I finally got round to spending some time in the garden yesterday. A lot of that time was spent cleaning up, and planting summer crops – the tomatoes are in – yay! I also found time for some harvesting. I pulled a few parsnips to have with our roast chicken dinner.
I also harvested my last kohlrabi;
I will try growing kohl rabi again as I enjoy eating them and hopefully next time I will manage one of those beautiful globes I see on other people’s blogs.
I made a few batches of veg stock this week, full of bolting plants from around the garden. The celery hasn’t actually bolted yet but I included a few sticks nonetheless.
The parsley has bolted so I added a fair bit of that;
as well as some cabbage, thyme, and bay leaves that I failed to photograph. Also avoiding the camera this week were my most prolific performers; green leaves. Aside from parsley I am currently harvesting 3 different varieties of lettuce, rocket, chervil, watercress, mint and oregano. They make for some lovely salads.
Daphne hosts Harvest Mondays – a fab way to check out what others are growing at the moment.
I hate those parsnips that snap as you pull them!
Damn annoying isn’t it. I find them generally really difficult to harvest.
Lovely parsnips. I’ve yet to grow them. I was going to this year, but never got around to getting them in the ground. Maybe next year.
What is it that makes Kohlrabi go long and thin? I had that happen to several of mine last year, and I don’t know what causes it.
I haven’t pulled any Parsnips yet. I’m leaving it as long as possible, in the hope that they will grow to a reasonable size.
I presumed that it is because there is something environmental they don’t like. But I’m not really sure. In the case of mine it seems to have been a precursor to bolting.
We’ll soon be picking parsnips. Strange for us both to be cropping the same type of vegetable in different hemispheres.
They grow year round here and anything that does that tends to become a winter crop due to competition for space in the garden during summer.
I grew parsnips in a block with cornflowers this year and it looked very pretty while the parsnips went about their long, slow growth. They look a good size, have yet to try them though but will soon see if they taste good. Agree with Sue above, our harvests of some things are obviously coinciding at different sides of the world! Love your idea of making lots of stock with bolted veg.
That sounds like a lovely idea. I should do more veg/flower combinations – I always regret not planting more pretty stuff.
Im in a similar location to you ST and its been a big week or two, my globe artichokes flower buds have surfaced, sour cherry fruit has set and six olive trees (mainly large table fruit varieties) have been planted. Years of enjoyment ahead. One disappointment has been getting my directly sown soybeans to emerge. Zilcho so far, possibly not warm enough yet in old Melbourne town. Cheers AF
I haven’t tried sowing my soybeans yet – I reckon you’re about them probably needing it a bit warmer to germinate so I am planning to sow later this month.
I do have kohlrabi that don’t bulb up sometimes. Though they rarely seem to get photographed! I have no idea why they elongate like that.
I pulled all my parsnips on the weekend. Some were roasted with maple syrup and the rest are in the fridge waiting for me to make parsnip soup and parsnip mash for the freezer. I have more than I know what to do with but I needed to clean out the bed and amend it ready for planting out tomatoes next month.
My onions were going really well until many of them decided to bolt. I’m so disappointed. The same seems to be happening with some of the garlic. I expect it’s because of the temperature fluctuations – not much I can do about that, but still….. 🙁
Your celery looks great – not a sign of rust – unlike some of mine.
I’ve been making regular batches of stock with my bolting plants and excesses, too. I just love home-made veggie stock and can’t imagine buying it off the shelf ever again (my daughter raids the freezer whenever she comes home for a visit). You were my inspiration for making it in the first place, Liz, so thank you!
What a lovely thing to say – thankyou! Glad the veggie stock is feeding not just you but your daughter. Re: the garlic are you sure it isn’t a hardneck variety that flowers before it is ready for harvest? I have been trying to grow it here but have never managed to get it to flower – I don’t think we get cold enough for it, or perhaps it needs more sun. Anyway it does well for my dad and the flower stalks make good eating – if you google garlic scape pesto you should find some. All my onions died this year – not sure why but perhaps there’s been something climatic they don’t like this year.
I’d love to grow celery! I think there’s so many different ways to use it!
Wow, I’m amazed you could even harvest something 🙂
I live in the inner suburbs of Melbourne too, and I must say these gusts of strong wind are wreaking havoc on my tiny balcony garden. At the rate things are going, there’d be nothing left before Summer! Ah well.
Hope your crops survived. That wind was pretty wild wasn’t it?
Hi Liz, I’m still yet to grow parsnips ………it will get on my list one day! yours look great and probably a more successful root crop than carrots? Its been a miserable wet winter up here with so much rain the veggie plot nearly got washed away! finally the weather has broken and were enjoying the sunshine………….time to get those seeds in.
I’ve found they are more successful than carrots – not sure if that’s because I have been more patient with them than I often am with carrots.