Depending on where you look in my garden right now, things are either very productive, or a big mess of weeds.
I always go into the summer break thinking I’ll spend a good amount of time in the garden. But the thing I am taking a break from at work is gardening. So I often start neglecting my own garden a little in December.
Then the heat sets in. I find it hard to work in the full sun here. It’s physically painful even while wearing sunscreen, a hat, and long-sleeved shirt. Hot sunny times are for inside next to the aircon. Maybe a nap or read a book. Write. Catch up on admin. But definitely not in the garden.
Most of January was hot. By the time we get to February, the weeds are well-established and the additional problem of overwhelm sets in. This has become an annual pattern, so my garden is weird in that it’s usually it’s nicest and most productive in the shoulder seasons and winter.
In summer, it’s usually a big ol’ mess.
This week I’ve been busy attending to the needs of our dog Roxy who has had a fairly major leg surgery. Between that and everyone’s new obsession with Bad Bunny, I haven’t really had the time to sit and craft a full post.
Instead, I took some honest photos of what’s going on in the garden, and jotted some words.
Māra kūmara
We planted and netted the māra kūmara earlier in the season. It’s netted to keep the chooks off.
Since then, it’s gone wild.
Some self-sown plants including tomatoes and potatoes have taken off amongst the kūmara, and the kūmara has very little cares about staying within the net.
The māra kūmara seems to have become a safe haven for monarch caterpillars to pupate into butterflies, so I’ve had to cut a fairly large hole to let them out. That’s future-Kat’s problem.
Paprika
Last year I grew two paprika plants. Those plants over-wintered and have already produced enough paprika this season to keep us going through 2026, with more still maturing on the plants.
But I also saved seeds, and used those seeds to grow 9 more plants which are all laden with fruit.
So this year I will have stacks of paprika. I’ve discovered this year’s fruit (especially off last year’s plants) have some heat to them. Not as much as a chilli, but definitely notable. So I’m thinking about trying a mild chilli crisp made using paprika.
The next mission is almost-certainly smoked paprika though. Lots to play with this year.
Sunflowers
The sunflowers are pretty much done for the season. One job ahead of me next week is to cut off the heads I want to keep for next year’s seed and lay them out to dry.
We’ve enjoyed seeing our chickens foraging for sunflower seeds. Some flowers have fallen to the chicken’s height, but the chooks are also happy to work for it.
It’s quite delightful to see them determinedly jumping to get the seeds from the flowers.
Part of the reason I grow the sunflowers at all is to use them as chicken food, so it’s OK they’ve decided to manage me out of being the middle man. But I’ll still take some of the taller, stronger heads to provide next year’s crop.
I’ll cut down the stems fairly soon (I think this bed probably our best option for the autumn brassica) and we’ll feed them through the mulcher to add carbon content to our composting and worm farm systems.
Peanuts
So, there are peanuts planted in here somewhere, but I planted them underneath a rather large swan plant, and that means the area was absolutely infested with swan plant seed.
I really did mean to get around to weeding and mulching them, and then I just… didn’t.
One thing I noted about last year’s harvest was we had a good season, including the fact that they didn’t look like this. So this year may not be as good.
I’m just going to see what I pull up and hope I have enough for a batch of boiled peanuts and seed for next year.
Potatoes
I didn’t plant proper seed potatoes this year. I planted all the potatoes that were sprouting in storage and in the bottom of my cupboard.
We’ve kept them under a bird net because this is a crop we don’t want the chooks digging up. Overall they’re looking very happy, and I have my fingers crossed for a good harvest.
Beds of weeds
There is food growing in here. Leeks, herbs. But increasingly when I look at it, I see kikuyu.
These beds need work. A lot of it. Soon.
As the weather begins to cool I should be able to find more time to get out there and take care of things to prepare for all my favourite winter crops again. But these beds are definitely overwhelming to think about and bring back to productivity.
It’s constant work, this gardening thing. Being able to reach for my home-grown produce never fails to make me happy, and so it’s all worth it. But it’s also OK to just “suck” at it sometimes.
