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The last few days have been rather blissful to say the least. With no requirement to go to the office, I found myself pottering in my garden, enjoying the warm weather and tuning the wireless to the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India (and what a match it was!). By late afternoon the sun drops low, my work is complete and it’s time to crack open the ice cold orange whip (beer), a reward for my hard labour. The chores I’ve busied myself with haven’t been the most enthralling but necessary nonetheless. Weeding, trimming, planting installing window fly screens and chopping wood for the almost finished wood fired oven. Chopping wood you say, Ro? Yes I bought a new chainsaw. I’m 10% more manly….make that 15%, it is a STIHL after all. Argh Argh!!
The kitchen garden is producing now with onions, potato, garlic, carrots, lettuce, sorrel, and leeks. And let’s not forget the endless supply of fresh culinary herbs that seem to be taking an extra large helping of plant steroids this time of year. Basil is in season, and I couldn’t be happier. At the moment my plants are big enough to be using basil as a garnish on everything from pasta to my favourite summer feed of bruschetta pomodoro, which I have for breakfast almost every day of summer. Soon I’ll be making this simple meal with my backyard tommies. That day is always an annual celebration, the first tommies on toast straight off the vine. Summer is truly welcomed on that day. For now though I’m content with making tortilla, with my potato, onions and eggs. The meal that truly proves that we can be semi self-sufficient. Another great breakfast of late is leeks cooked in butter and scrambled with eggs. Leeks are just divine this time of year, especially when it’s simply a matter of walking out to the back yard, plucking a leek, washing it and giving it a quick pan fry in real butter. The taste……wow.
For those folk that love pumpkin, I urge you to plant some now (if you’re in the southern hemisphere). Even if you don’t have much space, like me. Last year I made a timber frame out of pine wildlings that I thatched together to fashion a sort of rough lattice, which was a support to train the pumpkin to grow upwards instead of it’s natural desire to grow across. The result was a success with the French variety Potimarron, climbing towards the sun and bearing stunning orange fruit that I discovered to be the best tasting and most dynamic of all the pumpkin. This year I’ve taken the pumpkin training to a higher level with 6 plants now being strung up using a similar technique. We should get enough pumpkin to keep us well fed over the cooler months. As will the kilograms of potatoes that we have growing out at Grace View. The first variety of which we will be digging up this weekend. Tortilla explosion here we come!!!
I hope your garden is giving you as much produce as mine is.
Whole Larder Love 
My aunt’s pumpkin plant is taking over her garden! I’ll have to let her know about your tips on training them.
It works for me! I’m sure it will work for your aunt!!
nice one – do you ever pinch the tips from your pumpkins or tomatoes as ive read one should do? ive got both on the run but have never quite worked out what im supposed to pinch out…
I do with tomatoes but not with pumpkins. With tomatoes I pinch out the lateral growth, which is the upward growing branch that grows between the main stem and an outward growing brach. Make sense?
Or, if you have the space Marion, you could let the toms grow wild. This summer I’m doing a little experiment with four different growing methods: pinched and trained up a single stake; trained up a trellis but not pinched; plants allowed to ramble across mulched soil; and self seeded plants allowed to do as they see fit!
I’ve noticed that the self seeded plants always seem to do the best, showing very little little sign of disease and producing huge yields of fruit. My theory is that all the pinching and pruning and training creates entry points for disease to infect the plants and goes against the tomato’s natural inclination, which is to ramble. A happy medium between the two (trained but not pinched) might end up being the best use of space available in smallish backyards.
Whichever way you go, may your tommies produce a mighty harvest!!
Justin,
I’m doing a similar thing this year….I’m letting the self seeded boys do their thing. Pinching and reducing the number of fruit per truss is something I need to do because of limited space. Our tommies out on the block are a bit on the wild side. Interesting to see the difference.
It’s probably a safe bet that the yield out at the block will be higher and the plants healthier than those in your kitchen garden. But I’ve been proven wrong before! If gardening has taught me anything it’s that nature is a fickle mistress, but geez she’s desirable. Let us know how it pans out.
mine are all self seeded out of my wormy compost that i turn through in the spring.
Last years unpinched toms got steaked up when they needed a bit of support but were mostly free range so to speak. And they gave me a crop that lasted many months into winter even so i guess i probably don’t need to worry too much about it if i think about it…
Never thought of training the pumpkins. I’ll have to try it this year. Your leeks look so yummy.
I’m in love with my chainsaw.
Lots and lots of apricots at our place!
Madly preserving and turning into jam before they spoil.
It’s my first “go” with apricots – I was treating them like cling-stone peaches,
but they are so much more delicate.
Here if you’re interested:
http://www.poofanditsgone.blogspot.com/
I hope they turn out well!!! I’d be interested to see how they go. I’ve always wanted to bottle fruit in proper preserving jars. Maybe a new venture for me.
I’ve been WAITING for you to post! Needed my fix of salivating over fresh vegetables! I’m looking forward to seeing more of your garden contraptions. Getting super excited for spring over here, and creating another garden from scratch. You’ve also reminded me that I’d like to grow leeks this time around. Have you any tips?
It’s all systems go over here right now. And it’s pretty hot this week so the plants a growing in front of us!
great blog. Just wondering if you could post a pic from a bit further away of the pumpkin lattice. I am wondering how strong it really needs to be. Is there any way to grow pumpkin in an apartment garden, i.e. little vegie patch apple crate size?
It can be as basic or elaborate as you want. I’ve grown pumpkins up shoe string before if that gives you an idea.