It's November already? I'm actually freaking out a bit. I haven't got everything in the ground I wanted to, and a lot of the seedlings I had nurtured in the greenhouse had got eaten by bugs AND I don't think I got a lot of them in early enough! That means I'm forced to go and buy some seedlings from the nursery, which I'm actually kicking myself about. Oh well, it's all a learning curve!

I DO have my tomatoes in, and they are all varieties I have grown from seed so I'm happy about that. As usual, I've pretty much forgotten which ones are which, so it'll be a suprise when they fruit. I DID label some, which is a vast improvement on my organistion skills from last year. Nevermind, I'm not the only one - seems this was also what some other people did, talking to gardeners at the swapmeet. There's two types of gardeners it seems - super pedantic, label everything, uber organised - and then there's the 'whatever' gardens that wing it and hope for best. I do tend to fall somewhere in between.

At the moment everything is going mad. The humid weather is really making things grow. The elders are in full leaf, shading the chickens (I have two baby chooks!) and most trees are still sending out new growth too. It's been raining a LOT today and I've been weeding - bloody rye grass making it's way through. Been picking a lot of produce to take up to my son tomorrow.

It's like a jungle sometimes

It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Broad Beans	Beautiful Sage Flowers	Comfrey, Potatoes, Goji

We've had some really hot days over the last two weeks but despite the broad beans being scorched, we've still got an abundance of broad beans. Mashed with lemon and olive oil on toast, please! So fresh and delicious. I have also had an abundance of artichokes, which I marinate in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic scapes (the scapes are out, it's nearly time for harvesting the garlic!) and some herbs. Neither thing my husband eats, so it's all for me to gorge and give away. I can't keep up with the snowpeas, but tend to munch away on them in the garden.

Garden munching is the order of the day at the moment. Most of our vegies are coming from the backyard. Fennel, cabbage, kale, garlic scapes, leeks, lettuce, artichokes, mint, coriander, parsley - these are all cooked in pastas or in salads for most meals. I also made a stock powder from dehydrated garlic and leek tops, kale, broccoli leaves and celery (and salt) which has worked a treat. We have enough stock powder for the zombie apocalpyse now. Lots of rhubarb has been cut and put in the freezer for winter deserts too.

The quince has been the first to show fruit. The plums have self seeded into a grove of sorts - it's totally wild but I can't maintain this part of the acreage. It's too far away from a water source and I never get around to netting it, so I decided it's now my wild plum grove. I tend to plant fruit trees nearer the house now - planting them too far away from water was a rookie mistake. The cockatoos tend to eat the fruit before I can net them anyway so I satisfy myself with the plums closer to the house and figure that the birds deserve some fruit too. I'm excited about the mulberry I planted and the pear trees are fruiting too - we really must net them this year as we neglected this last year and I do love fresh pears.

This weekend I have ordered more gravel for two new wicking beds. Sadly I have to source some compost - I can never make enough for my own needs, no matter how much I try! The cucumbers will go in that. There's pumpkins or zucchinis popping up everywhere and as they've survived bugs, I figure they will be hardy, so am going to let them do what they do. I'm going for a more wild approach in some parts of the garden - if it grows on it's own, it deserves to stay and is meant to be there, I reckon.

The beautiful yellow irises are in bloom, and hopefully the purple ones will follow soon. I didn't divide them last year so maybe they won't be as spectacular as last year - fingers crossed! My favourite native flowers are out too - tufts of grey grass with alien yellow blooms. They don't last long but they are quite gorgeous.

Also planted another passionfruit vine. The hops vines are going crazy. Borage doing well, as is peppermint, lemon balm and some other herbs I planted. The birch is finally in leaf. Everything is flowering - both the native bees and our honey bees are feasting like mad. I could talk a lot more about what's going on but I have ridiculously dirty feet from gardening barefoot and my husband is shouting at me to go wash them, so I'm gonna have a beer and a bath and snack on a bowl of broadbeans!

How are your gardens going?

@naturalmedicine II Discord Invite II #naturalmedicine