In The Garden | November 2015

November is always a crazy month in the garden around here. Traditionally we don’t get a frost after Melbourne cup day, so we then scramble to get all the vegetables out of the green house and into the garden. This year we got a super late frost last Thursday which got all our pumpkins, as well as burning the corn, potato, basil and tomato leaves that CB had planted out. Fingers crossed they all recover.

He has also planted out the capsicums, eggplants, chillis, zucchinis, squash, and watermelons. We are now waging war with the earwigs, magpies, and a rogue rabbit that got into the yard, to try and get the plants big enough survive. CB did manage to get the rabbit the other morning – he looked like Mr McGregor from Peter Rabbit, hunting that rabbit out.

November has been all about peas and broad beans on the harvest front. They have featured on our menu four or five times a week for the last month. Our favourite way to eat them is lightly cooked, tossed in feta, lemon juice, and mint and served on fresh crusty bread as a sort of bruschetta. The kids pick the young peas and eat the pod whole, while I spent a couple of hours shelling the bigger peas before blanching them and popping them in the freezer, ready for winter.

The broad beans are all but finished for the year now, and the pigs are enjoying the over grown pods and plants as CB slowly clears the beds. The peas will also finish now that the weather is warming up quickly.

CB also harvested his garlic earlier this month. He had nine (!) rows in the ground this year, but they are now hanging from the roof of the hay shed drying out. I will be pickling them in a few months.

The orchard is looking very exciting this year. The two sour cherries look like they are going to give a bumper crop – though there is still a month before they will be ready to harvest. The plums, peaches, pears and apples are also looking good, though they will need to be thinned out. It’s been three years since we planted the orchard, and it is starting to look good!

In the next month we will be harvesting the onions, as well as planting beetroot, rocket, basil (again), parsley, and more pumpkins. We will also be planting more corn – we do two rows every couple of weeks to spread out the harvest. Summer is well and truly here now. The grass in the paddocks is brown, so we will be regularly watering for the next few months now.

I’m linking up with Kate at Rosehips and Rhubarb, and Kyrstie at A Fresh Legacy for the Garden Share Collective.

What have you been up to in your garden?