Blanching celery

Celery wrapped to blanch and lettuces and carrots almost ready to harvest.

Mid May and unseasonably warm autumn weather for Melbourne.This year I am experimenting with blanching my four celery plants. I wrapped them loosely in recycled white deli paper (inner layer) and  plastic cut from potting mix bags (outer layer). I am not sure if wrapping is a good idea because it might also provide a home for the earwigs and weevils who have started chewing on the celery- or is it baby snails? In a couple of weeks I will unwrap one celery to inspect for damage and hopefully discover and eliminate the culprits.

Celery wrapped and tied with straw bale twine

Food Forest

The first week of May in the Food Forest: The best of the summer bounty from the food forest is finished and the sunflowers are just sticks in the ground but there are still a few cherry tomatoes left for parents to forage with their little ones. Under Mum's watchful guidance, this is the best way to learn about food. Pictured is a first encounter with a yellow cherry tomato; it tasted good unlike those green ones that naturally were instantly spat out.