October ended with warm days, warm nights, laps at the pool and adventures in mowing the grass in shorts and a t-shirt (a note to the mowers out there - don't wear shorts when mowing the grass without a catcher. IT HURTS AND THERE WILL BE BLOOD.)
November started with cold icy winds, rain and the hayfever that I thought I'd kicked with all the injections I'd been having. Salads from the garden just don't seem right when it's 9 degrees outside.
Back in July, I photographed my fallow garden. We don't tend to grow things in winter unless it's parsley, and it grows itself - we don't enjoy a lot of the winter vegetables, and the resident gardener, to be honest, needs a break for a few months of a year.
In late October it has transformed somewhat. (That brown fluffy stuff is from our giant elm tree, and the reason my hayfever has returned, I expect). We have rejuvenated the soil in all the beds and barrows, and the resident gardener has lowered the soil against the fence, transplanted all the fruit trees and mulched the access areas.
We are currently eating lettuce, strawberries, snowpeas and spinach. I really need to do something with the rhubarb, but I've been a bit busy doing other things so haven't had the chance. We planted one tomato plant a month ago (frowned on in Canberra - most people wait until the frosts have finished in early November), and we have fruit and expect to definitely have tomatoes by Christmas this year. The other tomato plants went in on the weekend, as did the capsicums. My cucumbers will go in when I can squeeze some space next to the potato bed.
In about a month I'm going to start bandicooting for new potatoes in my temporary potato bed. This bed will eventually be permanent when we get around to putting the hardwood planks together.
Our lettuce consumption is getting a little bit ridiculous, but soon it will bolt and we'll have to replant. We're already planning for this and will be planting out some seedlings in the vegetable beds soon.
We sprayed the nectarine for curly leaf this year, and we still got it. Not as bad as usual, but still not good. It doesn't affect the flavour of the fruit though. I go over the tree every couple of days and remove the curly leaves to prevent the virus spreading. (The leaves go in the bin - not the compost).
I'm really enjoying eating the snow peas straight off the plant. They never make it to the kitchen.
I can't wait to see what the rest of November holds for us in the garden, especially with all this lovely rain we've been getting.
To see more gardeners who veg about, head over to
Bellgirl's place.
