HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY VEGGIE PATCH!!

Yes, it been exactly a year since I dug up a section of our lawn and planted veggies (see first few posts). In that time I have harvested:

Zucchinis, lettuces, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, onions, bok choi, mustard leaf, strawberries, radishes, blue lake beans, broad beans, sugarsnap climbing peas, rocket, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, dill and fennel.

Duds included carrots, corn and parsnip that didn't germinate or tasted bitter, finicky coriander that didn't do much and a couple of plants that became diseased (got rust or fungus).

Highlights included zucchini so sweet it was eaten raw, potatoes that I could not stop eating!, crispy, juicy bok choi and very zingy, juicy onions (one friend said it was the best onion she'd ever eaten!).

This is the first season of summer veggies as it was too late this time last year to plant tomatoes and the like. So, this is my veggie patch today:



Currently growing: Tomatoes (Black Russian, Amish Paste & Beefsteak), ground cherry (like a Cape Gooseberry), capsicum, eggplant, potatoes (Dutch Cream, Desiree and Nicola (I think)), strawberries, rocket (gone to seed), mustard leaf, lettuce (Forellenschuss), zucchini, pumpkin, cucumber, Italian romano bean. I suspect the pumpkin and zucchini self-seeded from the compost and are not what I planted, but I thought I'd let them grow anyway and see what happens :) The root bed has beetroot, carrot and spinach seeds but nothing has germinated yet. It has been ridiculously hot and ants have moved in and I know they like to steal seeds.

Maybe I should sing them a song or do some voodoo or something :-)

I've lost track of how much I've spent and how much the produce would be worth. It was about $200 to set up the patch initially, including hoe hire and fencing and I occassionally throw on manure, blood and bone, seaweed fertiliser, potash and home-made compost, so I think I might have spent at least $100 more as a rough guess (including garden stakes, more seeds and netting). But the pleasure of eating fresh veggies is worth the small profit!