RAMBLING POTAGER GARDEN – SEASONAL UPDATE – AUTUMN 2026

Report from the RAMBLING POTAGER garden, MAY 2026

A very big bunch of bananas

Sweet pea sprouts from seeds saved from last year’s bounty (cells on the left) compared to no action from the commercially purchased seeds (on the right labelled with paddle pop sticks)

Clever engineering by a case moth on one of the citrus trees

Successes

Bananas were a great success – 158 on one bunch! We’ve covered the new bunch that’s growing and hope it’ll ripen even though we now have colder weather.

We started the Brassicas earlier this year and had much better success as they had a chance to grow before the days began to shorten. They did suffer from some pest attack, but picking off the caterpillars by hand have kept numbers down so far, and the work of the ladybirds and their larvae sorted out the cabbage aphids.

Sweet peas started very slowly but burst forward within a few days in the end.

Netting the oranges and pomegranates slowed the number being prematurely picked.

The plants under the Tuckeroo tree out back are doing much better since watering more thoroughly with a sprinkler.

Activities

Winter planting has begun with seeds from plants we’ve grown being shaken over the beds, and seedlings being raised and planted progressively