My 5 Stringless Pioneer bean plants are fruiting, beaning?! These bean plants take up very little space. They dont need staking because they are dwarf and dont climb.

A plateful for lunch today.

I was extremely excited discovering a few of my fig (brown turkey) swollen and ripening two weeks ago. Since then my boy and I have eaten 3. This tree is in a large pot out of my dining window and it is in its 2nd summer. Last summer I had figs from this tree but they were dry and yukky. As this tree has a really tall and slender trunk, I chopped it down but it regrew in spring 2010. (See http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2010/09/fruit-trees-update.html )This summer, with ample watering, I have managed to eat some yummy, sweet and juicy figs. There is another fig (brown turkey) in my front garden, also confined to a pot, and is having figs that are also swelling. Can't wait to eat off that tree because this one was bought from Flemings Nursery!

There were some days when it was quite cold. My water spinach (kang kong) and Thai Basil suffered some 'burns' to their leaves and I had to resort to covering them with fleece. I expect to do a lot of frost protection this coming winter and have already starting work now in early autumn, driving stakes into the ground where frost-tender plants are.

This pest is the caterpillar of the grapevine moth. I have had quite a number eating the leaves of my Carolina Black Rose. Squashing them is the only way and I had to reach the leaves by climbing the ladder. The leaves are also having mild Downy Mildew which I need to treat with fungicide again.

The grapevine is doing very well growing everywhere on my back pergola roof. I had to add new strings across to support all the new growth. Soon the leaves will turn an autumny colour before shedding. Meanwhile I am enjoying this living green frame out of my kitchen window.

First Artichoke Flower.

One of the two Artichoke Green Globes is flowering. And one of the two surviving yardlong bean plants is fruiting. Well, at least I managed to eat some home-grown beans, just a few but still satisfying. They are fresh and crunchy, compared to those softie ones from markets.

My first Okra, or lady's finger. Hmm...yummy and fresh straight from the plant. Just a simple blanching in boiling water and right into my mouth. ;)

I am collecting a good bagful of red Chilli Fire. This year the plant has a head-start since I preserved it so well last winter. Loads of green chillies to pickle, loads of red chillies to freeze.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes plus eggplants Floriana.

More tomatoes, green chillies and last 3 sweet corns.

We harvested our 2nd, 3rd and 4th spagetti squashes to give away to friends.

Harvests...

I harvested some herbs for a dish today. Spring onions, coriander and thai basil. I think spring onions are one herb a gardener must grow if she/her likes this herb. It is extremely rewarding. A small crop in a 30cm diameter pot can feed you for months, if not a year or two. Mine just keep coming. Forget about planting them in the ground where they become monsters and too big to manage during cooking. Any gardener can plant this in a pot even if he/she has no garden. Here's the yummy mince pork dish I cooked.

I kept harvesting tomatoes this year. Loads of them. Some are so big. I put an egg to compare the size. Since we have purchased a freezer, I have been freezing cut tomatoes instead of giving them away.

My Carolina Black Rose grapevine is doing well except suddenly having this yellow mottling on its leaves recently. I wrote to the nursery where I purchased it and they diagnosed it as Downy Mildew. Good that my keen eye noticed it. I have since treated the leaves with fungicide before it gets too late.

Three Sun King sunflowers greet my passing neighbours every day. They are more than 2 metres high and tower over the vege patch and golden sheen hedge. Their flower heads are so heavy with thousands of seeds.

Cant stop snapping pictures of my Silvery fir tomatoes. I snapped almost every one.

And these Floriana eggplants are such a pretty sight.

The powdery mildew on my spagetti squash vines did not improve after lime sulphur. I had to treat them with Mancozeb fungicide, cut off badly affected leaves and kill the fungus in a pail with boiling water.

Spagetti Squash, Sweet Corn & Yellow Peaches.

I have about 4 or 5 good size spagetti squashes growing at the strip of vege patch. Due to the crazy weather of rain and hot days, the vines developed bad powdery mildew and I sprayed the leaves with lime sulphur. It was a stinking yellow liquid.

We have so far eaten 3 super sweet corns and wow they are yummy!

The yellow cling-stone peaches have been steadily harvested, a few looted by birds, but mostly fine. They are marvellously sweet and I cant wait for next summer as we have almost finished them. Oh we have also enjoying some sweet meaty plums (on the right).

Rain Rain Rain....What a Cool Summer!

For the last three years, we have had really hot summers, making me very very busy in the summer garden. For a change, this year's summer has been mild and we had lots of rain. I love this and wish every summer is that nice. But I know that I still need lots of warm sunshine to help the garden grow, as some veges are growing like snail due to the lack of sunshine such as my bitter melon plants and pak choy. So far this year, I have had only 3 white cloths up to shield delicate plants from the harsh sun on several occasions. Last year I had so much up.

Here's pictures of rain late late last week.

My 3YO capsicum plant is bearing fruits.

I did not realise that burdock leaves can go that huge. My palm takes up just about a corner on that leaf.

Been eating strawberries as I walk along the back garden.

Oh my gorgeous pure white fragrant lilies have opened. Very pretty and very fragrant!

I used the chance to educate my boy about the male and female parts of the flower.

Here's where the clump of lilies I have planted.

A few smaller chilli fire chillies have ripened. This is the first time the chillies have ripened. Last year all of them did not because I planted this plant late. I turned all green chillies into pickled chillies.

I cannot stop snapping pictures of my tomatoes. Here's a large single one.

And another one.

I collected about 1 kg or more of tomatoes and turn them into chopped tomatoes to be frozen.

And peaches too!

I also snapped a picture from my son's bedroom window one morning. How lush and green is the lawn!!!