We had some strange weather this year. Steady and predictable to begin with, then a delightful blistering heatwave, followed by some days in July that I can only describe as… cold. Cold as in the outdoor pool dropped back to below 22 degrees and I didn’t bother swimming for a week. The season finished well though, with late warmth going right into October.
All things considered, the garden did pretty well. And there was even a lovely sunflower as an accidental centrepiece.
Continue readingMaybe I wasn’t paying attention in Australia… but every year in Austria it surprises me just how much growth there is from spring to summer. Hubby took some pics in our back garden… the first just after he cut the trees back, the second near the end of summer when everything was at its peak. Check them out!
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I have to say, the season started off promising. I felt good. I felt ready. I planted like crazy. And then it rained… and rained… and rained… And I guess a lot of the seeds rotted or washed away. Or got eaten by bugs.
But eventually they sprouted. And then it got hot. And hotter. And hotter. So hot in fact that at one point I even had to admit that it was hot.
So… it was a bit of a struggle. But I struggled on.
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It was a bit of a weird season this year. Things didn’t really go to plan. But they never really do, do they?
Since time was scarce having to run around after an almost one-year-old, I decided to work smart this year. I started early with the radishes in a small free standing garden bed to reduce the amount of weeding. I watered them and I remembered to put the lid on every night. Except one night.
And then this happened. Snow.
With baby Sam due at the end of June, I was ready to forego the veggie garden this year. I would have neither the time nor the physique to deal with it. But hubby kindly stepped in and with some slight variations and a reduced crop we still enjoyed eating from our land.
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I was hopeful in early spring. It seemed like it was going to warm up nicely. And then… it didn’t. So even though I’d eagerly gotten the garden ready and planted… nothing grew.
But as always, I pressed on. This year we laid the garden with black cloth (thicker than previously so it didn’t blow all over the garden during storms), and this really cut back on the amount of weeding I had to do.
Continue readingThe spring of 2020 was warm to begin with, but was struck down by a burst of cool weather that negated everything I’d done up until that point. Weeks went by with me inspecting bare soil for a sign of growth before I had something to show for it.
I got smart this year and laid cloth over the unused parts of the garden to eliminate the amount of weeding that would need to be done. Unfortunately I choose a very poor quality of cloth, and all I really achieved was to give the late spring wind something to rip up and distribute across our entire backyard. So I spent a lot of time picking up black pieces of cloth, and then had to weed anyway.
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The start to our growing season this year saw a few early warm days, but by the time I was ready to begin the weather had turned. After that it seemed that the re-warming was so gradual that most of my veggies got off to a late start. Add to that the fact that I had to first eradicate the Giersch, and I wasn’t as on the ball as perhaps I could have been.
The back of our veggie garden, directly in front of the composting area, is separated by a small fence. Behind this fence live four charming redcurrant bushes and a forest of strawberries. During the first summer in our house we enjoyed a lot of strawberries from this part of the garden. Last year, however, I noticed a growing trend. Maybe it was something we changed, or maybe it was just bad luck. It seemed the back part of our garden was getting taken over by this weird green, leafy plant. We were told it could be eaten, if one so desired. We did not desire. My strawberries were soon engulfed by these beastly plants, with only small pockets of mint surviving the takeover.
And just when I think I’m starting to fit in, I realise I’m making a huge faux pas when it comes to winter in Austria.
an aussie in austria 