Back in Thailand

We're back in the land of smiles.
It is hot, and we are all looking forward to the rains arriving and cooling things down.
One of the first things we did was go and visit our friends Bodge and Ya and check out their garden. As always it looked fabulous.

 

There was lots of garlic drying under the eaves.

Along with the ripening squash and papaya.

 

 Lots of egg plant, cucumbers and lettuce on the go.

Ya washing up some vegetables from the garden. Some ended up coming home with us.

It is always wonderful to sit on the veranda, sipping cool drinks, and munching on dried and fresh fruit from the garden. Watching the bantam hens and rooster scratching around in the yard, and listening to the birds sing in the trees. It is hard to believe that Chiangmai is only a short drive down the road.

Chasing the sun

We are leaving New Zealand for the winter.
The chooks have gone back to their owners, who are back from their summer travels.
Today we dropped the worm farm off at my friend Debbies for the winter.
The vege garden has been stripped and covered in weed cloth.
The grapes have been pruned, and the garlic has been planted.

 

Covering the vege beds with weed mat is the best way I have found to get the vege beds through the winter without them being covered in weeds on my return.

I tried green manures, but we started returning so late in the spring that the green manures had already gone to seed and the weeds had crept in on our return.

It doesn't look pretty, but it seems to work.
There is still lots of fruit on the trees, but we shall leave it to the birds.
The figs and grapes are just finishing, and the late apples are doing fine.
A few days ago we had a big wind storm and the first of the feijoas blew off the trees, so I got my first taste of the season of those. The kiwi fruit are starting to ripen, as are the cherry guavas.
Always sad to leave, but business beckons.
We are off to Thailand for a month, then back to Canada where we can enjoy the spring and the beginning of a brand new season.

Chillies

Yesterday and today we are getting a lovely rain. Desperately needed, but for my vege garden a little late.
Though the chillies are ripening up a treat.
The Serrano chillies are not so hot, but they sure look great on the bush, and with their thin skins are easy to dry.

 

 These yellow ones I don't know what their name is. We call them the perennial chillies because they survive from year to year in this climate, which the others, while technically perennial in their native environment, aren't here.
I started 3 plants of the yellow chillies last summer, and this summer they are laden with these golf ball size chillies. There are probably over a hundred all together, and the bushes are producing more flowers.
The flesh provides a bit of bite, but the real heat is in the seeds.
Because they are thick skinned, I find throwing them whole into the freezer is the best way of storing them. To use, I chop the whole fruit up while it is frozen and toss them into the dish I am preparing.

 

I also have some habanero chillies on the go, but they have shown no signs of changing colour yet. they are grown in a pot, so when we leave here in a few weeks, I'll put them, pot and all, into the house, and hope they ripen and dry on the plant.

Figs and grapes

It is so dry here. The climate here verges on being too wet much of the time, but this is the 2nd dry summer in a row.
Because we rely on rain water to fill our water tank, I haven't been able to water the gardens much. A patch of lettuce and a patch of pak choi are the only things that get the water, so they are holding on.
The tomatoes have struggled, though produce a small bowlful each week, and I get the odd bean.
But the figs and grapes have come through a treat. In spite of the dry or maybe because of it, they seem to be extra sweet and there are so many of them, it seems like even the birds can't keep up.