summer beans
I picked my first dwarf beans yesterday as at last the warmth has brought them on. Dwarf or bush beans are a good alternative to climbing beans in Wellington as they don’t get blown about quite as much - or at least it’s easier to provide them with shelter. I sowed some more beans in pots early in the new year and have just planted them out to follow on. These yellow ones are ‘roquefort‘ and I like them because they retain their colour when they’re cooked (purple ones disappointingly turn green) and I can find them more readily amongst the foliage. I’ve also got some gorgeous speckled ones called ‘albenga‘. We’ll be planning a winter garden at the fresh food garden course on Saturday 13 February 2010 - there’s one place left.
I discovered why the tomatoes are so slow this year when I identified some naked lower trusses on the plants and spotted an infamous yellow predator sneaking in to the tunnel house when the door was open on a hot day. A wire-mesh barrier has been hastily erected. Keep pinching out the tomato side shoots and feeding them weekly.
Mabel and her six chicks have been out in the sunshine, enjoying a scoop of worms from the wormery. The honey bees are flying madly, filling up the extra honey super I added to my hives last week.
Time to sow some more seeds if you haven’t done so for a fortnight - lettuce, rocket, silverbeet, brocolli, carrots, beetroot, radishes, turnips and spring onions. I’ve sown a few more potatoes as I had great success with the ones I sowed at this time last year. Mulch your potatoes with some more seaweed.
Lots of zucchinis? Zucchini fritters for breakfast are my current favourite.
