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Garden Share Collective – Two

The garden has exploded over the last month. We’ve had just enough rain (though we would love some more), and lovely sunny, warm days for perfect growing weather. So here is a run down of what’s been happening in the garden in September.



Harvesting

We picked our first ever artichokes and ate them with butter and lemon juice. At first I wasn’t convinced they were worth the hassle, but we soon discovered how to eat them, and boy are they tasty. Looking forward to many more of them!

The leeks are just ready to pick. I’m thinking Leek and Potato soup, but I’m on the hunt for some other ideas. Help me out?

 
Last year we didn’t have enough broad beans, so Country Boy has planted a heap more in stages. The early ones are already ripe for picking. The kids are picking them and eating them raw straight off the plant.

We continue to have heaps of kale, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, silver beet, and  beetroot.

The rhubarb has been prolific, and was in need of thinning out. I’ve made some rhubarb chutney as well as some jam, and stewed a heap just to eat, because it is sooo yummy.

Planting


Country Boy has transplanted the tomato seedlings into individual pots, and they are now in our small poly tunnel waiting until we are sure that the last of the frosts have gone.

He has also planted more silver beet, which is just starting to poke the first leaves out, as well as parsley, rocket and beans. There are some strawberries to plant also, once a spot has been cleared for them in the garden.

To do
There is always lots of weeding and mulching to do. We got this big pile of old hay from a friend, and it is slowly being spread over the gardens.

A lot of the winter vegetables have gone to seed now, and whilst they look pretty, they aren’t very useful, so they slowly need to be pulled out and fed to the pigs, so that there will be room for all the plants that will go in during November.

The broad beans and peas also need training so we need to build trellises for them to grow up.

Looks like we are in for another busy month in the garden!
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Comments

  1. Merryn Galluccio says

    October 10, 2013 at 1:43 am

    What a truly beautiful garden. That artichoke and those leeks, how amazing! Beans are healthy and your tomato seedlings are coming along well. A lovely, colourful garden sight. I make leek tarte tatin with ready made puff pastry and sprinkle it with parmesan when it is fresh from the oven. Cock a leekie soup (chicken broth, leeks potato) but our family favourite is individual chicken and leek pies. Thank you for sharing your garden 😀

    Reply
  2. Louie says

    October 8, 2013 at 11:09 am

    Your garden is looking so bright and cheery its wonderful. I love leeks and apart from soups I sometimes use them in a tart once they are nice and caramelised with just a little crumbly cheese sprinkled on top to balance the sweetness 🙂

    Reply
  3. Anne Life in Mud Spattered Boots says

    October 7, 2013 at 10:04 am

    I need to plant more artichoke as I love the look of them too much to cut them and eat them. Everything looks very productive and pretty too, which is always a bonus. Leeks are our mainstay veg through the winter – I slice and cook them in a little butter, cheese and leek quiche, topping for shepherds pie …

    Reply
  4. Lisa the Gourmet Wog says

    October 7, 2013 at 7:11 am

    What a gorgeous garden! I love veggie patches that are both productive and pretty as well!

    Reply
  5. Lizzie @ Strayed from the Table says

    October 7, 2013 at 5:53 am

    I still need convincing to grow artichoke but maybe once I have tried it fresh I will love it – who knows. Looks like you and Country Boy have been pretty busy in the garden this past month and have a lot going on again this month with the weather warming up. I like plain old leek soup, its simple and clean and detoxing.

    Reply
  6. Emma Steendam says

    October 7, 2013 at 2:01 am

    Oh wow! What a productive little patch you have, puts my wee patch to shame. I planted my winter veg sooooo late this year so am still awaiting cabbages, silverbeet and artichokes 🙁 My Chinese cabbages seem to have bolted without so much as thinking about producing, the buggers. No rhubarb here and it's killing me, I so love it. Husband hates broad beans so won't be growing those… As far as leeks go, I make a mean leek chicken mushroom pie mmmmmm so good, oh and bacon leek minted pea risotto, yes!

    Reply
  7. Kyrstie Barcak says

    October 6, 2013 at 11:21 pm

    Lovely pics Jo. Wait til next year and you will be totally in love with the artichoke. Mine is in its 2nd year now and has loads of flowers. It is divine. It does take up alot of space but I guess you have that 🙂
    There are quite a few leek recipes over on my site from my crop last year. You can search the recipe page if you are interested. Have a great month.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a A lovely, easy Christmas with family, good food, a few presents, an afternoon swim and dinner on the veranda as the sun set. Time to stop and be thankful for the many blessings of the year. I hope you had a lovely Christmas too!
We have been mulling over how to fix up the drivew We have been mulling over how to fix up the driveway and lead up to our house for a while. Currently it’s just a dumping ground for old bits of metal and a big pile of mulch, but C would like to create a turning area and put in a garden. First up though, there’s a huge old stump that needs to go. What better excuse is there to have a fire on Sunday afternoon? C and the kids jumped on the quad bike and trailer, and hauled back a big pile of sticks and logs to help the stump burn. Once the fire was going, marshmallows were found and roasted. No better way to spend time together.
Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is of course not. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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