A substantial harvest

Season 2 of garden harvest was more consistent. This year we had planted lettuce, capsicum, tomato, potato, strawberries, mint, cucumber, coriander, carrot and three kinds of chillies. Our veggie patch was groaning under the weight of all the produce!

Roma Tomato

Cucumber

Capsicum

Lettuce

The potatoes were our oldest plants. They were shooting up from leftover spuds in the ground. Compared to last year, we lost fewer to rot.

The strawberry plant was also from last year, having multiplied. Unfortunately, this season we have had an ongoing battle with a strawberry thief. We were unable to beat him to the fruit! Despite covering the plant with a cloth, the rat/possum/bird/whatever it was, still ate all of them.

This year we harvested the first of our asparagus. There was only one thick enough for eating. All the others grew side shoots very quickly, which is what sets the roots for the upcoming harvests.

Asparagus and few strawberries

Our most substantial harvest was from the chillies and capsicum. We had three varieties which had different levels of hotness. Hottest were the tiny ones, Jalapenos were less hot and the least hot were the fat ones. There were so many that I had to freeze them for use throughout the year and distribute them to friends!

Chillies in their full splendour

Mild chilly

The entire chilli harvest - ready to be frozen

We had a decent harvest of capsicums too. Most we ate while they were green, a couple we left to become riper and red.

Capsicum

Previous year, we had not liked the lettuce variety too much. This year we bought iceberg lettuce plants and harvested them in full before it became too hot and they started to bolt.

Iceberg lettuce

We harvested many more tomatoes this year, as we had planted them earlier in the season. They were Roma tomatoes, really juicy. The mint plant grew well and I dried a lot of leaves for the year.

Roma tomato

Mint for drying

I had also saved up coriander seeds from last year, which gave us some leaves. Frankly though, coriander needs too much work. One has to keep sowing them successively and can only harvest a few leaves per plant! Also, we got an odd carrot or two but most went to seed. The cucumber did not flower at all.

Coriander

Lone carrot

This season reinforced the satisfaction of growing our own vegetables. They were not as large as the ones in the supermarket, but were really tasty. Season 3 of our garden ended with a resolve to grow more next year!

Water wise planting

Succulents are nature's gift to lazy gardeners! They need little or no water. They thrive in hot and dry spots. They are so easy to propagate - cut and plant!

We had such an unloved spot at the back of the house. It is a sunny spot but the neighbour's trees don't allow a single drop of rain to reach the soil. It was the perfect spot for us to try out a new species of plants called Succulents. Succulents are quite attractive and come in great variety.

Echeveria Elegans 'Mexican Snowball' had a nice rosette of pale green fleshy leaves. The leaves were rounded at the edges. It also has a a tall pink stem growing out of the rosette which has a flower at the end. Unfortunately, that flower died all too soon.

Echeveria

Aeonium Schwarzkopf is a maroon coloured succulent with leaves arranged in a rosette on a taller stem. These leaves were much thinner than the other succulents and the stem was much taller too.

Sempervium are the most organised looking succulents to my mind! They are perfectly symmetrical and have layers of fleshy leaves. Their leaves are pointed at the end so they look more formal than the Echeveria. And it started sending out 'pups', or new shoots, very soon!

Sempervium 1

Sempervium 2

Sedum Jelly Bean had fleshy beans on a stem, with a tinge of red at the tip of the bean.

Jelly Bean

Crassula Surprise Party is a hairy bluish green succulent.

Crassula Surprise Party

Crassula Gollum is very interesting to look at! It has green fingers that resemble an underwater plant.

Gollum

Mesembryanthemum White Pig Face has an interesting name, but I am not sure why it is called 'Pig Face'. The plant has spikey, fleshy leaves and has equally spikey flowers.

Actinotus helianthi Starbright looks like the whole plant has been made by velvet cloth! The leaves look unreal and are shaped perfectly. The flower is the same colour as the rest of the plant and also feels like velvet.

Starbright

Kalanchoe is a difficult to pronounce succulent! We ended up confusing one of the younger staff at the nursery when we asked for this plant. It has round fleshy leaves and very compact flowers that grow in a bunch.

Kalanchoe

Our succulent planting area is not fully setup yet. Their hardy nature and ability to withstand anything has made us a bit complacent in finding them a settled spot in the garden bed. 

Fragrance in the garden

I love fragrant flowers. To me, the fragrance completes the beauty of the flower. Having said that, I do not like Rose but love Carnations!

Anyway, we thought fragrant flowers would be perfect for planting around our outdoor seating area. I wanted a mix of flowers that would lend their fragrance all year round. Most fragrant flowers flower in spring, so I had to do a bit of research.

Daphne Odora was the most popular choice for winter flowering. It flowers in the cold winter months when everything else in the garden is feeling a bit low! However, it is a fussy plant and needs lots of care. We bought ours in 2011, but it took two winters for it to flower!

Daphne Odora

Daphne Odora in flower

There is another hybrid Daphne called Eternal Daphne which flowers in spring and spot flowers during the rest of the year. This one is bred to be more tolerant of sunshine. We picked this one to be right next to our seating area.

Eternal Daphne in flower

Magnolias are fragrant too, but deciduous. I am not a big fan of deciduous trees, so luckily we found a fragrant Magnolia that is evergreen. It was also going to provide us with some more privacy is the garden.

Magnolia

Magnolia in flower

Another typical summer fragrance is from Gardenias. They love shade and have white flowers that give out a very powerful perfume. My only grudge with it is that they look ugly when they finish blooming (usually 2-3 days for each flower). Constant deheading of dead flowers is required to keep the shrub looking clean.

Gardenia

Gardenia in bloom

Finally, we wanted a climber to cover the trellis which demarcated our sunny area of the bed from the shady area. Jasmine seemed like a very good option. It climbs well and has fragrant flowers in the summer.

Jasmine

Jasmine flower