Homegrown - Our garden survived

Happy (belated) New Year everyone.

We abandoned our garden for three weeks this summer, while we headed north for a lovely holiday with friends and family.

I was nervous about leaving my garden for so long, as we didn't have anyone lined up to water it and were having an unusually dry spring/summer. Fortunately the night before we left the skies opened up. It rained and rained, and then rained some more the next day. I was so relieved and prayed for a few more downfalls like it while we were away. Well, my prayers were answered and I came back to find that most everything had survived. What a relief!

A couple of broccoli look like they had been uprooted by strong winds, and my peas had snapped in half, but everything else was flourishing. My mother-in-law came to stay with for us a few days, so she got stuck into the garden with me and we planted some extra things around the place.

Additions

Yen Ben lemon tree. I love me a good lemon tree, and am hoping this one does well here. I know citrus don't like lots of wind, and this is windy Wellington so my chances of a good harvest are slim to none. Still, one can live in hope:

Rhubarb next to my raised garden and mondo grass to edge the soil in front.The spinach and silverbeet has been going nuts in this garden, so we've been making the most of that. The little patch of soil to the left of this garden is where L likes to dig. She grabs my garden trowel from wherever it is and digs away, pouring dirt over herself and moving it about. Messy!

More grasses along the bottom of my herb wall, to stop soil washing away:

We also planted a few more lobelia around the place and a hydrangea up by my letterbox to greet me when I get home.

New growth
I harvested my first zucchinis this week - both green and gold varieties. They were all pretty small, but I have high hopes for what's to come:

I'm still waiting to harvest any beans, cucumbers, tomatoes or carrots from the first garden I planted. Everything needed tying to stakes when I got back from holiday, as it had all shot up so much in those three weeks:

I finally bought some more pea and lucerne straw to mulch my third garden, although it was too late for three of my broccoli plants, which lost their tentative grip on the soil. My beetroot is also looking sparse, so I'm going to plant more seeds in the gaps and aim for a second crop:

Our apples are getting bigger, and they look like a nice eating variety. The tree isn't covered in them though, so I'm wondering if the cheeky wind got to the blossoms at a crucial time:

The zucchini plants in my secret garden are flourishing, and I see some potato plants have popped up around them. I should probably pull those out, but am keen to see what happens. This garden needs a good weeding. Let's put that in the 'upcoming projects' category:

So that's where my garden is at. I would love to hear how you gardens are doing.