Tomorrow marks the start of autumn in Australia, and although it’ll probably be a good few weeks until it starts feeling like autumn, I can’t wait. A huge part of my desire for milder temperatures, and hopefully, some proper rain is so I can get stuck back into some gardening again…
The plants in Adam and my backyard have taken an absolute beating this last season. Apart from the weeks of oppressive heat and lack of rain, we’ve also had some incredible dust storms, which have whipped and wilted virtually everything in site. Adam installed a watering system in the garden before Christmas and that’s been a huge contributor in ensuring our plants survived this summer. It’s amazing what even a small amount of water everyday can do.
While the plants look green, there’s lots of maintenance work we need to do. Plants need to be trimmed, there are weeds to be removed, a few things need re-potting and where there were casualties as a result of the harsh weather conditions, empty pots need to be filled again.
I’m craving getting my hands stuck into some soil again, to watch a seedling grow and mature and to generally just enjoy being outdoors – instead of ducking out due to necessity and then scampering back inside to the air conditioning.
Adam and I have a healthy herb garden, but I’d like to add a few more edibles over the autumn. I loved our small balcony vegetable patch when we lived in England and I’d love to replicate something similar here in Australia. I’m thinking maybe some maybe baby spinach leaves and sugar snap peas – things that you can eat both raw and cooked.
For now though, the sun remains high in the sky and temperatures remain in the mid to high 30s. I’ll use that “in between seasons” time over the next few weeks to do a bit more planning and research into what would work in our little garden. If you’re looking for some home vegetable patch inspiration, I’ve been loving watching what Lori Lang is doing is her Lancashire garden. She’s got me all enthused for garden work once again.
If you’ve got any recommendations of what grows well in a southern New South Wales climate over autumn, I’d love for you to share your gardening successes.
Have a wonderful weekend. x
Wattle and Ash 