Backyard Harvest. Agterplaas Oes

Yes, I'm still here. The computer might've given in and the winter garden might be coming along very slowly, but I'm still here. Still interested in getting my hands in the dirt, growing some useful fruit and veggies and some random ones, and subsequently blogging about it. The massive delay in this post wasn't intentional, but sometimes technology really gets in the way rather than assisting, don't you think?

Since I'm a bit out of practice I will let the photos do most of the talking. Let me get on with it...

Cape gooseberries/appelliefies, strawberry/aarbei, pepino/boomspanspek, Sugar Ann peas/ertjies

How does that cute chocolate advert go? "I've got joy in my life..." Yes, joy, joy and more joy... my Cape gooseberry bush is producing enough for a daily snack and then some. I've even made a summery fruit salad by adding it to chopped pineapple, paw paw (papaya) and pepino. Yes, the tropical pepino bush is unbelievably producing smack-bang in the middle of winter. What did I say? Joy!

Strawberries are only starting to flower now, so I've eaten the odd one straight from the plants. I've harvested quite a few cute Sugar Ann Snap peas though. We prefer them fresh in a mixed green salad. If you have any ideas what else to do with them, let me know.

Sugar Ann Snap peas/ertjies and Little Gem lettuce/blaarslaai

After last year's disastrous attempt at growing lettuce, this year couldn't make me prouder. Just look at the scrumptious lettuce leaves in the photo above. I grew them in the proper season and in a well-composted container this time though. That might be the reason for my success this year. Maybe not "might" - more a definite. The peas are so deliciously crunchy and sweet, I will definitely plant them again next autumn. I think I will dedicate much more of the backyard veg patch to them though. The harvest wasn't nearly enough for the family. Practice makes perfect, hey?

Cape gooseberries/Appelliefies

Oh boy, I harvested 300g of Cape gooseberries (also known as Inca berries) in one go. From one bush! It was a proud moment. Silly, but proud. Did I mention this was a volunteer bush that just shot up in my backyard veg patch? The same one I gushed about in my June post on the autumn garden.

Broad beans/Boerbone

Although my broad beans aren't really ready yet, there were about ten of them waiting to be harvested. No, the wee offering in my hands isn't the sum of it, but I just had to take a photo. I've never really done anything with broad beans, so I went out on a limb and sautéed them in butter with leeks. It went quite nicely with our "boerekos" chicken, potatoes, carrots and peas. What do you guys do with broad beans? I need some ideas here, but I'm not too keen on tossing them with mint leaves as I've read online. In my house mint is something that belongs in a refreshing cooldrink like lemonade.

I promise to pop in again soon. Why don't you tell me what you've been up to in your winter garden in the meantime?

Spring Harvests. Lente Oeste

With it already being the second day of summer here in South Africa, I thought it appropriate to report back on what I harvested in my backyard garden (and also in other patches scattered throughout) during spring. While some vegetables performed quite well, others were simply not suited to our Garden Route climate, or suffered because of my inexperience and a lack of sunshine. This is what I harvested:
 

End Sep 2013 - nasturtiums, strawberries and "cauliflower"/kappertjies, aarbeie en "blomkool"

The first plants to produce anything vaguely fit for "harvest" were nasturtiums I sowed late July in a container and strawberries the granny and I planted late May and late June. Nasturtiums are always rampant growers, so I didn't expect anything less of them. On the other hand; I am currently planning to replant my strawberries in the soil, because they're not producing as they should in their pots, but then again; maybe their pots are too small. Questions, questions... I won't even mention the cauliflower, as they were a total failure. Of the twelve plants I purchased and planted late May, I didn't get one decent-sized cauliflower head. The biggest one was about 2cm x 2xm! I think I planted it too late in the year, because they got some sort of fungal disease. Perhaps I should plant them earlier in autumn next time?

Start of Oct 2013 - Some of the radishes/Sommige van die radyse

Radish was the one vegetable that performed brilliantly in the garden. Such a quick perfomer as well! I sowed them mid-August and harvested these beautiful babies in the beginning of October. How chuffed was I! The one thing I learned for myself is that they perform miserably in shady areas. Radishes I planted between my broad beans, in a mostly shady area, could only be harvested two weeks later than the ones in full sun, and were stunted and small. Yes, all sources told me most vegetables don't work well in shade, but I had to see it for myself, okay. Haha

Mid-Oct 2013 - An abundance of parsley/Pietersielie vir Afrika

Parsley, parsley and more parsley! Yes, parsley was definitely the biggest star in my spring garden (and I have the dried bottles of parsley to prove it). Both the curly-leaf and Italian varieties performed well, although the latter out-shined the former to an extent. Now that it is summer I'm having problems with them going to seed, but that is to be expected I suppose.

End Oct 2013 - Meager broad bean haul/Skamele boerboon oes

Yes, I made the same mistake with the broad beans as with some of the radishes... too much shade! What started out as a beautiful bed of beans under a leafless Acer negundu tree in autumn, turned out to be the aphid-infested bane of my existence under a fully-leaved Acer in spring! Regrets, regrets! Especially because the little broad beans I could harvest tasted so heavenly in one of the mother's Cape Malay curries. Ai! Note to self - plant broad beans beginning of autumn in a sunshiny spot next year!

Start of Nov 2013 - Lots of leeks and lettuce/Pragtige preie en baie blaarslaai

In addition to the parsley, leeks and lettuce were the other two members of the trio of top performers. Lovely green and purple lettuce bought at Norgarivier Nursery and planted in the beginning of October went into beautiful green salads. The leeks went into a gorgeous Leek, Bacon and Cheese Pie. The family couldn't get enough! Basically you pre-fry the leeks in butter, add it and grated cheddar, a carton of cream, a packet of half-cooked bacon and two eggs to a pie tin, in pastry, and voila! If you don't have enough leeks (like I did), sommer add a few normal diced onions to taste. Works like a charm.

Mid-Nov 2013 - Pole and bush bean harvest/Rank-en bosboon oes

Beans always perform well in our backyard garden, so I expected nothing less this year. This year I planted white pole beans, Contender bush beans and Lazy Housewife pole beans. In the photo, the larger, flattish beans on the left are the Lazy's and the thinner ones are the others. I got the organic Lazy's at Livingseeds - a highly recommended organic seed store. The white beans and Contenders I got from another kindly neighbour. 

We have already enjoyed all of them as green beans and some of them have been blanched and frozen. Now I can't wait for the bushes to perform even better, so the granny can make a decent batch of curried beans yummy!

I planted twelve red onion seedlings during the last week of May, and about the same number of Australian Browns the first week of June. The red onions performed quite well, but the white onions produced the smallest onions imaginable. We harvested them all the very end of November.
The lesson I learned from this comparison? Do not plant onions in hard-as-nails and compacted soil!

Hope I haven't bored you all with this lengthy post, but I guess someone out there might pick up a tip or two from my successes and failures. What do they say; practice makes perfect.