In June I bought a new house, and slowly, with the mild start to Spring and the record breaking rain through September the garden has been coming to life.

fallow vegetable patch – June 2016

The garden has clearly been a “gardener’s garden” – everywhere I put a spade I disturb healthy worms – but is has been in limbo for at least a year while the house has been for sale. It has good foundations and the backyard is reasonably well protected with established camellias along the fence line and buildings or sheds on the other three sides.

What used to be the old fish pond has been converted to a raised garden bed and five weeks ago it was planted with leafy greens.

While the bok choi bolted as a result of a warm spell just after transplanting the rest is doing well. The vegatable patch has snow peas which are climbing well, some late cauliflowers may still heart up if the nights continue cold for a while longer as seems likely, although I’ve also planted tomatoes, capsicums and chillis fairly certain that there won’t be any late frosts.

This morning I planted some strawberry seedlings in the gaps where a few of the lettuces didn’t survive in the raised bed, and started another large pot with additional lettuces for succession picking, along with basil and sping onions. (We have started strawberries from seed, but they won’t grow fast enough for fruit this year.) I’ve inter-planted basil among the tomatoes, some straight into the ground and some in pots in the hope of thwarting the snails which have been enjoying the rain.

I’m hoping to get to a point where once the productive garden is established again I can get a rotation going. There’s a lot more potting, planting and pruning to go, but at least it is feeling like home.