shiukopuppy's Blog

winter food projects
Jul 6, 2007 | 7:29 PM PST
Tags: Pomegranates , almond , pak choi , gai laan , shungiku , raspberry , red currant , black currant , pear , onion , coriander , cilantro , spring onion , olive

It's winter in Australia and very frosty with misty days. I used to do nothing in the winter, just play playstation, watch movies and ignore the garden, growing only herbs and lettuces on the window sill. This year I decided to see what could be done at this time of year.

Herbs wise, I have planted some coriander (cilantro). It's doing very well; in the summer it often went to seed. I also planted lots of onions. Usually I only grew spring onions and shallots (yum!) but recently I tried growing red onions and they were so delicious that I planted out white, brown and red onions again. I bought some flat pickling onion seeds but they need to be sown in warmer weather, alas!

I planted several varieties of winter hardy peas. I was pleasantly surprised as they are now a few inches tall. Winter spinaches are doing well, as well as pak choi, choi sum, gai laan and shungiku. Some winter lettuces are also growing but they are very small.

I also bought some dormant plants - raspberry, red currant and black currant canes. An almond tree, a couple of olive trees and I bought wintry flowers: snapdragons and foxgloves. Today I want to buy another pomegranate tree and a multigrafted pear. It's been busy and I never would have thought that a winter could be this fun.