Garden round up

The weather is warming up and the sun is shining today.  After weeks and weeks of cold Melbourne weather, I think we have finally turned the corner to Spring and Summer.  While I sit here, hubby is diligently  mowing the lawn. 

Our vegie garden is very bountiful - and over grown.  My plan for the weekend includes getting in there and weeding.  I also have some new pea and zucchini seedlings to plant out - heirloom seeds from Diggers.

My vegie garden October round up... purple podded Dutch pea plant seedlings, seedlings trays, first time figs, and flowering sage with 7ft broad bean plants in the background. 

The broad bean seeds are from my Nonno - he has been self selecting these seeds over many many years. My family and I will be travelling to Perth soon, for my father's 60th birthday party.  I must remember to take some photos of my Nonno's garden to show you.  He is an extraordinary gardiner, good at both flowers and vegetables.

end of winter garden

The last few days the weather has been warming up, with a hint of spring in the air. Our outdoor activities now involve lovely picnics in our backyard, trampoline bouncing and a bit of gardening.  The winter vegie garden is now blooming - with the broadbeans, broccoli and cavolo nero (tuscan kale) doing very well.

I had little success with the lettuces.  It seems the snails and slugs always get to them first.

These have all been grown from heirloom seeds.  The broadbeans are from my Nonno (who is an extraordinary gardiner) and the broccoli and kales are from Diggers Club (an heirloom seed club).

Soon I will be able to plant heirloom tomatoes and zucchini, once the weather becomes more consistently warm.  I always try to plant as many tomatoes as I can fit in my back yard - even taking up some empty flower beds on occasion!  And zucchini - well last year I grew them for the flowers, so I could stuff them and fry them (with ricotta and herbs and dip them in a light batter) - delicious!

When my pantry is empty, I love it when I can pop out to my vegie garden and grab something for dinner without have to rush to the supermarket.

What sort of vegies are you growing?