Spring Veggie Patch Ready

At long last Spring has arrived in the Brindabella garden…which usually means one thing: time to get back in the veggie patch and start planting some seedlings ready for all this warm growing weather!

Over Winter this year we didn’t grow anything in the veggie patch – other than a green manure crop of wheat. We had the seed from our cropping besties in the Mallee (which we feed to our chooks) and thought our soils could definitely benefit from some green manure love, as well as not having the inclination to do much gardening in the wet Thorpdale Winter with a crawling baby and busy toddler. Maybe next year…

After we knocked the wheat crop down and dug it all into the soil, let it break down for a week or two, then dug it all in again, we were ready to plant. This year I got seedlings of tomatoes (Roma and cherry), capsicums, cucumber, pumpkin (golden nugget), sweet corn and zucchini (this year ‘only’ four plants whereas last year I think we had six and drowned in zucchini’s for months!) Up behind the chook pen we have a veggie bed, not raised like our other ones, more of an afterthought because we don’t really know what to do with that no-mans-land area… It doesn’t get afternoon sun as it’s shaded by the shed so it’s not ideal for veggies, but we throw things in there and hope for the best, nothing ventured nothing gained. The soil however has always been very solid, clumpy and clay clods. Yesterday in the sunshine (huzzah!) we dug in lots of gypsum and Daddy got some shovel muscles working to try and break the ground up a bit. Lucky he had some helpers…

Hats! Short sleeves! Bare toes in soil! Very high contrast sunshiney photos! It’s been awhile.

In the back veggie bed we already had strawberries going a bit wild, so we tidied them up a bit and rearranged some. We already did the other strawberry plants a few weeks ago in the big veggie beds, we transplanted them all from one bed to another to rejig and rest the soil. I’m no strawberry transplant expert so wasn’t exactly sure which runners were new or if I should be moving ‘crowns’ or what…but I just hedged my bets – we have one whole big bed and the majority of this rear bed now in strawberries, I don’t think we’ll miss a few if they don’t produce! We had ‘clumping leeks’ in this veggie bed which were a bit of a non-event, they were sort of useless to eat and just kept multiplying, so I made the executive decision to pull them out altogether, saving the few larger leeks useful and headed to the Brindabella kitchen. We also have some garlic and rhubarb planted in this rear bed, so just added some corn, watered in lovingly by Eleanor (who got some new gardening gloves and was pretty happy about them!) Plus some pumpkins we just randomly planted in the gaps where the mower can’t get to, they will run wild in this no-mans-land up behind the chook pen, the perfect pumpkin patch really.

 

Onto the main larger raised beds, I generously spread sugar cane mulch before we planted in some capsicums, tomatoes, two zucchinis (the other two are to go wild with the pumpkins) and cucumbers. With one bed taken up with strawberries, we still have about a third of a bed to plant perhaps some more tomatoes or eggplants even. Last year we grew beans but the girls didn’t eat them (of course) so I’m keen to grow something new they might enjoy to eat. Or not. I like eggplant anyway!

 

We also planted a new magnolia tree last weekend (a ‘black tulip’ variety – can’t wait for a magnolia show next year hopefully!) so had to dig around that to make a bit of a garden bed and mulch around so the mower doesn’t have to navigate quite so tightly. Digging in the dirt and finding ‘all my wormy friends!’ was definitely the highlight of Eleanor’s day. Note: change in pants after some unfortunate toilet training mishaps. Deep breaths needed from Mummy…

Another Spring planting day done, it only takes an afternoon of digging about, getting some sunshine on our backs and dirt under our fingernails, to reap the rewards of our own homegrown food come late Spring/Summer. We often say if we added up cost per hour, it would of course be cheaper to buy our own food, without a doubt. But that’s not even the point, and never should be. For love not money. Our girls know exactly where their food comes from, I know how it’s grown, and I can wander out to the veggie patch whenever I like to get some dinner inspiration. Plus: #wormyfriendsforlife

A Sunday well spent indeed brings a week of content…or at the very least some very tired small people (and big people) come Sunday evening under our chestnut tree, enjoying a cider for the bigs and a sausage for the littles’ dinner. Summer veggie gardening? The Steendams are ready for you!