Another moment in the green

I tried a few new edible plants in the patch during the summer months and some have been massive successes and others have completely bombed. I had a 'man at Bunnings' who we shall call Fred to protect his identity. I would visit every Friday with Kalean mainly because they have a playground and it generally is not crowded. I was looking at the prices of their seedlings and asked one of the guys (Fred) if there were any plants that were on the destruction list that he could sell to me at a cheaper price. Turns out there was but, in general, company policy is to not sell below 50%. So I was able to pick up quite a few seedlings over the last few months for $1 a punnet.  But now Fred has moved stores and the cost of petrol would not justify the possible savings.

So here are my ratings. I tend to look for size, productivity and taste.

Corn- A great looking plant and if you can get a cob then all well and good but most of my cobs were only half filled with kernels. And yes, I planted them in 'box' formation! So corn is off the list.

Lettuce- A must. Just keep planting every few weeks cos in summer they bolt in an instant.

Lebanese cucumber- Takes up a lot of space but worth it. It's on the maybe list.

Lebanese Zucchini- Too spiky, takes up a lot of space. Off the list

Tomatoes- Oh yeah baby. You have to grow these and as many varieties as possible. I have a black zebra in at the minute. The rosellas & I have an agreement. Anything on my side of the fence is mine & anything over the creek side of the fence is theirs. Home grown tomatoes taste like tomatoes really should taste.

Chilli- I can't express how important it is to have a variety of chilli plants in the garden. I had to tip out everything at ground level due to a 12month old baby walking around but was able to replace with a few in the raised garden bed and some in pots.

Pumpkin- The jury is out on this one. Pretty cool to grow but subject to a lot of bug issues. I haven't actually eaten any of the ones that I have grown as they have not made it to maturity.

Onions, garlic & leeks- Great when they eventually mature six months later.

Potatoes- I love growing these but they are soooo ugly.

Eggplant- Love a good eggplant as long as you can keep it worm free. Put them whole over a naked flame, peel them, mash them up, add garlic salt and you have a great baba ganoush.

Carrots- A bag of carrots only costs $1.50 so why bother.

Basil- I wish basil would grow all year. It is a mad herb

Beans & peas- I just loved the fact that Kaelan would pick a snow pea and eat it. Keep them fungus free.

Enjoy.