Summers here

Finally the weather seems to have warmed up and it feels like summer.
Even though I was late getting seedlings into the ground this summer in Canada I hoped that lots of hot weather would really get them going. It didn't happen, though now I have high hopes for a warm fall.
In spite of the weather I'm  managing to get a harvest out of the vege garden.
I'm still getting a small harvest from the peas that self sowed in the spring, and the ones I started in July are almost ready to start producing.
The self sown lettuce is keeping us in salads, with new seedlings starting to show promise.
The parsley patch has gone to seed producing lots of flowers for the insect life to feed on and then lots of seed to keep the patch going next year. Last years self sown parsley plants are big enough to harvest.

The parsley flowers look great in a vase with rudbeckia and Echinacea.

I am managing to get enough tomatoes each day for salads. Lots of tomato plants look a ways from ripening, but if we get that warm fall they may make it.

Still in the wings are the squash and beans. We'll see if they make it.
The chillies that I bought as seedlings and put in pots have lots of small chillies on them, so it looks like I'll have enough of those to get through another year.
It's always interesting to see what makes it and what doesn't.

Perpetual Parsley and other Herbs

Parsley is always in my garden, and I never have to plant it. Both in New Zealand and in Canada, it self seeds with abandon. Yes it is a biennial. That is, it produces leaves only the first year, then flowers the second year before dying. I find that if I let it go to seed it self seeds quite nicely. If the seedlings are in the wrong place, then in early spring it is easy to transplant them.I must have planted it originally, but now every year I have both last years plants flowering, and the new seedlings establishing themselves. The beneficial insects love the flowers.

 

I also have chives, both the regular chives with the pink flowers, and garlic chives with white flowers. Both can be divided as the clumps get bigger.

Thyme slowly spreads along the border. The bees love it when it is in flower. It also self seeds if it finds the spot to its liking. I've had it self seed abundantly in a gravel pathway.Lovely to walk on.

 

Oregano is more of a thug, spreading quickly where ever it can.

 

 

 

Not as bad as mint, which has been banished from the garden, and is growing where the lawn meets the wilderness. I have regular mint and chocolate mint.

Beebalm (bergamot) spreads its way through the garden, fighting it out with the other thugs. Red is my favourite here.

I usually grow some of my basil plants in a pot. The roots seem to enjoy the extra warmth, and I can keep them well watered and fertilised, which they appreciate.

I grow 2 kinds. Italian Basil which makes great pesto,

and Thai Basil, which I love for the flowers, and for cooking Thai food.

I keep the Italian basil picked free of flowers,so it will keep producing new leaves. The Thai basil I usually let it go to flower early on because it is so pretty.

Sometimes I'll grow a small leaf Greek basil. It forms perfect mounds of leaves, and looks like it has been trained to rounded globes. Four or five plants in a pot makes a very attractive planting for on the deck. It tastes good too.

 





How and why I garden

I love to eat and I love to garden, it's that simple.
I don't want to eat pesticides or herbicides, so I don't use them.
Because of the way we live I garden in four very diverse climates. In Canada(zone 4) I have a short season garden-2 1/2 months frost free if I am lucky, followed by very cold winters. In New Zealand I garden in a mild temperate climate-almost frost free all year round, and in Thailand I am gardening in a tropical climate.
Most of my garden practises are based on a permaculture approach. That is I try to be sustainable and build in lots of diversity which cushions me against crop failures and pest invasion.
My gardens aren't big, but there is always something to eat in them no matter what.
I try and eat in season, and according to the country I'm gardening in.
I have compost bins and worm farms on the go, and every now and then spend enough time in one place to even keep chickens
.
Here is the garden on June 29th a few weeks after arriving back in Canada, just weeks after the last frost of the season.

 

and here it is again today, 1 month later.

 

 

I am eating lettuces, arugula,peas-both sugar snap and sno pea,beans,summer squash,pak choi,rhubarb,basil,chives, parsley.

The lettuce and parsley self seeded from last fall,so that gave me a good start.