In the Garden July 2023

The garden is growing pretty slowly at the moment with the cooler weather, although my peas are a bit wild. The cages keep getting blown crooked in the wind. It’s hard to see from here, but they are varieties that have beautiful pink and purple flowers. I’ve harvested a small bowl of veggies each week since we arrived back home consisting of kale, sprouting broccoli, broccoli raab, lettuce and snow peas. It’s probably time to pull up the beetroot before they get too big and woody. I’m also looking forward to some full-size peas that should be ready this week.

The yellow everlasting daisies have been an unexpected star in this bed, for both their overgrown coverage and the long-lasting blooming season. I also had to prune back the bush in the near corner as it was covering the steps. This is a native with soft foliage and in summer will be covered with tiny white star-shaped flowers. We think by the end of winter the lilly pillies should reach the top of the fence.

Both of my rhubarb plants are flowering. I do need to cut them off but wanted to get a photo first.

One disappointment in my garden are my broad beans. I tried this variety because of the stunning flowers but they are not growing very well and I don’t think I’m going to get a heap of broad beans. I think next year we will go back to the old faithful Broad Bean ‘Aqualduce’ which I’ve had good harvests with previously.

I must admit I am glad the garden is growing slowly at the moment as it has given me a chance to get on top of the maintenance that was missed while we were away. I hate to think about what the garden will look like in December after we have missed a month of maintenance in Spring.

If you were growing some food what would you pick for your winter garden?