As we were going to be away (walking the Milford Track with the children) from 12-23 Dec, it was time to give the garden a good weed on 8 December. I also harvested the first peas and strawberries and the last broad beans and asparagus.
After our return, 24 Dec, I looked at the seedlings that I had out under one of the garden bed sprinklers so that they would be watered while we were away. Most of them had died – there was still 1 brussel sprout, 1 chard and 6 leeks alive. I resowed these seeds on 26 Dec.
The tomatoes grew amazingly while we were away. I could get in the door of the tunnel house on our return, but there wasn’t much room to do anything! On 29 Dec, I trimmed off laterals and Suzanna tied the plants up to the roof supports.
30 Dec I realised that I hadn’t harvested the garlic. It was a terrible crop – only small heads and many of them were rotten. Of all those planted, I harvested 47 heads. 5 of these had rotten stalks and so were brought inside to use fresh. The remaining 42 were hung in the shed for use later in the year. It is fortunate that there was such a great harvest last year or we would be buying garlic!
Vegetables from Paradise 