April 2012 – The Wrap Up

April weather can be quite variable in Melbourne, for most of April this year it was really an extension of summer with temps in the mid 20s.  By the end of the month though you could definitely feel winter coming and temperatures had dropped to the high teens.  The long warm weather has meant that many of the summer crops are still cropping.  I have eggplants still forming on the plants and my chillies are still cropping happily.

Its not just chillies that are still looking happy.  My thai basil is still doing very well considering that we are well into Autumn.

All this summer action aside the garden is very much in transition at the moment.  I have planted my brassicas, well most of them, but I’m still waiting for a bit more space.  My eggplants are pretty huge and occupy a large part of the bed – I think I’ll have to use this area for onions are I can get away with sowing them in June/July and still get a good crop from them.

I planted my garlic in the gaps created by removing most of the tomatoes.  Most of it is up and looking pretty happy so far.

Aside from a few residual summer crops I find that this time of the year is best for leaves, the first of the Tuscan Kale and a continuing supply of rainbow chard are my garden  highlights at the moment.  I mean this both from a culinary and a garden asthetics perspective.

Fruitwise the month began with figs and ended with the first of the tamarillos.

The figs have now finished but the bulk of the tamarillo crop wont be ripe until mid May.

I just hope the birds and the rodents don’t eat them all first.