Wo-oh!!! It’s getting bigger and BIGGER!!!
Every day when I look out the kitchen window, I’m sure I can actually see the growth in my vegie patch. This is my first summer garden and compared to the winter one I attempted to grow, things sure grow fast.
In fact, I underestimated the amount of room some of my plants would need so things are getting rather crowded. Oh well, we’ll see what happens when it comes to harvest time. There are about half a dozen zucchini’s growing (when I can fight the forest to get to them) and a few tomatoes starting to form on the tomato bushes (and they really are BUSHES, despite pinching some of the branches out a number of times).
This photo shows some of my tomato bushes (the tiny one in the corner was planted later) and a pumpkin vine (I think) growing out onto the hay between my 2 vegie patches (which was my intention). If you’d like a larger view, simply click on the photo.
This shows the sweetcorn we’re growing. My 4 year old was riding his bike past the patch the other day and almost fell off. He stopped, got off his bike and went to stand next to it. “Wo-oh. It’s getting bigger and bigger”, he said. LOL. He is LOVING the vegie patch.
I also have more zucchini, some apple cucumbers and some beans growing in that patch.
When I first started attempting to grow vegies I thought it was about providing fresh and chemical free vegetables for my family. I didn’t really expect to enjoy it and find it as therapeutic as I do. And I didn’t expect my children to get as much enjoyment and wonder from it as they do. They are constantly reminding me how much value children really place in the simple things in life. We think that buying them more STUFF will make them happy when in reality something as simple and back to basics as a vegie patch has provided more joy for them than any toy they’ve ever been given.
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remind me when you have an overdose of zucchinis, I have the best recipe for zucchini relish.. It is my nans and it is Sooo Yummy…
LOL Kim. Alright, it’s a deal. I do intend to grate some of them to use in spag bol sauce etc through the year. Picked my first 2 today!!!! Not long after I had posted this post. They’re much bigger than what I buy in the shops - or maybe I left them too long???? Anyway, it was very exciting.
It looks great
My girlfriend has got little capsicums at the moment (and yes, I think they are too cute to pick LOL). I have always wanted a patch to grow some vegies. We are moving soon into our new home and I have already picked out a nice spot for one. Can’t wait - and at I’ll know who to come to for advice 
It looks fantastic!
I put in potatoes, beans, silverbeet and beetroot. Unfortunately the possums/bandicoots etc ate everything except the potatoes. Hopefully we get a good harvest of them.
Hi Barbara - good luck with the move.
it’s great that your children get excited about the vegies growing ~ at least they don’t grow up thinking they come chopped up in a plastic bag from the freezer section of the supermarket….
Veronica - how disappointing for you.
Ali - they won’t even EAT what comes chopped up in a platic bag. LOL. Fussy kids like their vegies fresh. About the only stuff we have frozen is peas and corn.
Wow - I must learn your zucchini secret, as although ours set fruit they failed to mature.
We have had a wonderful crop this year - the season is over fairly early up here as it gets too hot, although it looks like our eggplant are finally coming in!
I love your son’s response to the corn - it is a great crop to get the kids interested - sunflowers also have that power!
Jeanie - it sounds to me like your zucchini aren’t being fertilised. The female flowers have a tiny fruit on them but if they aren’t fertilised by a male flower, they come to nothing. I remember my grandmother manually fertilising hers. I have a LOT of bugs flying around my garden so I decided to let things go and see what happened. So far so good. The bugs are doing their job. That isn’t always the case though. I *think* the male have a longer stamen and no fruit behind the flower (someone correct me here if I’m wrong). Shove the male flower into the female flower so that the pollens can mix. I think you can do several females with 1 male.
I tried to grow sunflowers but so far no luck.
Lightening, you are correct. The male flowers do not have fruit buds behind them. Use a paint brush to transfer pollen manually. Gently brush the male stamen, then touch the brush to the female flowers. Do the same thing with pumpkin since male and female flowers often do not appear together. Brush the male flowers, tap the pollen into a clean jar and seal until you have female flowers. then brush on the pollen.
Thanks for that River.