Harvest Monday - 13 Jan '14

A whole week without posting! We've been busy doing more yard work, taking the first of our lamb orders up to Sydney and to a local Farmstay, maintaining the vegetable patch, and over the last day or two skulking inside to hide from the punishing heat.

Today is the second day of a monster heat wave that has already dried up the western states and is now descending on us. Today it's forecast to be 37c, then the next few days are predicted to be 39c, 41c, 42c and then 41c. If my garden survives then I will be fortunate...

To beat the heat I did a little picking this morning and here is the result.

The cucumbers are Spacemaster,  the corn Snow Gold and the tomatoes Red Pear, Green Grape and Jaune Flamme.

Over the last week I have picked a little more corn. Even though not all nibblets are full the corn is so good to eat, sweet and tender and takes no time to cook. This is actually the best corn I have ever grown so while it is not perfect I am very pleased. I'm putting it down to chook pooh.

There have also been more cucumbers and I pick some tomatoes each day. Some still have evidence of blossom end rot from the last week of heat but they are not too badly effected and are still delicious.

These little beans are Hawkesbury Wonder.

We have also been the welcome recipients of other people's gluts. A few lovely grapefruit for instance from one neighbour,

and from another we have received fish! With the local creeks low due to the dry spell they found it (relatively) easy to net a few carp including a massive one. We confess that we have not eaten the carp. Instead we have decided to use these feral fish to fertilise the vegetable patch. We hope that they neighbours don't mind!!!

That's it from Highfield this week. Pop over to Daphne's to see other people's produce.

Keep picking!