Looking back on my Autumn Garden. Terugblik op my Herfstuin

It's now the fourth day of winter here in the southern hemisphere. The weather only changed dramatically today, unleashing cold and wet conditions over the Garden Route. Therefore, I thought it an opportune time to look back on the goings on of my backyard veg patch in the last month of autumn.

The Witkiem broad beans sowed middle April are going strong; reaching for the sky they are. The Carentan leeks look beautiful. I'm very chuffed with them. The Sugar Ann Snap Peas are also doing well, but a little bit less so than the broad beans. I'm worried that they're still so small and straggly, but the granny assures me this is normal. It's "bush" peas after all. Let me show you what I mean:

Carentan leeks left and Witkiem broadbeans to the right/Preie links en boerbone regs

Sugar Ann snap peas in the bottom left hand corner/Erte links onder

Something that's not doing as well is the kale. I sowed the Black Palm kale just a day later than the peas and broad beans, and yet they are barely 5cm tall. I don't know if it's due to the general scarcity of sun in their neck of the woods in the cooler season or something else. Maybe snails? I'm hoping against hope that the kale is just a slower grower than the broad beans or peas. Some of the latter are situated in parts of the veg patch just as plagued by shadows as the kale. Oh well, at this moment I can just hold thumbs I guess. Does anyone have any idea what I could do to aid the kale's growth? Or is this quite normal for cold-season kale growth?

A teeny tiny kale plant/Eina-klein boerkool plantjie

The tamarillo is doing splendidly, as per usual. The bergwind once again tried it's best to destroy the tree tomato, but it's still standing. Askew, but still alive. The angle with which the tree is growing is actually aiding fruit development, or so I read. This is because the tamarillo makes side branches when at an angle, and these side branches also produce fruit. My tree is full of big, beautiful tree tomatoes. I'm thinking a Foreign Friday entry would be appropriate once I actually harvest some of them. Just look how gorgeous they are:

Tamarillo fruit/Tree tomatoes/Boomtamaties

Another vegetable which didn't do particularly well this time around were radishes. This was a bit surprising as I've found radishes to be so easy before. Well, not anymore! This time almost all of them had long, leggy red roots instead of orbs of peppery goodness. I didn't sow them that long after I worked chicken manure into the garden, so I think the soil might have been too fertile, or the manure still too strong. That, or it was simply not sunny enough. I did manage to harvest one meagre hand full though. It went straight into my Sweet Potato Winter Soup. I will share the recipe at a later stage.

A handful of radishes/Handjievol radyse

Some inroads were made into solving the shade problem. Well, maybe solve is a bit of an exaggeration. I chopped down another cordyline in order for the morning sun to touch my garden a few minutes more. I tried to saw through the tree trunk, but it was not to be. In the end I had to chop it down. I felt like a veritable Huntsman as the wood chips went flying and the axe went deeper into the tree. It took ages, but I conquered! 

Halfway there with the cordyline

Doing it the green way... sweat and aching muscles followed

A while ago I also sowed coriander and Little Gem lettuce in my biggest container. The lettuces don't look as promising as I would want, but the coriander is going strength to strength. We don't really eat coriander leaves, or what the Americans call cilantro, in my home. The taste is way too "volksvreemd" for us, but I sowed it for the seeds. It gives such a great taste to meat and our national favourites; droëwors and biltong (pickled dried meat similar to beef jerky).

Coriander popping its head out/Koljander plantjies pop orals uit

My Cape gooseberry bushes fill me with joy at the moment. I haven't had any success in the year I've had it. Admittedly the wind destroyed my first bush. Just as it recovered, the sun scorched it almost to nothingness. I subsequently moved the container, and it looks happier now. Happier and producing a husked berry here and there. The real success is the volunteer Cape gooseberry which turned into a giant, almost untameable, bush in the backyard veg patch. I've tried to minimise its encroachment into my vegetable area without removing the bush. So glad I didn't take it out; it is Covered in berries! I have dreams of making Appelliefie Konfyt (Cape gooseberry jam), or just munching on the little golden beauties. Can't wait! 

Little Cape gooseberries galore/Appelliefies in oorvloed

Cold Season Planting in South Africa. Koue Seisoen Tuinwerk in die Tuinroete

Okay, so I was a bit late with my cold season planting... I blame Murphy's Law. You see; not only was April my annual leave month, but I also visited Prince Albert and a few good friends in the Mother City. Time flew, and I got distracted, delayed... and dismayed! It was already middle-April and I didn't have any cold season crops in the soil. Neither seed nor plants. Oops! As my dreams of leek, kale, broad bean, radish and pea harvests started to go up in smoke, I decided to somehow make time and jump into the garden. Here is how that went:

The one good thing the delay in autumn planting caused is that the chicken manure I worked into my whole backyard veg patch and fruit bed had rested for more than a month. Ample time for it to reduce in strength so it wouldn't burn my little plants or seedlings. So with the composting and garden planning done (what felt like) ages ago I could get down to the fun part. I don't mean fun as in no sweat or hard work, but I always enjoy planting the most. It just feels the most productive for some reason.

The veg patch ready for sowing/Agterplaas gereed vir beplanting

On 17 April I planted young leeks I bought from the kind people at George Nursery and sowed Witkiem broad beans and Sugar Ann Snap peas sourced at the wonderful Organic Seeds, and also some radish seeds. The Black Palm/Nero di Toscana kale I sowed a day later, as I ran out of hours on the Thursday. I sourced the kale from the equally great site Livingseeds. I watered the seeds well and left the rest to wishful thinking and lots of prayers. You see, I was leaving for Cape Town a day later and the kind folks at the South African Weather Bureau were predicting torrential downpours. I had visions of rotten seeds and drowned seedlings instantly!

After the dismal summer harvests, I decided to plant a small selection of vegetables. Only the varieties that would work best. Or so I hoped. Therefore I decided to go with the Witkiem variety of broad bean; with the added bonus of rejuvenating my soil after the horrible blight-infested tomatoes. Sugar Ann peas looked like the best bet to me too and they have such a cute name, I just had to try them!

Kale was a different ball game altogether. I didn't know anything about kale until I read an article (or two) about it online. I don't even know the Afrikaans name, but I'm going for "Boerkool". Apparently it is the healthiest green vegetable you can possibly eat. It packs a punch in especially vitamin A and C (200% of the Recommended Daily Value) and also a ridiculous amount of vitamin K (over 700%), calcium and manganese. Not only will I therefore be able to enjoy a vegetable from my own garden, but I will be eating something with "potent anti-cancer properties", the ability to boost DNA repair and lower cholesterol. Bring it on, I say!

When I returned from Cape Town it was with trepidation. I already knew it rained more than 100mm in the space of three days. That's four inches of rain - more than some places get in a year! Oh no! I wasn't only pleasantly surprised with my little veg patch; I was delighted! Let me show you why:

Witkiem broad beans popping out/Witkiem boerbone wys hul gesig

Carentan leeks/Carentan prei plante

Black Palm kale making an appearance/Boerkool?

Cherry Belle radish/radyse

Sugar Ann Snap peas/Die erte maak hul verskyning

 Can anyone say; HUNDRED PERCENT GERMINATION RATE? I'm so chuffed with my little garden, and blessed of course! Now I'll just have to wait and see what bounty I get from it...

Which cold season crops did you plant this autumn?