I seem to have made a bit of a mess of my garden planning this year. As a result I don’t have many crops in my baskets this week. Next year I shall be diligent, I shall draw maps, I shall make lists, and I shall succession plan but for the moment I’ll have to make do with these….plus eggs of course, now there are always eggs (YAY!!!).
One thing I am growing successfully at the moment is celery. I have half a dozen plants (seed sowed late Spring) and they supply pretty much all my celery on a cut a stalk or two at a time basis. I would love to do a Saturday Spotlight on the variety I grow but sadly I don’t know what it is. My dad bought some seedlings back with him from a visit to a friend’s place in Lakes Entrance and I’ve been growing it ever since. That friend called it Perpetual Celery but I’m not sure why as it certainly bolts each year. Perhaps it is because it copes well with cut and come again style harvesting. Whilst I’m on the subject of Saturday Spotlights I should mention a few from this week: From Seed to Table posted on Di Ciccio Broccoli, Simple Garden Made Easy profiles a range of Tomatoes and Live in the Yard introduced Rainbow Carrots.
Another crop which keeps on giving at the moment is my parsley. I use parsley as a vegetable, ie in large quantities, and harvest basketfuls each week. A few of my plants are bolting at the moment but there should still be plenty for awhile yet.
Each year I try and overwinter all my chillies and capsicums. Some make it, some don’t. This year quite a few of the capsicums are dying off at the moment…and ripening some peppers in the process. Something of a last hurrah I guess.
Daphne’s Dandelions hosts Harvest Monday’s each week. Head over for loads of beautiful Northern Hemisphere harvests (and a few Southern Hemisphere ones).
That celery looks fantastic. Wish we could grow it!
Funny, celery is one of few things I’ve never had any results with 🙁
Know what you mean about garden planning. I keep saying I will do better the next year, start out good and then no planning, I am a hopeless case.
Those are 2 gorgeous red peppers.
Ah planning – I have the best of intentions too. You seem to do much better than most though.
Celery is reliable for me too because I let my last big crop go to seed. Now I don’t have weeds, I just have celery – everywhere!
That celery is beautiful! My first thought when I saw the photo was “what variety is this?”, ha-ha! Guess I’ll never know. Planning the timing of things is tough. I find it to be hit or miss no matter how hard I try.
Your first statement…the one about planning and planting and succession planting? Yeah…I keep saying that, too! If I had more time, I’d do it all. In the meantime, I just try my best and laugh at myself when I fail (again) to get everything in perfect order. Who can control a garden anyway? 😉
Your celery looks perfect, by the way!
It’s so hard to keep up with the planning and succession planting sometimes isn’t it. Lovely small harvest! Every bit counts!
Yes, planning is essential but you also have to execute. It’s kind of hard to think of planting the fall lettuce on a blazing hot August day. And sometimes the plants don’t follow my schedule.
In terms of planning, I think it is important to remain flexible. If your plans are too rigid, something is bound to go wrong. This is why Beginners are seldom successful The experienced gardener, on the other hand, knows when the plan is NOT working and successfully judges how to make an amendment to it! Opportunism is also a key skill – knowing how to slot-in something for which there is now room in the garden, even though you hadn’t planned for it.
Planning? What’s that? I tend to just stock up on too many seeds, start too many plants, and then just stuff it in the garden where ever it fits. Oh, I do make sure to rotate certain things around the beds, whenever possible. Planning is for wimps. 🙂
I can’t believe what beautiful winter peppers you are harvesting.
Your celery, peppers, and parsley photos are lovely. I am so organized in my garden planning in the spring since I have all winter to dream of the garden. Once the garden is planted, it is difficult to keep things rolling then the growing season slips away quickly.
Ditto with the planning. I had *planned* to tend the veggies and sow some seeds on my 2 week break but the weather isn’t cooperating, so far. I did however manage to make a quadruple batch of lime and chilli chutney. My supplier of limes (also from Lakes Entrance) is addicted to the stuff and I’m now obliged to make it every year. Groan.
My celery is coming along – helped no doubt by all this rain. And the parsley is out of control – time for another pot of parsley soup, I reckon.
I was going to leave my capsicum as-is over winter to see how they went but I ended up cutting them back to stumps – not sure how they will respond to that but will find out soon enough, I guess.
You are lucky to still be getting eggs – my two girls have gone on strike over this winter. I might be wrong but I think that they don’t go off the lay in their first year (which might explain your eggs) but do in subsequent years. It will be interesting to see if yours continue to lay next winter.
I had that problem a few weeks ago. Nothing was coming in. Eventually things start producing again though.
Planning? I plan, replan, overplan and replan again…but it never fails that at some point i have a massive lapse. This year it’s due to planning NEW highrise beds. I”m glad I made the first two. I’m hoping to finish the third before the first frost but wondering if it will happen. Anyway point is sometimes all the planning int he world and you still end up with crop failures that leave you in a lurch.
Good ol’ dependable parsley! I came home with many more seedlings than I intended but am glad to have them all. Like mint, we never seem to have enough…
I hear you about the hit or miss peppers. I hope they make it this winter!
Hey Eggs and Parsley that’s a winner for me !! Sometimes life just gets in the way of good intentions with seed planting and crop rotations not to forget the weather !!
Are you as waterlogged as us ? It hasn’t stopped raining for about 3 weeks ……
I picked the last of my chillies this week on my 1 overwintering plant, its looking a little sad but with a feed I’m hoping it will come good.
Planning is all part of the fun of gardening… well for me anyway! Eggs and parsley is a fine harvest to have from the garden – my husband uses ours to make frittata with parsley and parmesan.