Garden update

It's been an odd summer so far. Below average rainfall & spikes of very hot temperatures that last a day or two before a welcome but dry cool change. My small rainwater tank is almost empty. I've been filling it up with water from the bigger tank on the other side of the house & I'm about to put a hose from the big tank to run around the back of the house to the vegie garden. I put the tanks in nearly four years ago when the drought finally broke & I've barely touched the big tank since. The small tank is in a good position for the vegie garden & it's never been close to empty until this last month or so. It's frightening to think how soon the garden dries out. The lawn is brown already.

However, my vegies are coming along beautifully. I've done almost everything differently this year as I read more & try different things. The tomatoes were planted a month earlier because the vegie garden wasn't set up until December 2011 & I think it's made all the difference as well as adding potash when planting & again when the flowers appeared & using pea straw mulch instead of the harder, woodier mulch I used last year. The result is about 30 green tomatoes of various sizes & I can't wait to see them ripen.

Last year, I didn't get any zucchini at all. The weather was very wet & humid & all my plants had downy mildew. This year, I'm desperately searching for zucchini recipes! I've had zucchini slice several times, zucchini fried with lemon & herbs on toast, zucchini & tuna risotto, zucchini, tomato & chickpea soup, a summer vegetable bake inspired by Rose (I had this with some baked salmon & it was delicious. Can't wait to make it with my own tomatoes) & I've made several zucchini cakes for morning tea at work. This is the zucchini that got away. It's huge & I'm too intimidated to pick it.

This one is more manageable. I've planted basil, rosemary & parsley in the same garden bed & they all seem to be getting along fine.

Lucky & Phoebe both enjoy sleeping on the windowsills, especially if I leave the window open & there's a cool breeze. Here's Lucky looking a little apprehensive of the camera as she always does but ready to settle down as soon as I leave her in peace. Here's hoping for some rain soon & some relief for the many people affected by bushfires in other parts of Australia.