Into the Garden

We are enjoying a fabulous show of flowers, from bulbs which were given to me for Mother's Day
 4 years ago and were planted before the winter of that year .....our very own Floriade , if you like.

Now that the frosts are gone [we hope] it is time to think about planting our summer vegetables and flowers.

It's fun and educational to get kids involved in the garden. You don't have to have a lot of space, even some pots on a balcony will do. It is important, however, to plan your vegie patch or container garden well.

Think about what you would like to grow and how much room it will take up. For instance, zucchinis need a lot of space, but cherry tomatoes grow well in a medium sized pot. As do most herbs and small to medium sized flower varieties.

Climate also plays an important role, as alpine plants don't like the tropics and tropical plants don't like frosts.

Check up on the harvest time for your plants. It is nice to have a selection to choose from throughout the summer months. In the case of lettuces, rocket and herbs, for instance, plant your seeds at different intervals, so there is a constant supply to enjoy.

When gardening with kids, it is important to let them plant varieties they like, and ones that are
relatively fool-proof. We struggle year after year with tomatoes, but carrots and beetroot just thrive. We are always on holiday when broad beans need to be harvested, but are around to harvest and eat other vegetables.

We have a medium sized patch in our Canberra garden and through trial and error we have chosen the following plants, which we like to eat and don't take up too much room  

Vegetables/Fruits

Beetroots, Carrots, Lettuce, Rhubarb, Rocket, Shallots, Snow Peas, Spring Onions, Strawberries

Herbs

Basil, Corriander, Mint, Parsley, Sage  

Flowers

Lavender, Petunias, Sweet Peas