She's been a hot and dry one this year, unseasonably early. Fires have been raging across most of Australia, and while we are okay down south in Victoria, we are aware we may experience it yet. Whilst our PM refuses to concede that the fires are a result of climate change, others vocally cry for him to do something, or at least acknowledge the science.

Meanwhile, things get CROZZLED. Yes, that's a word... when things get crispy friiiieeed. Whilst we have some good shade, lots of things get burnt in this weather. Today I draped sheets over the tomatoes.

When we come back from travelling, I am going to put in a whole row of bathtub wicking beds just for herbs. The mint survives fine under the apple and hops, and the sage, peppermint, mugwort, borage and lennyroyal are doing fine in the shade of the elder. They do get incidental water as they are near chook pen, but many herbs dont survive the summer in the wider garden. Hence wicking beds. I have been using them as a cutting nursery too as the soil remains moist. My gooseberry, lavender and sage cuttings are doing fine, which is worth the wicking effort alone. Yarrow, gotu kola, Vietnamese mint, yarrow and chamomile are all happy there.

I grew tulsi basil this year which I love. I also have Greek and normal basil. You can't beat basil on fresh tomatoes. The yellow zucchinis are starting to fruit. Somehow I only planted one this year which I seriously regret. Oh, and harvested a good few buckets of garlic this year, and lots of blackcurrants. It's awesome to have a natural medicine garden!

Eggplant are also going great in the wicking beds, which are an absolute godsend in this climate.

The kabochi pumpkin planted itself this year which is doing a good job of shading soil underneath, bless em. I have a bit of a job distangling the hops from everything - it certainly lives up to it's wolfish name.



Strawflowers are prettily growing, their crispy flowers suiting the crispy environment. The mulberry is surviving with a suprise pumpkin at it's base. Nothing better than a self seeded plant! We have had tons and tons of lettuce. Oh, and my yukon was delivered so I'm carefully tending to that.



It is going to be very odd this year, leaving in March for Europe when there is a garden I should be tending to. This fact means I haven't planted half the veggies I normally would have as I won't be able to process them. Hopefully our housesitter can keep a garden in check for six months, but I presume we will have a big mess to tend to when we get back.

How are your gardens going this year? What garden plans do you have for the coming year? Join in @simplymike challenge and share with us by using tag #gardenjournal2019.

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