Garden report

The garden takes a lot of my time. I am usually always behind schedule, but this year the weather was behind schedule so I was actually caught up. June is mostly spent weeding in preparation for the rainy season. Now Im doin a lot of hand watering... carrying watering cans 150 meters... and of course harvesting and storing.

This year has been the best zucchini harvest ever. Usually by July the zucchini plants have been destroyed by little orange bugs. I have tried everything to get rid of them, bar using chemicals, but nothing has worked. This year the cool weather has meant no orange bugs, so I pick about a kilo of succhini every day.

Breakfast is always a skillet of potatoes, zuccini, egg, topped with salsa. This year its store bought salsa.

Cucumbers are also very prolific. I dont usually plant them, but the missus nagged, so I put 3 plants in that have produced about 30 cucumbers so far. Because of the cool year the lettuce kept going until July, but now I have "liquid salad" for lunch,... chilled gazpacho.... cucumber, tomato, green pepper, red pepper, onion.... all from the garden. The olive oil is store bought.

For supper last night.... zucchini au gratin, with sweetcorn picked an hour before dinner. Apparently sweetcorn can handle being under a meter and a half of water. This weekend will have to pick the rest of the corn and start harvesting the edamame.

Beets is another crop that has done really well with the unseasonably cool year. Pickled beetroot is impossible to get here so thats how I use it.

Was a terrible lima bean crop this year, though green beans did well. Tomatoes are in full swing and the peppers have picked up, though eggplant is still lagging.