Last time I spoke about our vegetable garden, it was Autumn. Seedlings of broccoli and broad beans were just starting out:
I netted the broccoli so that we could avoid the cabbage white moth, which lays eggs on the underside of brassica leaves. Did it work? Well, yes. It did!
We had some nice broccoli heads (small compared to a store-bought head) and quite a few side shoots from these plants. I think we may have had a better run, had we done any actual gardening over winter.!
Cut to the start of Spring, and what do these beds have to show for themselves?
The broccoli is now finished, and seeding. The yellow and white flowers are different, I think, because this broccoli is growing from seed we’ve saved from last year’s crop (which was also saved from the year before).
I think we are not being terribly particular about what seed we are saving, so we are getting a bit of a mix. I think next time we grow broccoli I would like to watch the plants to see which ones go best, and tag them for saving the seed. Otherwise I think we might be selecting for plants that bolt early!
The broad beans were yet to produce bean pods. As of today, though (a month into Spring), there are pods ready to pick! In front of the broad beans, the pea plants have grown up enough to flower and even harvest pods. That was a dramatic transformation!
Elsewhere in the garden, Spring is proving to be a good time to get on top of the weeding and pruning that got away from us over the winter. Take the Tree Lucerne, for example:
What … the heck. Do you remember seeing this plant when it was first put into the ground? This was February last year (ie. 15 months ago):
That is some serious growth! The plant in the picture above would reach no higher than my thighs, I should think. Now, it towers over my head.
When I pruned this tree back, the bees were absolutely zinging with happiness about the blossom in this tree. The photos don’t really do it justice. It has quite a weeping habit that reminds me of a willow leaning over water — beautiful! And it smells divine!
Unfortunately, it was leaning over the walkway, which made it a bee infested, face-slapping hazard, and the weight of the branches was pulling it well away from the fence.
You can see above just how much I needed to cut away to reveal our back verandah and an entire flowering garden bed. Sheesh! 🙂
Now the tree has gone from flowering, to podding up, just to remind me exactly why it is in the legume family. Just look at how beautiful this tree is! Both when flowering, and when developing pea pods. Wow.
Simple Crafty Life 