Down to days under 20 and single digit nights but no frosts yet. Might still be a time off yet. Plenty of nice sunlight but garden is increasingly in shade. On the other hand the balcony is getting more and more sun due to the elevation against the lower angle of the sun and not being shaded by the oak. The balcony will also provide shelter from the first few light frosts, so I'm thinking of putting a table up here and putting all the chilli pots up here and maybe some of the frost sensitive herbs. This will give me room to move some of the other potted plants into the centre where they'll get more sun again.
Habanero has already given up at least 50 fruit and seems to have about 25 or so still ripe or ripening. Looks great really.
Razz very pretty. I should have provided a coin context for the huge chilli above on the left compared to the others.
Aerial view. Main bed half shaded now, although if I top the hedge again this season it'll reduce that a little. Everything has been removed and I have sown carrots, radishes, lettuce, leek transplants and turnips (in the back - they grew well last season in shade).
This bed has been planted with brassicas. It will soon be covered with a greenhouse cover. The bed seemed a bit lifeless when I dug it over, still had some dead roots from last season. Not everything came up, what I need to learn to do is plant seeds less close together so that if I need to fill gaps I can transplant more easily. I'll top it off with worm castings and composts then leaves once the seedlings are big enough.
This strawberry plant is flourishing after being cut back. I may keep just this one over winter - the rest are seem continually susceptible to spread of powdery mildew.
Last few sweet bananas ready to come out soon. The diseased tomatoes will be pulled soon too as they probably won't ripen before being eaten by the rats.
Parsley and garlic on the other hand doing nicely.
Ready to harvest this beetroot at any time now.
Blue lakes bean still making new beans.
Coriander enjoying the cooler temperatures but I really need to plant some more. I'm leaving the basil for the bees until the frost take them down.
These kale seedlings didn't look so good after going without watering while I was away down the coast but don't seem to have died. I can plant them pretty deep I think, maybe even up to the foliage.
I'm not sure if this Kiwano is ripening or starting to rot?
More... not sure they are getting enough sun any more to ripen.
Cut celery still growing.
These are the onions that fell over and died during summer but have now all re-shot, looking forward to harvesting them in spring.
Bolting cos lettuce.
These troughs aren't really ideal for strawberries. I think I need to get the dedicated strawberry planters.
Blueberry coming back slowly. Florence fennel in background.
Strawberry seedling in fennel pot. Not sure if it's from vermicompost or one of the temptation. I think I'll let it grow for now.
Eggplant and capsicum bed has a lot of fruit to be harvested before I remove the plants.
Late season black beauty has some nice colouring.
Ripe chocolate beauty capsicums. The small ones behind are the sterile yellow ones.
Hot cherry ready for roasting and ripe poblanos, and ripe jalapenos.
Lots of Jimmy Nardellos.
Cherry tomato. I should probably pull it before it's diseased spores get everywhere. Might leave the basil for a bit though.
Once I move the chillis upstairs I can put these guys in a sunnier winter position.
This season's corn bed is now basically an open compost area. It should break down over winter and be ready to plant again late spring. I'll see if I can get a big bag of coffee grounds from a local cafe to add in before I top it with shredded leaves. The worms and microbes should do the rest.
Chard doing okay but in total (but not heavy) shade now. So probably won't get a lot of production before spring. If I'm lucky I'll get some good production in spring before they bolt. I'm thinking these beds weren't the best idea as I'm fighting a constant battle with invading root systems from the other side of the fence - might have been better just to have them bare and used for more container garden area.
Lots of self seeded borage and marigolds to weed out. Luckily they are easy to identify. I should get some more when I dig it over again late spring and I'll probably let a few grow.
When life gives you lemons... looking forward to these ripening in the coming months. I'm hoping to get alot more blossoms on the lime next season after cutting it back.
I'm not sure the seed heads will mature on the fennel before end of season but it was an interesting experiment nonetheless.
Thanks for reading and happy gardening!
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