June coming up in the Veggie Garden

 

It is that time of month again, when gardeners across the country, and across the world, report on their activities, as part of the Garden Share Collective. This is kindly hosted by Liz at Strayed from the Table.

You can see last month's report HERE. There is now a Facebook page as well.

May has broken all records for the longest span of days above 20 degrees for the month (think that was it), and it certainly has been mild to warm. No more signs of frost, no snow on the hills yet.



 

Here is the main part of the veggie garden from my usual photograph point at the back step. It is all of the veggie garden now - no extension of pots over on the other side. Rather bare there:

Most of the month has been spent moving things, such as a large pile of gravel that had got so much dirt in it that it had to be sieved and washed . Nice pile of succulent soil came out through the sieve though.

But do you see the kitchen sink??? Another gift from the nature strip of the neighbours. We think it will sit on top of the trough, currently over there under the window, and make a perfect extension to the potting bench/watering point.

This is the current temporary potting area - all sorts of vats of soil of various types and compost bins getting ready for next season's pumpkins. I'm quite happy with it, except the ground underfoot is very uneven, so I have to be really careful. But the weeds along there are quite under control now.

So this is where the pile of gravel went - the first path around the veggie beds. The one that always went under water when it rained. Hopefully this will get it above the water table.

Now for a quick run around the beds. This is Bed One, where I am delighted to say I have it almost totally bird netted. And it is paying off.

This is where something interesting is happening. We bought a pot of "Early" Broad Beans at Bunnings, and they are actually producing them now - we usually don't get them until spring. They are the group on the right. On the left are Aquadulce, that I planted at the same time for control - they are almost as tall as the Early (last year I was picking them from a step ladder, so they will get taller!), but no signs of flowers on them yet.

Bed Two, that I wanted to have empty and starting to work though with horse manure, refuses to lie down and give up. Still producing lettuce and spring onions, end of the capsicums and red beet. And the Nasturtians - bit like a canary in a mine - definitely no severe frosts yet, with it still growing like that.

And Bed Three? I thought I might dig some manure through that too, but it is currently hosting some of the pots moved from the patio, and parsnips and carrots around the edge. I could work on it, but lack time. The rain gauge is over here now too - it used to be easy to look out the window to see how much rain we had had - no such luck now.

Two fun things - our first lemon is still on the way - never has a lemon been more awaited.

And I picked this up on a kailyard in Adelaide - I am having a go at producing a celery from the base of a commercial one. Has anyone tried this? Will it survive in a garden instead of a bowl of water? Or is just a fun thing I can clip some greens from?

The formal bit:

Harvesting
Carrots
Parsnips
Spring onions
Lettuce
Capsicums and Peppers
Asian greens
Broad Beans!!!! (just a few)
Beetroot

Planting:
Pak Choi
Lettuce
Parsley
And not much else - too busy with the patio and the gravel

Plans:
Get the patio finished
Dig the horse manure into beds 2 and 3
Plant more onions 

Update:
I planted Yates All Year Round carrots and Yates Majestic Red (after searching high and low for that one). All Year Round going gang busters. Majestic Red got a few up, which then died. 100% fail.

 Heading off to lurk so I can read posts from the rest of the Collective.