This time of the year we can expect some of the summer vegetables to start to wind up as we prepare for autumn, yet with summer starting a bit late last season there continues to be a glut of summer produce in the piggs peake kitchen gardens.
There’s also been a few strange things going on in and around the gardens.
Some of the baby carrots that we recently harvested for Yellow Billy Restaurant are behaving more like adults. Instead of an expected length of around 100mm, we had quite a few doubling the expected size thanks to the organic soil.
With an oversupply of cucumbers requiring harvesting 3 times a week there also comes a few variations in shape. As the picture shows we’ve been able to put the U back in cucumber.
Maybe it’s the summer heat, but we recently had a driving related incident at piggs peake. A person whose name shall remain anonymous (head chef Sam Alexander) in his haste to get to work, parked his car over the top of one of our prolific zucchini plants. Even though zucchinis aren’t a protected species they do appreciate a bit of personal space.
There’s certainly been a few kilos of Golden Bantam corn harvested for Yellow Billy Restaurant this season. As the corn plants have finished producing we have cut them down as a mulch cover for the soil and have also dug them back into the topsoil. The stems and leaves provide valuable carbon for the soil which becomes humus and feeds the earth worms and soil microbes.
Perhaps it’s the heat or just his passion for working at piggs peake, but one of our employees Aiden has been spotted this week doing hand stands near the vineyard. Maybe he’s in love, it’s hard to say, yet what an agile performance.
With most of our tomato plants finishing production we’ve made use of the current trellis system and the hot weather to plant a few passionfruit vines. After preparing the soil with compost and nitrogen rich organic fertiliser, the climbing plants have settled into their location nicely and we can expect a burst of growth before they slow down when winter eventually arrives.
In the system of design known as Permaculture, one approach to plant selection is to try to get more than one use from each plant in the garden. The Cosmos plants which range in colour from white to pink to red add some vibrant colour to the garden. The leaves and flowers are edible, and the flowers help to attract bees and other beneficial insects. You can find some of the Cosmos petals in a few of the dishes served the next time that you’re dining at Yellow Billy Restaurant.
We’re in the early stages of planning to hold some guided tours of the Kitchen Gardens here at piggs peake which will include a tour of vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and bushfood areas. You never know, there might be a few surprises during the tour.
If you would like to express an interest in joining a garden tour please email contact@yellowbillyrestaurant.com
So, revisit our website again soon to check our blog piggs in the garden and we’ll be back with further updates on the progress of our gardens as we await the autumn season.
cheers,
andrew
