GARDEN UPDATE DECEMBER

What is happening in the garden….

Without doubt summer has sunk its scorching teeth into the land and watering has now become a daily event. There is only a small amount of visible water in the creek out front of the restaurant where the rockmelons and watermelons were planted last month. They are feeding on this moisture as it recedes and the sunlight of our first heatwave for the summer. The vines too are gorging on the rays of life and the vineyard, garden and surrounding native vegetation are a lush dark green.

The time has arrived again for mulberries with a small harvest of one takeaway container consumed by staff at morning tea today. With this heat the salubrious flavour of these tasty morsels will be dished up as a dessert very soon and for months to come. Mulberry jam will be a product soon available again from cellar door. This week the Chardonnay honey will be harvested and processed too. Thank you bees 🙂

The asparagus bed has been harvested for the last time today. All remaining spears and future growth will be left to provide nutrients for next year’s crop. We have been harvesting the asparagus for 10 weeks. Two of the 3 garlic crops have been harvested and hung up to dry with the first to be kept for next year’s crop and the other consumed in the restaurant to the chefs discretion. Maybe roast and served up with olive oil on the Cullen platter. Our last crop that was planted on winter solstice will be harvested on summer solstice, the 22nd of December, and again will be eaten with enthusiasm.

The poppies have finished their brilliant colour display and have been removed from the orchard area to reveal the native pigface. Soon this coastal groundcover that was propagated from Wilyabrup beach will be flowering profusely. There are still a few sunflowers blooming and the Calendula and roses continue to splash colour around the restaurant.

The sweet potato that was transplanted this month are cranking with the heat. Tomatoes are reaching the top of their stakes and one variety, “Hungarian Heart”, are ripe and consuming in the kitchen. These tomatoes were raised in the hothouse in September and planted out late October. It’s always good to get ripened tomatoes before Christmas.

The Tromboncino Zucchini’s are flowering and harvesting will begin soon. As too golden, black and Lebanese zucchini. Scallop squash are matching it with the zucchini in growth and flowering with Lebanese and potato cucumber’s a distant third. We have very small fruit on the rockmelons and watermelons, It will be sometime however for the Eggplant, Chillies and Capsicums to be cropping for harvest. Our green beans and snake beans again are flowering with harvest starting in the next few weeks.

We have had to net the Quince, Fig and Pomegranate trees from the parrots and soon also the lemon guava and feijoa that form a screen around the vegetable garden. In the spiral garden we have erected two arches for passionfruit to grow over.

We are currently collecting Coriander, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Salsify, Beetroot and Radish seed.

WE ARE CURRENTLY HARVESTING…

Tomatoes, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Rocket, Beetroot, Kohlrabi, Salad Greens, Herbs Galore, Salsify, Flowers, Radish and MULLBERRIES!! Yahoo!!

If anyone has any queries in regards to the garden please feel welcome to ask…

Stu