In My Garden - Denby - August 2020

 In My Garden - Denby - August 2020

Denby's garden in Lindisfarne experiences very heavy frosts and we’ve certainly had some this year!  

Despite this, Denby has a lot of food growing in her garden at the moment, and much more to come. Winter is also the time for big decisions, changing beds, building new ones and so on. Join Denby on a walk through her August garden.

Currently in my food garden (beds and pots) I am harvesting various cruciferous vegetables, carrots, celery, beetroot, parsnips, rocket, mustard greens, lemons, limes and numerous herbs.  I have garlic, shallots, red onions, snow peas, sugar snap peas and greenfeast peas growing quite well.  The blueberry and blackcurrant bushes are looking very promising for a good season.

The flower garden is starting to colour up with wallflowers, jonquils, daffodils, azaleas, native shrubs, polyanthus and hellebores providing signs that spring is on the way.

I also decided to remove my quince tree and have placed a new vegetable bed in that position.  This will be planted with my root crops when the weather warms up.

Before the removal of the quince tree

After: the installation of the new vegetable bed

Very heavy frost this month, but the plants don’t seem to have been affected.  The bed on the left still has some carrots in it. It is a new bed and it was previously a shelf in my poly tunnel.  I removed the poly tunnel as I found I didn’t have the time to nurture things well enough for them to thrive.  I had a rat problem this year and lost some of my capsicums.  I plan on building a small hot house structure on my deck in order to provide a warm place for chillis and capsicum this year.  The bed on the right has become very shaded from my neighbour’s trees and it will now become a flower bed.

Frost on the ground!

Earlier this year, I pulled out all my raspberries as they had been deteriorating over the past 2-3 years.  The soil was removed and has been replaced and raspberries replanted.  Fingers crossed for a happier patch this year.

The newly renovated raspberry bed on the left and on the right the greens bed.  This bed is planted with cauliflowers, kohl rabi, swede, 4 varieties of kale, collard greens, brussel sprouts, broccoli (2 varieties), bok choi, coriander & carrots (both self sown), purple & green cabbages.  Unfortunately this bed doesn’t get a lot of sun this time of year and I am battling with mildew.  I put the netting frame over because I had the spare netting and it was time the birds learnt this area is off limits.  The netting has been wonderful but doesn’t stop them digging up the bark paths!

The rosemary bush is looking very pretty at the moment.

The wallflowers are such a welcome sight on a dull day.

Interesting way that 2 seeds from the same packet of broccoli Romanesco have grown.  Planted at the same time and next to each other in the garden.  I will enjoy both of them regardless of the unusual growth habit.

My fruit salad tree which has been in blossom for quite a while now, with citrus trees in pots (lemon, limes & lemonade), and the lemon tree in the garden that came with the property.  The citrus seem to be doing better in pots as I can better protect them from the wind.

I experimented with 'Greenfeast' peas this year by planting them in March or April.  They have survived frost after frost and now have pods on them that are filling out.  I’m looking forward to enjoying some soon.

The rocket in flower has been a wonderful source of greens for many months.  There are two varieties of garlic and also of shallots.  The shallots I grew from bulbs saved from my crop last year haven’t taken off like the ones I purchased from the supermarket.  It will be interesting to see how they go as the season progresses.

Inspired by Ross & Elizabeth’s pots of greens, I decided to plant some in pots on my deck where they get as much sun as possible.  They have done really well.  The pot on the right is my first effort at growing mustard greens and I’ve been regularly harvesting them.  Thanks Dirk for the seeds!

And lastly, I was given a huge supply of autumn leaves and I kept a lot for the compost bins and decided to try composting the rest with lawn clippings.