The garden is positively ZINGING in this weather we're having - warm days and rain make for a perfect Spring so far. The tips of all the gums are gold and pale green with new growth and every time I turn my back something grows either feet or inches, depending on the plant type. The irises are about to bloom, the kangaroo paws are nearly in bloom, the elder flowers are out, and so are all the grasses - J's hayfever is going NUTS. We're pretty much eating solely from the garden, with a bit of coconut yoghurt or halloumi to pep thing up a bit.

It's a good time to do a garden update for @simplymike's tag #gardenjournal2018 - as Autumnal harvests and tidy up's happen in the Northern Hemisphere, here in the southern hemisphere it's all prepping for heat, as well as keeping on top of weeds and starting to sow and plant seedlings.

The kale and brassicas planted a few weeks ago are growing well - just top dressed them with mushroom compost as I had a heap delivered and some comfrey tea and mulch.

The small bed near the fenceline, visible from the house, is looking cute with the feathery fennel tops (fennel self seeded this year, and I have been harvesting tons of it - yum), calendula, lettuce going to seed, garlic chives and so on. As it's well fertilised, watered and mulched I've also planted a few eggplants and peppers in there, as a kind of control and counter for the wicking beds - which ones will fare better over the summer?

So, the wicking beds are fantastic so far - got two sorts of tomato, a few different peppers, corn (which I have never been able to water enough, so they'll do great in the wicking bed), lebanese cucumber (which I'll get going up a frame to save space), pumpkin which will trail off the side, jalapeno and eggplant (two varieties, one a thai one). I'll do a more detailed post on wicking beds tomorrow for @jackdub and @makingstuff's Maker's challenge - go check that one out, it's a super cool idea.

Have also planted beans along the fenceline, hope they handle my intermittent watering at this busy time of year at work! The snow peas along the back fenceline are going NUTS, as is the parsley, silverbeet, spinach and garlic. The scapes have just come out.

The ollas are working really, really well so far - have had some really warm days and the soil stays moist. When they get a bit bigger and can survive the bugs I'll mulch these pumpkins, and all my other seedlings, properly.

The artichokes are starting to flower too - picked enough for a meal tonight, along with a whole heap of beetroot that I roast and pickled (recipe in later post).

The swedes are done, must plant more next year. Potato patch doing well, not entirely happy about the nettles amongst them that hubby surreptitiously planted as I'm worried about controlling them, but do like that 'soup' calls in one patch - nettle and potato soup is one of my favourites.

The hops are going CRAZY - got them growing up three poles, and trying to stop them growing all over the lemon verbena, artichokes and dwarf apple. The nectarine, pears and quinces are all showing nascent fruit, as is the blueberry. We have rhubarb coming out of our ears - so much stewed and in the freezer. Nastursiums starting to poke from the soil, as are last years pumpkin, zucchini and tomato seeds growing up from the soil - they'll be weeds eventually after I separate and transplant what I want to keep.

Everything is going really well and I think it's going to be a good season. Happy Days. More on wicking beds to come - just haven't had chance to finish off the Dtube I started, and I really want to Dtube this one! I know @nateonsteemit is eagerly awaiting that, sorry mate - I'll get on it eventually! Hope the photo above is a taster enough.

Wanted to 'list' what we had growing at the moment, inspired by @mountainjewel who did a similiar stocktake earlier in the week.

Fruit

Blueberries, raspberries, nectarines, apricots, apples, pears, plums, rhubarb, black and red currant, pomegranate, elder, quinces, mandarin, lime, lemon, kaffir lime, goji berry, strawberries, watermelon (thanks @nateonsteemit for reminder to do this one), rockmelons.

Vegetables

zucchini, squash, pumpkin, cucamelon, corn, artichokes, silverbeet, spinach, fennel, snowpeas, runner beans, fennel, potato, tomato, cucumber, jalapeno, other chillis, three sorts of peppers, two sorts of eggplant, beetroot, spring onions, garlic, leeks, three sorts of pumpkin.

Flowers and Herbs

coriander, parsley, oregano (two sorts), thyme (3 sorts), thai basil, greek basil, basil, mint, peppermint, nettle, nastursium, comfrey, sage, sunflowers, hops.

Somehow it never seems enough - I just want to fill every space with something edible, but need to calm down and make sure I'm doing it right so I don't strain the soil too much and keep everything in it's right place, happy, well fed and nurtured by the other plants and systems around it.

Hope you enjoyed my garden update - please do comment and let me know what's happening in your gardens!

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