The Spring Garden

Spring has finally arrived in New Zealand.  The spring rains are drenching the land to the extent that any practical progress in actually digging and planting is futile.  Here is what a future garden plot looks:

Yeah, I know!  Flooded, eh?  

Let's see what the fall plantings (planted in May) look like:

Wedged between the planter with a baby Rosemary shrub and a Lavender bush on the right, is some Silverbeet.  They did all right over the wet chilly winter and seem to be yawning, stretching and noticing the warmth and increased daylight.  Good!

And here are some Broadbeans.  They are tied up to the fence otherwise they would flop over, and are covered with blossoms.  So, we should be getting some fava beans very soon.  The peas I planted alongside the Broadbeans struggled, flopped over in the wet soil and rotted.  I harvested maybe 12 peas (PEAS, not PODS!).  

This weedy patch has some Black Tuscan kale.  They did alright, as did the pansies (white blossoms to the right of the kale) and parsley.  I had planted some tiny asparagus here last fall, but I can't find a trace of them; I think they languished and died.  So I'm learning what can survive the winter and what can't.  Asparagus probably need a place that doesn't flood every time it rains.

Here is some Curly Kale; it did extremely well and we enjoyed lots of kale smoothies, kale chips and kale salad.  To the right of the kale is a row of parsnips.  They did well too, and we are enjoying fresh parsnips and carrots in stews and pot roasts.  The broad leaved bluish plant is a Brussels Sprout.  It is growing so slowly that we may not get anything for months yet.

Here are winter Carrots and Beets.  The carrots are short and fat, but only because of the dense clay soil.  They are not the deep orange color we are used to; I think the coloration is dependent on the ambient soil temperature.  In the cold winter months, these carrots develped a lovely pinkish-pale orange color.  They are tender, juicy and sweet.  I haven't harvested any beets yet.

Here are rutabaga and Bibb lettuce.  We are enjoying baby lettuce in salads.  I'm going to pick some tonight to go with the Gumbo I'm cooking for dinner.  The 'baggies should go well with a pot roast, I'm thinking.  Along with more carrots and parsnips.

 The strawberries are blossoming!  

These baby beans are the only spring planting I've done so far.  They are purple pod bush beans.  They are in front of the deck in the warmest, best-drained site in the back yard.

Waiting in the sidelines are small flats of summer vegetables and flowers: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zuccini, basil and lupines.  The lupines, in a rainbow of colors, were Amiri's choice.  Oh, and we will have a new bed of pumpkin started from seeds Amiri brought home from Summerland School's Conservation Club, of which he is an active and dedicated member.

JMF