Zucchinis Galore - Freeze them

It’s the time of the year that Zucchinis grow so stinkin’ fast that there is no way I can eat them as fast as they grow.  In the morning they are too small to pick, by the time you get home from work they are so big you can play baseball with them.  

The solution to this dilemma is to freeze them.  I tried an easy way of freezing them last year and they proved to be fantastic for soups throughout winter.   So try it, this works well. 

 From this - The harvest.

To this - 11 bags, 1.8 kg ready for the freezer.

Grated in a couple of minutes.

Cut, grated and the first couple of bags filled.

The Secret of what I plant in November and December

The November Veggie Garden

Things really heat up in my veggie garden in November and December.  There is a lot that I plant that will be harvested throughout Summer and into Autumn. I keep in mind that whatever I plant this time of the year needs to be able to handle the heat and humidity of the summer months.

I have developed a plan for my veggie patch based on the records of all of my plantings over the last four years since I have moved here.  This strategy helps me avoid repeating the failures I have had in the past (there have been a few) and also help me to repeat the success of the good crops.  So, here is my plan over the next couple of months.

Sweet Corn

Tomatoes. I will buy a couple of cherry tomatoes and plant in mid Dec.  With any luck I should be able to harvest these into winter.

Sweet Corn. Plant seed directly into the soil early Nov and again in early Dec. Here is how to do it.

Chilli.  I will buy a plant in Nov and put it in a spot that gets sun in winter so I can harvest late in the season.

Beans. Sow bush beans seeds now and again in mid Dec. 

Zucchini, Cucumbers, Rock Melons and Watermelons.  Sow direct into a warm spot now and stand back!  They will grow like stink.  I will plant zucchini again in mid Dec.

Ginger.  I have mine in already, but if you haven’t, buy a piece from the markets and get it in.

Herbs I will plant in Nov are flat leaf Parsley and Dill.

Bush Beans

Salad Greens grow fast this time of year if you keep them moist.  I will sow direct or plant seedlings when I have space in the garden available.  Crops like:

Lettuce.  Plant seedlings every 3 weeks.

Radish. Sow directly into the garden every 3 weeks.

Coriander. Sow seed into a cooler spot every 4 weeks.

Spring Onions. Plant seedlings every 5 weeks. 

Rocket, Beetroot, Watercress and English Spinach for green salad leaves every 4 weeks when I get a spot. 

Zucchini

So, the cats out of the bag and my secrets are out.  I will tweak this plan depending on the availability of space in my veggie patch, but it is a good plan!

If you want to check out what I planted in September and October, check out the blog where I spilled my secrets.  I adjusted it a bit as the months progressed because I needed to, but it is pretty close.

Ginger - ready to plant

Spuds! Spuds! and More Spuds!

Spuds. We love em in this house.

I grew 4 plants each of 4 types of spuds.  They were all planted on 22 June and each variety competed to be the first harvested, with the biggest yield.  Here’s the results, in order of productivity:

Deseree -3.8kg. (Harvested 14 October.)  The first to the finish line.  This was an early crop with an excellent yield.  Deseree have pinky-red skin with firm flesh which holds its shape when cooked.  They are versatile – you can boil, roast, or mash these babies.

Pinkeyes – 3.5kg. (Harvested 18 October.) These little beauties have been the envy of every ex-Tasmanian in the area.  They are versatile too, but we love em just boiled and dobbed (generously) with butter (real butter, that is) and flakey salt.  We usually cook extra so we can have leftovers cold in salads the next day.  We also love these fried with rosemary, or just anyhow you want to cook them. These babies are so beautiful.  They are a much anticipated arrival every year in this house, and it’s a treat to sneak into the garden and dig a few early ones to have as a special treat.

Kipflers – 3.25kg. (Harvested 23 October.)  These small, long, finger-shaped spuds were a surprise and delight when I grew them for the first time last year as an experiment.  And definitely worth growing again and again.  They are a gorgeous buttery spud, great for boiling or baking. They hold their shape when cooked and leftovers (if you have any) are great in lunches the next day.  These would be close to our favourite spuds in flavour.  

Bintjes – 2.60kg. (Harvested 1 November.)  By now we are almost buried alive in spuds but we have yet another 2.6 kilos of my favourite carbohydrate. Big, oval shaped spuds with yellowy flesh provide an excellent yield for the latest maturing crop. 

Since mid October we have been scoffing spuds – Pinkeyes, Bintjes, Kipflers and Deseree.  We have spuds stuffed into every storage orifice in the house. Problem is, we have another harvest coming, with another 4 plants each of the same 4 varieties above, due for harvest very soon!  What the hell are we going to do with all these spuds?  

We will be knee-deep in spuds for a while yet.  And.....[pause for effect] loving it!