Seasonal change

Autumn is really starting to show is colour at the moment, Almost as soon as we experience another 38 degree day, this morning nudged a low 5 degrees with us also waking to some morning wintery fog lately. The tomato's which have been ripening continuously since January are now showing signs of exhaustion. The poplars and birch leaves are changing colours and the 25mm of rain we received on Saturday has brought some well needed moisture back to the soil. The ground is still dry deep down, however at this time of year we should be past most of the hot weather and this recent rain should see the onset of our wet winter and plentiful ground moisture.

The chickens have been in moult for the past month, with daily eggs which were nudging 10 a day now hitting between none to 2. And one chook  which I have never seen go broody, has decided to do so. As soon as I clean the chook shed and wheelbarrow the chicken poo out, the next day the pen is a mess of feathers.

The veg patch is now well and truly in transition from the summer to winter crops. The corn is being eaten at the moment however I have not been enamored by the flavour this year. They seem to be lacking in sweetness which might be a result of not getting enough water into the bed early on which meant delayed growth with the cobs not receiving enough sunlight to sweeten. I purchased some cobs of our local veggie man (Alex from Golden Valley Farms) who grew 360m of corn this year. His too were slower to ripen however he kept the water up and is now harvesting plenty of profits (I hope for him).

I have been very happy with a number of varieties of determinate tomatoes, but the only indeterminate to grow vigorously this year was Break O'Day. Rouge de marnmande ripened and tasted good, but the plants did not meet the same growth as the previous year. I put these indeterminates into a no dig bed this year and I am thinking this made root growth with the dry summer too difficult. Lesson learned.

Veggie gardening is all about lessons learned. Whether it is the snail/slug war in spring which can hammer your spring/summer seeds, the rain gods not being favourable. wildlife,  insect pests and diseases and timing of plantings, every season brings new experiences.

I have recently begun harvesting capsicums. The variety is Antohi Romanian and each plant has about 20 yellow capsicums which lately have started turning red. The watermelon has finally started producing melons. One plant in particular is a seed collector with some large melons already set and the vine having grown much more vigorously than the others.

All the winter vegetables are now in. This year I have Cabbage (Savoy and Spring Hero), Kale (Borecole and Red Russian), Broccoli (Arcadia and Marathon), Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Mizuba, Mibuba, Leeks, Kohl Rabi, Turnips (Hakurei - great eaten raw), english spinach, rocket, chicory, silverbeet, beetroot (bulls blood), carrot (merida), Collards, Lettuce, Spring Onions, cauliflower and I am sure I have missed more.

And once the french beans are completely exhausted, in will go the Garlic. The final transition to winter will be when the pumpkins, capsicums, chilis, corn and tomato are pulled and replaced by tic beans as a green manure to prep the soil for next spring/summers vegetables.

happy gardening - bring on winter

Pumpkin - buttercup

Tomato "Riesenstraube"