In the Garden, amongst other places

I have dug up one of my tubs of potatoes. King Edward potatoes aren't a First Early variety and needed another month to six weeks to grow to their full size. I dug them up anyway. I needed potatoes. I am impatient (not an ideal characteristic in a gardener 😂).  And the plants were seriously impeding attempts to get up the back walkway! The potatoes may be small but they are very delicious. However, I won't dig up the other tubs until the autumn. I am reconsidering growing potatoes in large compost bins. It never seems to be particularly productive, the tubs take up a lot of space and potting mix, and I already have (and can acquire more) smaller potato tubs. However, digging the potatoes up early is not useful from an assessment of growing methods point of view. I need the potatoes to come to maturity in the one remaining large tub and the two smaller potato tubs.

Small, but very tasty

The plants out the front are doing quite well, although I have to defend them against vigorous attacks by snails

Cucumber plant, growing up the wire "fence"

Yellow zucchini

and pale green, growing

on what is almost a zucchini hedge

Runner beans were Jim's most favourite vegetable ever. We grew them with success in the garden in Tupton. We tried to grow them in the garden at Hill House but it was too exposed and much too windy and the plants didn't thrive. They didn't do particularly well the first year we tried in the back garden at Tani. We decided it wasn't worth trying to grow them, especially since green and yellow beans grow quite well. You can't buy runner beans in the supermarkets here. You can buy "flat" beans in places like Wilson's and Tully's, which are close to runner beans and filled the gap. Not quite the same but close enough.

I recently saw runner bean seeds on the Diggers website when I was getting the seeds for next winter/spring. On impulse, I ordered a packet along with the seeds on my list. The packet says the seeds can be planted in spring and summer in cool areas. I wouldn't normally plant them in January, but I thought I'd give it a go and see what happens.  Jim wasn't here to stop me so I planted a few out the front. And this is what is happening at the moment:

The snails have been very interested in these plants but they seem to be surviving (the plants, not the snails). I don't know if I'll get any beans, but if we don't get any early frosts I should do. And I have plenty of seeds left to plant in the spring. I might even prepare a dedicated "bean bed" for them and the green and yellow beans.  

The green beans out the back are producing nicely, although the plants themselves seem to be miniatures - with one climbing bean among them. Fortunately it is growing up the central pole of my wigwam, surrounded by small bushes around its feet.

My tomato plants are thriving, although only now producing flowers. There are also several self invited plants dotted around the garden. In fact, the garden is thriving, although it desperately needs weeding and tidying. The summer so far has been fairly cool in Mount Helen, with quite a lot of rain. This has the disadvantage that I don't notice that the beds need watering when it has been dry and cloudy for several days - until I see that the herbs in small terracotta pots are suffering.

The weather was cool and cloudy over the weekend - although the sun was very warm when it managed to break through the clouds. Lindsey and I went out to the Mushroom Farm, to Bunnings, to the supermarket on Saturday morning. We visited Stella in the afternoon. Yesterday Stella and I went to the Golden Point hotel for lunch. Stella very much enjoyed her grilled barramundi and chips. I definitely enjoyed my open souvlaki with chips. Stella had a senior's portion. They didn't have the souvlaki on the seniors' menu so I had to have a full sized one.

Definitely full sized. It was enormous!

Even the senior's portion was quite substantial

I have almost finished clearing Tani of clutter and rubbish and unused Stuff. Once I have finished the house there will be the garage and the garden (not a lot of Stuff in the garden, but some things that need a bit of thought). And then it will be time to start all over again 😂 Although it shouldn't be such a major undertaking in the future - if I can resist the temptation to acquire yet more Stuff!