Who even has time to write a blog? I was just about to go top up the chickens water, when the sky did the job for me with a nice big sudden downpour of rain. So I guess I have a few spare minutes for a cuppa and a few words…
This summer has seen a record-breaking drought in Auckland, and a 3 month old baby taking up most of my time. The garden has been mostly left to just do its best… there have been a few casualties. Most of the perennials have survived, though not produced particularly well.
I’m relieved that I’d decided to grow a few veggies in pots on my deck by the kitchen, as having them close to hand for a quick water or handful of sheep pellets has been a great help.
It’s been my first season of successfully growing eggplants, and I think in future I’ll always grow these in pots, or at least close to hand for plenty of mollycoddling!
Royal Burgundy dwarf beans that I received in a NZ local seed swap have been great in pots. I have saved a few seeds for next season, and hope to save a few more before the plants are done.
Coriander seeds are one of those things that I don’t put much thought into growing, but I sure do appreciate them during cooking. When I save the seeds I always throw some back in the garden and they usually grow with little care.
These Chilli’s were hanging in the kitchen at my parents house so I snapped a pic to remind me to dry my chilli’s like this if I have leftovers at the end of the season. I think this would be good for seed saving, as well as using in cooking. If you have done this, please post a comment letting me know if this works well for seed saving.
I really enjoyed growing Black Krim tomatoes this year. I didn’t get a huge harvest, but the ones I did get were incredibly tasty. I stuffed up my seed saving for these, so I’ll have to look out for some more for next summer. Also looking forward to hopefully getting a lot of cherry tomatoes in next summer, this year was the first year in a long time that I didn’t grow any, and I really missed them.
Summer is drifting into Autumn here in New Zealand. The feijoas are starting to fatten on my tree. The world is a troubled place right now, but there’s already enough about that all over the internet so I shall try to keep it light hearted and positive here. Wishing you all the best of health and happiness.
