It's a wonderful feeling picking that first homegrown lettuce from our Autumn veggie patch. After the lettuce-drought of Summer, when it's way too hot to grow lettuce in the garden here, the fresh, crunchy leaves of our own lettuces signal a return to cooler growing conditions and more abundance from the garden. Hooray!
The first lettuce and chard from our Autumn veggie patch.
The first silverbeet and rainbow chard has been picked too. Ready for using in omelettes, quiches and perhaps some of these delicious Hortopita parcels, all nutritious silverbeet-y filling and flaky filo pastry. Mmm...
As the season "grows on", more food will come from our veggie patch. Things like Tuscan kale, beetroot, snow peas, beetroot, spring onion and leeks...
Broccoli
Spring Onion
Beetroot
Snow peas
Tuscan Kale
... and more varieties of lettuce too!
Lettuce with a speckled leaf.
How are things growing at your place?
Meg
Meg, my vegie garden is looking remarkably like yours right now, except my peas are sulking.. it is exciting to see the vegies coming along in autumn, isn't it? Here in Tas the growing window is shorter. It is coming to an end now, and everything will just sit until spring, and every year I tell myself I am going to plant earlier so it is all well on its way by now, and every year I can't bear to pull out the last of the summer veg in time to plant the winter veg.. next year I will have to give myself a good talking to!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to Autumn for so many reasons, Jo, but especially because it's easier to grow things up here during this cooler season. A lot more comes from the veg patch. Anytime I think I'll get onto something sooner in the garden, or think I'll do some job differently to what I did the year before, I find I always forget the talking to I was going to give myself! Meg:)
DeleteYour vegetables look very lush and healthy Meg. You are weeks ahead of me though, up until a week or so ago it was still too hot to plant anything. I have pea seedling almost ready to be planted none with that lovely pink flower though, what variety is it?
ReplyDeleteThe little pink pea flowers have been a bit of a surprise, Jan. I am not sure of the variety though because these plants have popped up of their own accord, quite a few of them, enough for what should be a lovely little harvest when they are ready. Meg:)
DeleteThanks for replying Meg. I wonder, have you ever used pea straw on your garden? They could be from that, I have them coming up all through my front garden at the moment.
DeleteCould be Jan because I did use pea straw, rather than lucerne, when I mulched. Definitely a snow pea because of shape of pods. Funny how things spring up of their own accord. Meg:)
DeleteYour garden is looking good Meg - lots of nice harvests to look forward to. I just put in some lettuce and chard seedlings that a community gardener had in excess so look forward to those in the coming months.
ReplyDeleteBefore gardening I never realised that lettuce was a cool weather crop - I always just assumed it grew in summer because that's when we mostly eat it in Australia. We generally have a lettuce drought around here too for the summer.
Cheers,
Laura
Lovely to have more food coming from the garden again, Laura. Funny how we eat so much lettuce in salads in the Summer but it grows best in cooler months. We tend to eat it year round here. Meg:)
DeleteMeg I have SO many different kinds of lettuce growing as they all went to seed during the heatwave and are now growing profusely LOL! Why do I even try to grow them in summer ;-)
ReplyDeleteI tried growing some in grow bags this past Summer, Chel, and didn't have much success. It's just too hot I think. Lovely you have lots of free lettuces now though! Meg:)
DeleteHi Meg, I have some lettuce seedlings planted but too early for any harvest as yet. I also planted some lettuce seed and have only one incy wincy microscopic seedling growing. I will try again though now the weather is that bit cooler. My bean seedlings that I bought from the nursery died within a week or so of planting. Peas and snow peas are growing though. As are the tomato seedlings, and cherry tomato seedlings. I have some bananas turning yellow and a small lemon tree that is weighed down by fruit.
ReplyDeleteI put lettuce seedlings in a while ago and then stressed that they'd wither up during few hots days we've had since. They've done well though and now the weather has cooled off again so hopefully, the second lots of seedlings I only put in last week, should take off now. Lovely you have lemons, Sherri. I used to have a lemon tree and managed to kill the poor thing! Meg:)
DeleteWe've had a very warm start to autumn. Adelaide had its second warmest April in history, with its average maximum daily temperature reaching 26.2C, slighting cooler than in 1923 when the mercury averaged 26.9C.
ReplyDeleteBut things are starting to cool down now. I'm not sure what I'll grow in my Vegepod...I've still got tomatoes growing and more flowers on the plant so that might see me into our winter.
We've had some warm days too, Joolz, 28C the other day! Cooling off again now and hoping that will be the case for the rest of Autumn leading in to Winter. Lovely you've got tomatoes still and promise of some more too. Meg:)
DeleteAll that hard work is paying off Meg. I just have a passion fruit that will soon cover the front lattice door and either lock us in or out!
ReplyDeleteWatch out for the passionfruit vine, Lucy! They are easy to get tangled up in! Meg:)
DeleteYour garden looks beautiful. Isn't it great to see veggies start as seedlings and grow to healthy lush plants?
ReplyDeleteHere the weather is getting warmer. So no lettuce for me. :) I'm growing beans for the first time.
I hope you get a big crop of beans from your garden, Nil. It is lovely when plants thrive in the garden. Meg:)
DeleteYour garden looks lush and healthy. Right now I'm growing artichokes, zucchini, herbs, and a mystery squash from the compost pile. Have been harvesting blood oranges, limes, and Valencia oranges.
ReplyDeleteFree plants from the compost are a real bonus! We'll often get pumpkins and tomato seedlings popping up in ours. Meg:)
DeleteThat's some healthy and happy delights you have growing there. It feels like its been warm for so long, a nice welcome of the cooler season veg and weather :)
ReplyDeleteThe Autumn weather here has been all over the place! A few cooler days, then warm days of 28C and then rain too. Veg seems to be doing well though:) Meg
DeleteI sowed some seeds and then had a couple of days of drenching rain and floods. A lot of them seem to have survived ok - I tend to oversow as I like to eat them small before the bugs get to them! I have romaine and black seeded lettuce, mizuna, bok choy and rocket. I normally grow tatsoi, but for some reason this year the seeds are not even coming up - must have a bad batch of seeds. I harvested my first lot of silverbeet over the weekend and made a spinach, pumpkin and feta quiche - yum. I also have some cucumbers and tomatoes just starting.
ReplyDeleteThat quiche sounds delicious! I love silverbeet because it's such a versatile veg and really good for you too. Meg:)
DeleteYour garden looks lovely and is so productive. Mine is just in the beginning stages for the season. My husband just got the side garden all prepped for me so hopefully Rachel and I can get some things seeded in there soon. :)
ReplyDeleteI love planting time, Debbie. Tucking seeds or little seedlings into the soil. What will you grow in your side garden? Meg:)
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