In Production: Spring 2015. The Garlic Cure

  

Well, here we are - spring 2015, and despite it feeling a little more like summer with temperatures already reaching thirty six degrees, it is still my absolute favourite season. 

In the patch things are always a little odd in spring, it is much like autumn in its transitional state, being a bit of a 'start-from-scratch' for most of the beds, while other beds remain laden with maturing slow-coach crops from the season before, like onions and our garlic, which we have just harvested three full beds of.

The goal this year for our abundant garlic harvest is to get the curing thing right, (through dry curing and freezing) to keep long  enough to use as seed next autumn when it's garlic planting time again, and ultimately to last us 'til the next harvest in spring 2016.

  

But it is also outside the garden beds where some of the spring fun is happening, as we pick what is now our fourth harvest from our mature orange tree.  Last year when it fruited it was a bit of a sore point as I was on a very limited diet, which included (amongst other torturous things) no fruit (ouch!), this year however food and I have a much more amicable relationship, and nothing has ever tasted sweeter or juicier than these valencia oranges!  The tree is already faithfully working on next years harvest, with little pea-sized oranges covering every branch. 

Despite an impressive start to spring with all seven chickens consistently laying their one egg a day, production has dramatically slowed in the coop as their broody hormones have set in.  

At one stage all but one of our chickens was broody and there was a lot of congestion in the nest boxes.  Surprisingly they prefer to share, whether they're laying real eggs or sitting on imaginary ones - I couldn't think of anything worse myself, must be a chicken thing...

If ever there is a time you need to be cruel to be kind it is with citrus.  Planting citrus trees was one of our first priorities when we moved here - not only do I love them aesthetically, but we use a lot of lemons and limes and they are unjustifiably expensive to buy at the supermarket for the majority of the year.  But when planting citrus trees it's best to suppress the excitement, as for the first few years the very best thing you can do for your trees (apart from regular feeds and water) is to pick all their flowers off and allow the tree to establish it's roots before putting energy into fruiting.  It is a job I have loved over the past few years because the scent of squished up citrus flower buds is divine, but as they enter their fourth year in the ground absolutely nothing compares to knowing that this year for the first time these beautiful lemon flowers will actually have the chance to turn into fruit! 

Currently In Harvest

VEG: Broccoli, Broad-beans, Carrot, Garlic, Leek, Lettuce, Red Onion, Silverbeet, Spring Onion, Swede.  FRUIT: Valencia Orange.  HERBS: Chives, Lemon Balm, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme.  EDIBLE FLOWERS: Viola Heartsease.

New to the Patch
 

For the first time in a long time D and I have introduced no new food varieties to the patch since last season.  We've deliberately shown restraint for the time being as tending what we have will be a big enough job while tending our human 'Sprout'.  We do have some new teeny-tiny edible viola flowers, which though tiny are beautiful and come with an impressively long list of health benefits.  Edible flowers is definitely a genre I want to expand on in the future as eating flowers just seems so right to me.
  

Full List 'In the Ground and Growing' Winter 2015

KEY

Y = Years till harvest.

W = Weeks till harvest.

H = In harvest.

Veggie Patches

Asparagus 'Mary Washington' (W) 
Asparagus 'Purple' (W)
Beetroot (W)
Broad Beans (H)
Broccoli (H)
Cabbage 'Purple' (W) 
Carrot (H)
Corn (W)
Cucumber 'Lemon' (W)
Eggplant (W)
Garlic 'Glamour' (H)
Garlic 'Melbourne Market' (H)
Garlic 'Early White' (H)
Garlic 'Early Purple' (H)
Leek (H)
Lettuce (H)
Onion 'Red' (H) 
Potato (W)
Pumpkin (W)
Rhubarb (W)
Silverbeet (H)
Spring Onion (H)
Swede (H)
Tomato 'Tommy Toe' (W)
Zucchini 'Black Beauty' (W)

Fruit & Nut

Almond (Y) 
Apple 'Fuji' (Y)
Apple 'Gala'(W)
Apple 'Jonathan' (Y)

Apple 'Pink Lady' (Y)
Apple 'Snow' (Y)
Apple 'Wild Granny' (Y)
Avocado 'Hass' (Y)
Avocado 'Pinkerton' (Y) 
Blueberry 'Reveille' (W)

Lemon 'Eureka' (Y)

Lemon 'Meyer' (Y)

Lime 'Tahitian' (Y)

Lime 'West Indian' (Y)

Mandarin 'Imperial' (W)

Mulberry (W)
Orange 'Navel'(Y)

Orange 'Valencia' (H)
Pear 'Conference' (Y) 
Pine Nut 'Stone Pine' (Y)
Raspberry 'Sandford' (Y)
Strawberry 'Temptation' (W)

Herbs & Spices

Basil (W)
Cinnamon Myrtle (W) 
Chilli (W)
Chives (H) 
Lemon Balm (H)
Mint (H) 
Oregano (H)  
Parsley 'Flat Leaf' (H)

Rosemary (H) 
Thyme (H)

Edible Flowers

Viola Heartsease (H)