Hi from our very wet gardens here at Gaia!
The rainy season has well and truly given us a soaking, and gardening in the subtropics can certainly come with a few challenges. It also provides us with some great opportunities to be clever about how we plan our usage for the rows. I’ve certainly learnt a lot the last few years about which crops thrive in these conditions, and which ones are a bit too difficult. This year I’ve had to throw the rule book out the window!
We are well into our winter plantings now, with broccoli, red wombok, and fennel now planted. We also have a new variety of cauliflower this year, an orange ‘clementine’ which should look really striking when the heads form. Red baby cos plantings are now coming through and finally some healthy beds of our baby leaf varieties. Our winter herbs are starting now, with dill, chervil and coriander looking resplendent. Somehow our peruvian ‘amarillo’ chillies have survived the rain and are approaching the beautiful yellow/orange colour they are known for. We have lots of beautiful turmeric still coming out of the ground, however, our ginger crop has already been lifted and transformed into a larder full of Japanese pickled ginger.
Our big garlic planting looks to be a success. I grabbed the opportunity of a dry week to prepare the rows and get them hilled up nicely. This crop will be in till November, so it’s important that the soil is in the best possible condition when planting, nice and loamy and friable.
Looking ahead to future summers, it’s certainly a consideration now to look at erecting a grow tunnel or two, to enable us to support vulnerable summer crops through these unpredictable weather patterns. The crops we would like to have more of in summer, Tomatoes, Chillies and Eggplants, could all do with being protected from persistent rain, ensuring their foliage is being kept nice and dry. We are all hoping for a nice dry winter and spring!
May your gardens grow well.
Look forward to seeing you all when you next visit.
With food + love
Cam