gardening

The garden summary 2026

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Vegetable Garden 2026

I am officially naming 2026 as the year of the Coriander Forest.

In the past, I have tried, with minimal success, to grow coriander. I’ve gotten a couple of measly plants, which generally grew and went to seed before I could even use them. Well, not this year. Because this year, we got a coriander forest.

When the first tiny plants sprang up, I was confused. It looked like coriander… but how? So when it got a little bigger I had a taste and realised… it was coriander. So… I nurtured them. Because I love coriander, so I want as much as humanly possible.

And that’s what I got… a whole damn forest.

To the detriment of the other plants, in the end.

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The garden summary 2025

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Vegetable garden

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.

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The garden summary 2023

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vegetable garden 2023

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.

snow on radishes
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With one picture… you know you’re in Austria and not in Australia when…

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…you unearth a snakeskin in your garden and realise you don’t have to be afraid.

snakeskin in my garden

I’m not saying I didn’t panic and squeal when I first saw it. For all my bravado of I’m Australian and I’m not scared of spiders or sharks or snakes, as I rolled back the fabric laid over my garden to reveal a long, scaly skin, I let out plenty of squeals. Then I immediately burst out laughing… before abruptly stopping and peering closer to make sure it was just that – a skin.

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Giersch – the garden devil weed from hell

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giersch
Evil evil stuff

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.

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Green Thumbs – Part 1 – The Fail

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Gardening vegetables
Ready to ‘grow’

This year marked our first summer in the house, and therefore, my first chance to start my own ‘vege patch’.

I was an expert gardener, I proclaimed. My younger days helping my dad in the garden obviously meant I knew everything about growing vegetables.

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