change

There is a change in the air, the mornings are cooler and there is a autumn smell to the air too. I decided this was going to be the year to have a winter vege garden, Auckland's climate is mild with no snow and only mild frosts so I don't have any excuses really. We cleared out some of the last of the summer veges, the beetroots above were grown totally by miss E, she chose the seedlings, planted them, watered them (and pulled up a few before they were ready) and harvested them.

I've always grown silver beet (swiss chard) and lettuce year round but I haven't ventured any further than that with winter vege. So we headed to a nursery on the weekend and I chose the following to try, Broccoli (green midget), cabbage (cannonball) and Brussels sprouts (maxim). I also bought a packet of pea seeds but they suggest planting those in April, now I just have to find a spare few inches to pop them in. I'm already learning that there are new pests for me to look out for, the white butterflies have invaded in large numbers laying eggs all over my tiny seedlings, I'll have to keep a close eye on these new crops.