Here are some close ups of our vege patch that I took last week. As you can see, they are growing really well and I'm really proud!!
The parsley is growing huge. I've been using it to cook our prawns for
surf and turf,
cauliflower mash and even
juicing it!
Chilli is riping slowly...
Capsicum was bought as a seedling so it's coming along nice and slow. We were told that they don't grow in winter, but it's starting to flower so we'll see how that goes.
The basil plants are not huge, but the leaves definitely are. Whenever I pluck them to bring back to the house, I always think I am holding store-bought spinach... Like parsley, chives and oregano, I use it for
surf and turf,
cauliflower mash and
juicing.
Carrots... Don't know how they are going since it's all underground. But the leaves are growing really well.
Oregano is growing bigger and bigger and bigger... Also used in
surf and turf,
cauliflower mash and
juicing.
This spinach plant is my pride and joy! The leaves grow as big as my hand! A couple nights a week I would pluck about 6 leaves, wash them and place 3 on each plate and serve our
surf and turf,
cauliflower mash and baked sweet potato on it to give it some juice and flavour!
Red cabbage leaves are growing so big, it probably would have been a good idea to grow them further apart.
Broccolis are also growing bigger every day!
Cauliflower is getting big though not as big as the cabbage or broccoli... they're getting there!
The sweet potato that my boyfriend just dumped in the backyard. Hopefully we'll get more sweet potatoes... not sure how that works.
Our kale looks small, but that's because you don't know how much trauma it's been through! The snails have been getting into them for weeks... must have known how good they are for you. And for a while we were left with stems and no leaves! But as you can see, it is recovering much better now with luscious leaves. I am confident we'll be able to harvest it as often as we do the spinach soon! Can't wait!
The horrid snails have also been getting into our chives. But we have gotten rid of them and like most of the other plants they have eaten, they are slowly growing back.
I love my vege patch. Coming from the city, a forest of cement, I've alawys wanted to live in a house with a backyard and a vege patch where I can grow whatever I want so I don't have to buy food. I would love a bigger patch and grow more, but for now, this will do. I will not lie. Gardening is not easy... especially when you work full time. Having to come home everyday from work and water the garden and then spend a couple hours every weekend weeding. Sometimes I get lazy and send my boyfriend to do it when he comes home from work and luckily he is happy to do it. He is as excited about the garden as I am. Considering he's the one passionate about the paleo diet, I'm not surprised. But there is something about having organic and fresh produce in your backyard that makes it feel so rewarding that even weeding is relaxing... or maybe it's the novelty of it. Who knows, maybe the patch will be overgrown with weeds again in a couple of weeks... Hopefully not... because I do feel a bit more cleansed after a few spinach leaves. Psychological or not, our plants in the backyard grow much bigger than the ones you get at the groceries, and it makes me enjoy it that much more, knowing I've got my money's worth, not just for the quality, but for the quantity!
