Harvest

I picked this tray of vegetables before the rain.  The rain has left Queensland to inundate us with what seems like buckets of water roaring down from the sky.  I was in the Gold Coast when Toowoomba experienced what has been named an inland tsunami and on that day I did not see the sky at all.  Now I am experiencing this humid damp weather in Melbourne.  I harvested all the vegetables ready for picking.  I'd hate to see them go mouldy in the rain, especially the zucchinis which are practically sitting on the wet mulch.
The eggplant is the first of the season (in my garden) but I have enjoyed freshly picked tomatoes, zucchinis and beans since December.  The basils I have picked to make pesto.  They are doing quite well and I will keep putting in basil seedlings and hopefully I shall have the fresh herbs up till May.

The dwarf butter beans were the first to fruit but I am afraid the plants are being shadowed by the bigger tomato and eggplant bushes so I may be losing them soon.  I have been picking them since December and most time I would pick the very young beans to snack on when I am working in the garden.  The seedling of the purple bean appeared in the garden box without my help at all.  I must have dropped some mature beans in the soil from last season.  It is doing very well and I can see more flowers appearing.  As for the climbing beans, I cannot keep up with them.  However I shall plant more seeds to stagger the harvest.  Beans are amongst the easiest vegetables to grow and when you have too much they can be eaten raw or added to vegetable pickles to add interest to the table.  They are sweeter when picked young but I tend to forget about them until they are fat and tough, but they are still good for steaming or stir frying.  My vegetable plants seem to flourish on compost and cow or sheep manure. 

The zucchinis are obviously thriving.  I have to remember to pick them before they swell into gigantic marrows suitable for the Big Friendly Giant. I have two varieties growing but cannot remember their names.  The fat one will have to be pickled.  I use the thick rind for pickling with other vegetables and cook the soft centre with tomatoes and plenty of basil or oregano.
As I write this I can see the rain just pouring down.  It will be a wet and humid summer and I am sure that is not going to be good for the roses which are starting to flower again.  I won't be able to go out into the garden today so it will have to be cooking the harvest in the muggy kitchen.