Well in the last 2 weeks we went from a beautiful Indian Summer to "Ahh, where's the heater" with a flick of a switch. The flannelette sheets are on the bed and remembering to draw the curtains is important. If you don't it feels like the entire universe is trying to power itself off your heat resources.
The maples all through the hills are putting on a delightful show and the red chicory has gone from green with streaks of burgundy to the deep abiding red which signals that it's COLD overnight. The tomatoes are still surviving, we haven't had a frost yet, but ripening has basically stalled so I am slowly pulling them out to plant the next rotation.
The Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbages are struggling against the snails and slugs but most are making slow headway. A couple of the coloured Silverbeet, Chard, are really taking off and making a go of it. The garlic that I lost last season when the tops browned off and I hadn't marked them have popped up through the mulch. Leeks have been planted out into the onion nursery box and Broad Bean seed has been direct sown.
I am trialling inter-planting the Broad Bean with Spring onion. I plant my Broad Bean in blocks as it seems to help them survive the winds at our place. Due to that I will be really interesting to see if they manage to play nicely together. My main hope is that the Broad beans won't totally shade the spring onions once they both pop through the ground. Either way the crop I am more dependant on, the Broad Beans, should do fine.
