Apple blossom time

Apple blossom

Apple trees in bloom

 Food Forest

The first thing I noticed when I arrived this morning is that the apple trees have suddenly burst into bloom. The apricot already has a large crop of green fruit. The nasturtiums under the fruit trees will soon carpet the ground providing a living mulch as well as adding colour and bestowing all the other benefits that nasturtiums provide in an orchard.

Decorative vegetables in Spring

Lettuce and Bull's Blood beetroot

Flowering brassicas and sage

Sugar snap peas

Kohl Rabi, potato, silver beet, garlic and carrots

Kohl Rabi leaves provide foliage contrast with other veggies

October 17th and we are well into spring. Today the weather was perfect and it was a pleasure to walk around the garden and admire all the lovely textures and colours as winter vegetables go to flower. Kohl Rabi doesn't produce much that is edible and takes up valuable space but I grow it mainly for its decorative foliage. It is harvested when the above-ground swollen stem is about the size of a tennis ball. It tastes very much like turnip and is best prepared by peeling, cutting into dice and adding to soup or chick pea casserole or curry. The leaves are edible but are tough except when very young.