Saturday, November 23, 2013

In Our Garden....

This week in our garden we've been harvesting loads of new things which has given our kitchen table a much needed burst of 'flavour'!!
garden 1 
We have 5 Green Lebanese Zuchinni bushes and they are steadily producing approx 3 fruit a day - we're enjoying these thinly sliced, fried with garlic and butter, then stirred though some good hand-made pasta, or roughly chopped and added to a stir-fry. But my kids favourite is simply grated and added with a few other goodies to eggs to make a delicious fritata. The next recipe on my list (when my stocks get up of-coarse) are some 'bread and butter' pickles!

My mini muncher cucumbers are ripening as well and the girls are finding at least 1 plump and ready for the picking each and every day!
garden 2 
'Mini-Muncher' is my favourite variety of cucumber and I've been growing it for 4 years now. It's a prolific fruit-er and very rarely gets disease or attacked by pests. The fruit is picked when they are approx the size of your hand, are burp-less and seedless (well the seeds are too tiny to notice anyway). The flesh is a gorgeous yellow-y green colour and they are super sweet and juicy!! In my opinion, a really gorgeous fruit (vegetable) to add to your vegetable garden!!
garden 4 
Both my girls have their own designated areas, marked out by rocks, in our family vege patch. They can plant WHATEVER they like in these little plots and a lot of trial and error goes on in here. They are both currently harvesting radish from their patches. Connie is watching an enormous 'gigantic Russian sunflower' tower up towards the sky, desperate for it to finally form a flower at the top! They also have tomatoes, pumpkin, beetroot, peas, more radish, a mixture of flowers, beans and a few other things too... 
garden 5 garden 3
So... What have you been harvesting this week in your garden?

Is the vegetable garden a family affair at your place? Do you get the kids in on the action too?

18 comments:

  1. We are watching the peaches with anticipation Jodie...and hoping we get to them before the dog this year :)

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    1. YUM - I love peaches Kate... I'll cross my fingers that you get to them before your dog too this year.. :)

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  2. Hi Jodie...your harvest looks lovely. We have had some lovely cooler days which makes gardening a bit more manageable too! Gardening is a family affair at our place, the kids have their own areas (sort of!) and they love helping. It is a great way to spend time together isn't it? Enjoy your weekend x

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    1. Thanks Jane... :)

      You're right, gardening with the kids is a great way to spend your time...

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  3. Yum! The cooler weather down in Melbourne means everything is a bit slow this year. The leaches are looking good but everything else is tiny.

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    1. It hasn't been as hot as it usually is out here either Kate - a bit of a shock to the old garden that's for sure.. :)

      Thanks for popping by.. xx

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  4. Your produce looks beautiful and delicious! It has seemed strange to not have a garden this year, but honestly, I don't know when I would have found time to manage it. A good 40 years of fresh veggies and canning and freezing it all up in the late summer and fall were the norm around here. My husband was the gardener, all the hard work helped to feed us. Every family needs a garden. My girls use to have a spot too for their radishes and carrots. They loved watching their plants grow. Some days they checked the stuff about every hour when the sun was up. Loved those memories!
    (((HUGS))) Susanne :)

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    1. 40yrs of growing fresh produce - that sure is amazing Susanne!!! If only we lived closer to each other, I'd love to hear some more about your gardening and preserving adventures... :)

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  5. I wished I had a bigger vegie patch but it's just not happening at this time.................we have one tomato on the bush ripening................had plenty of flowers .............but no more tomatoes...............it's wonderful when the kids can pick some fresh food from the garden and eat it................

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  6. Zucchini are such versatile vegies. Our seedlings are having a tough start- with something eating them within a couple of days of being planted out in the garden beds, it's a bit frustrating really.
    x

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    1. They sure are Zara - I love them!!! I hope you have a little more success with your seedlings, nothing worse than loosing them when you put so much effort in to them from the start... :)

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  7. Oooh, those zucchini look great and love the idea of frying them with garlic and butter!! I have pulled out my well and truly dead sweet peas and will be replanting with green beans. I threw some rocket seed in my herb trough and planted out some "Spanish" basil (I think that is what my neighbour called it when she handed me some seedlings). Tom loves gardening at school with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program they run but isn't interested in gardening with me. Daniel does however and was busy collecting lady bugs when we were gardening on Friday afternoon.

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    1. Thanks Christine... :)

      Tom is so lucky to have the Stephanie Alexander garden at school and I'm sure in tome will love to garden with you too..

      Thanks for popping by.. :)

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  8. So far nothing is growing in my vegie patch! I'm desperately trying to rectify the situation but not getting very far!
    If only I liked zucchini they look like they'd make a great addition as something fairly easy to grow :)

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    1. Zucchini are super easy to grow - thank goodness every member of my family loves to eat them.. :)

      Thanks for popping by..

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  9. Lots of lovely fresh colour . . . Just me and the cats do the gardening here, but I love working in the garden with the kids at school.

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    1. Thanks Annie...
      That's awesome that you help with the garden at school too... I've always admired the gorgeous gardening pictures that you pop up on your blog, you have a real talent for gardening, that's for sure... xx

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