Yes, I know it’s almost June, but nothing much happened during May and I’ve been hibernating inside in front of the fire for the most part of each day.
So just a few quick photos.
I’ve given up sowing seed in the conventional way, potting up and growing on seedlings ready to plant out. Instead I’ve taken the lazy way out and sowed thickly in wicking boxes and large tubs. This is Lacinato Kale in a tub :
Another tub of the same, with some chickweed coming up as well :
I’m harvesting a few seedlings to add to other greens and will eventually let the rest grow on into bigger plants.
The leaves on the turmeric plant in its pot in the polyhouse are dying back, so I’m giving it minimal water now. I’ve never grown it before so I assume that I will be able to harvest the tubers (if there are any!), when all the leaves have died back (helpful hints welcome) :
I cut into my only summer-grown pumpkin, the Naranka Gold variety, hoping there would be viable seed and there was plenty. The flavour was a bit disappointing…not as sweet as I’d hoped, but I’ll be able to try growing it again this season :
The purple-podded peas are producing plenty of pods but only in small quantities each day. I’m shelling them and throwing the peas into the freezer, seeing how they go without blanching this time. It occurred to me that blanching is really only done to destroy the enzymes that make cut surfaces go brown and start to decay, so I hoped maybe since they are just whole peas with no cut surfaces, freezing might work without the need to blanch :
Tamarillos are ripening and I’ve been looking into trying a small batch of tamarillo jam. Recipes on the Net are many and varied, so I’ll pick one and have a go :
Lots of rain in May has meant a huge crop of mushies, many more and bigger than I’ve ever seen here before. I’ve been drying them in the Excalibur dehydrator and storing them for casseroles and soups.
Rain? Yes, it finally did. We had 127 mm (5 inches in the old scale), twice Melbourne’s average of 68 mm for May. The big tank is full and the overflow has been going into the 3 pools at the rear of the property and they’re now full and running over. All 3 dried out completely in summer, only the second time in 17 years the big one has been bone dry (it’s about a metre deep in the centre when full) and about 5 metres in diameter.
So that ‘s about it for May. If I don’t post this soon, it’ll be June and I’ll have to be thinking about another update. Time flies!
Foodnstuff 