Garlic. 50 bulbs or so. Really pleased with the size and quality of them. And very little rust at all this year, thankfully - it was bad last season and I was worried it had stayed in the garden this year, but not this time! We grew Italian reds, a white, and some old school variety that a neighbour gave us. I plan to double the amount we grow this year, we have the room and they are a great value for money crop.
Raspberries. I've always wanted to grow them and thought I'd never be able to on the plains. But life is short and we took the risk. With careful watering, and a nice cool winter (which I can't bank on in future years though), we've ended up with a brilliant haul - at least a kilo! There is nothing like the taste of a raspberry straight off the bush, it's just so completely different from what you get at the store. Worth every cent of water and every minute of effort tending to the bush. Plus, it's grown so well that we'll have surplus canes for friends and neighbours who also want to give them a go. Sometimes I think gardening is just about sticking two fingers to the world and giving it a red hot go. The results can be spectacular.
Nectarines. 42 out of a possible 60 or so. 2 year old tree, first year of fruiting. Wow. We'd netted the tree but the birds weren't the problem - rats, I suspect, were. Anyway, we got a damned good haul! We sat eating a bowl of them with cream on harvest day and grinned from ear to ear at each other. What summer memories are made of.
I've pruned the tree now (always prune nectarines in summer, straight after harvest) - hopefully I've done a good job. I look lost and confused when I prune stuff! I should be less precious but who wants to lose next year's crop? Forgive the crappy shot. I was too keen to eat them - not really thinking about what I was doing!
Random summer veg harvests - we're getting plenty of zucchini (bah! the powdery mildew that keeps reappearing! OUT! NOW!), cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes (fighting with the resident rat population for them though - OUT! NOW!) and capsicums. Not at glut proportions yet, unfortunately (how I love a glut) but a good steady supply for our kitchen needs. Along with every herb under the sun. Makes all the hard work worth it. I must remember to take better photos now we've got this blog going again!
I must also remember to take another one of these fancy panorama shots now that I've given the garden a tidy and prune - following a week of high temps, we've had horrible humid and almost monsoonal weather. After a solid day on the weekend making the garden look purdy, I'd like to go out and enjoy it, y'know?
