Vegetables can have pretty flowers too

I haven't blogged for a while as I'd picked up some paid temporary work and life was just too busy. I'm finished now so I can get back to all the things I was running out of time for. Including getting ready to have 16 over for Christmas Day.

Naughty chickens on the lawn.

My dear husband built my permanent escape proof chook run for me. Did you know leghorns can scale 6 foot fences even with their wings clipped.

 I finally got my summer garden going a month later than I usually would.

scarlet runner beans

Lots of the vegetables and fruit we grow has quite colourful flowers if we look closely. I put these scarlet runner bean in, just for the flowers it is often too warm for them to set beans here. So they are sharing a frame with purple king beans (yet to flower) which are predictably productive here.

Pepino flowers

The pepino flowers are attractive and I find the plants themselves as tough as old boots and productive in dry conditions. They don't however like frosts much.

Purple tomatillo flowers

Another one from the tomato family purple tomatillo. I haven't tried this one before so I be interested how it goes. The flowers are a really bright yellow.

Chinese celery in flower

These aren't as pretty but are often covered in beneficial insects like ladybirds. 

This is Chinese celery. It is much hardier the normal supermarket stem one requiring less water by far. But it is still very useful to produce that celery flavour in soups and other cooked dishes or to slice a little very finely in a salad. It has the added bonus it self sows in my garden.

Black passionfruit

A couple of fruiting plants flowering in the garden at the moment. 

Black passionfruit, this one is a seedling plant on its own roots. The grafted Nelly Kelly's rootstock is a pain as it suckers a fair bit here.

Pomegranate

And a pomegranate this bush is just starting to flower now. So tough, with such bright flowers that they should be grown as ornamentals alone.

Tree onion

Not a flower but I still find them fascinating. Tree onions, these little ones can be replanted next year and produce pickling size onions with good flavour and a bit of a bite.

The productive garden

European plum - Coes Golden Drop

It's early spring here so lots of new growth and flowers coming out. Here is one of the European plums. I have two young plum trees last year I had one plum this year they were covered in blossom so I'm hoping for lots more. The rate my kids are eating and growing I need as much as possible.

Garlic

The garlic is growing much better this year. Last years very wet winter rotted out most of it. This year it looks like will be a good harvest.

Variegated sage

The variegated sage I planted out last year is doing extra well. The spot it's in is hot and dry in the summer but is shade all winter. So far from ideal growing conditions. I love this with pork or chicken. Later in the spring it's covered with pretty purple flowers as well.

kale

The kale has done well it's not a family favourite and a lot gets fed to the chickens but I like its looks in the vegetable garden.

Baby figs

I've a small fig tree that I was given that just sat there for years in the drought but has finally taken off in the last couple of years. It's growing on a steep north facing slope that is baking hot and dry in the summer. The slope is a batter on the drive so it's growing in the subsoil and gets no supplementary water. Look at the baby figs. We are not sure what variety it is my Dad gave it to me and thinks it may be Brown Turkey.

New growth on the pomegranate

Who says that fruit trees have to be boring I love the orange new growth on our pomegranate. It's growing in the same conditions as the fig so it is as tough as old boots.

Winter's nearly over isn't it?

Broccoli

I know winter isn't over yet but the winter solstice has been and gone. So being an eternal optimist with my garden my thoughts are turning to spring. 

This is even though my winter vegetables are just starting to bear like this broccoli.

Is it too early to plant seeds for the spring? Of course it is experience tells me. But it doesn't stop me from poring over catalogues to think about what to buy. But no first I really need to go through my seed stash and remember what seeds I saved from the year before. I know I have a bucketload of Purple King climbing beans as they always do well here.

But I always like to try something new. What will it be this year? Last year I tried rat-tailed radishes that you eat the seed pods of. They grew well but the pods tasted of RADISHES which no-one in the family likes. So I didn't bother saving the seed and I won't bother growing them again. 

I'll probably buy through one of these to companies who I've used before Cornucopia seeds or Eden Seeds I'm thinking of trying tomatillos this year. Has anyone tried them?

I find this time of year in the garden I'm waiting impatiently. Will any more of my young fruit trees blossom and bear fruit for the first time this year. And even more importantly when will the "egg drought" be over.