December Garden Share Collective - Growth (and neglect!)

Well my stats overview on my blog tells me my  last post was on the 1st of October.  Pretty slack really!  Life has been busy, lots of travel for work (I think about six out of the eight weeks or so since my last post I have been away).  But the wonderful thing is that the garden is now established enough that it keeps on keeping on despite my absence and my almost total neglect.

This is my lemon tree, and I'm not sure what is going on - I thought they weren't suppose to fruit in their first year.  Also it's not the season.  But here are my little funny green lemons.

This months Garden Share Collective (hosted by Krystie at A Fresh Legacy and Kate from Rosehips and Rhubarb has the theme of Growth.  Which really can be taken a few ways I think.

When I look at the last 18 months of living in our lovely Crooked Cottage I think what we have managed both inside and out can be considered growth - and definitely the garden shows that.  I have gone from a few dry beds overgrown with succulents to now an abundance of pots plus my overflowing beds.  I've learnt (by trial and error) which vegetables are fairly low maintenance (hello snow peas and lettuce, plus radishes and all my herbs) and which I probably won't be trying again, or if I do will need a new plan (I'm looking at you cabbage!  Closely followed by potatoes...)  So I am growing as a gardener as well.

Did I mention my neglect?!  My pots are all higgledy piggledy around the front yard, and I desperately need to weed and remove all those ones that have bolted to seed.  But for now it's just a bit mess, at least the sprinklers reach them all.

My rosemary is very vigorous, and the chilli plants have kept going for another year.

But just from a purely plant point of view - well with my DIY irrigation system on the timer and a few token efforts at pulling weeds, spring has meant my garden grows without me.  Which has lead to some nice surprises, like the gigantic cucumber I found hiding on the fence, and the very tasty " "Pink Pearl" cherry tomatoes which have appeared on my non staked plants.

The very large cucumber which I found hiding behind the chives - made a lot of salad.

Here's my pink pearl tomatoes - very tasty and so far they have avoided last years curse of fruit fly, even though I haven't been home much to pick them as soon as they turn orange.

Another blurry picture (I clearly haven't grown as a photographer) - this pot of spinach has been just growing and growing for months.

This years attempts at zucchinis have been far more productive and so far (touch wood) no powdery mildew in sight.

Some little critter has been attacking my eggplant - hopefully though a few holey leaves won't mean no produce.

Poor lettuces didn't survive our 40 plus degree day in Sydney - wilted and bolted 

Who knew this cucumber plant could be hiding that big brute of a fruit?

Furry caterpillar creature and another pest of the roach kind - perils of Sydney (don't look mum!)

So this month I will be harvesting tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, a few straggling snow peas, spinach, kale, celery (another never ending producer), hopefully some capsicums and lots of herbs.   I will also be ending my garlic experiment  - I am not sure how that will turn out, I have a feeling they may not have grown as I would have hoped.  

If I get a chance I will be weeding weeding weeding, plus all my pots really do need some fertilising.

I am hoping to do a little planting, depending on the weather, and would like some more lettuces (I will need to try out succession planting so I have a continuous supply this summer), radishes, and probably some more chillis if I'm not too late.  

So happy gardening and happy Christmas - how the year has flown by!