The second half of January has seen the picking season move from just a few items to plenty. My parents were visiting for a couple of weeks and Mum made me this arrangement of a day’s takings.
We are in our first year here, and still very much getting the gardens organised. Part of the learning curve is finding out what crops grow well here, and when to plant them. After the late start this Spring I am now getting an idea of what to plant for the warm season, when to sow it, and where things do best.
I suppose the old advice of ‘plant for diversity’ is the best; plant as much as you have space for and plant as many types as you have seeds for. Also some vegetables produce fruit for extended seasons, but some produce just one picking. It’s important to keep the single-crop veggies coming. The sunny warm days have finally ripened the tomatoes, and they should bear for a while, but sweetcorn planted about the same time finished weeks ago. I was so excited about how well the sweetcorn was growing that I didn’t think to plant more, regretfully.
The January harvest has been pretty good overall. Green beans feature in Mum’s arrangement, and they have been a good steady crop for over a month now. Having butter, green, purple and snake beans means that something is always on the go. At the back are my edamame soy beans, which I think I have been picking a little early, but there are plenty coming.
The capsicums (peppers) are just beginning, and I have picked a few green, which have been delicious charred on the barbecue.
Cucumbers have been great, and growing a pickling gherkin as well as a salad cucumber has helped absorb the quantity.
Then there are the tomatoes, which I have already posted about.
All-in-all it means my local Saturday morning market shop is down to some fruit and the veggie staples like onions and carrots, so not a bad result. Next year I just need to move the planting forward to have more ready for Christmas.