A seed of an idea...

About now in the garden, most plants are dying off and it's time to get in and rip them out. I like to leave one or two plants to go to seed so I can collect it for next year. When your coriander bolts in the heat, stake it so it's out of the way and doesn't look too messy, then when the seed heads go dry and brown, collect them into a bowl, dry them out and store them in a jar or an envelope, ready to plant next season.

Here's a jar of seeds I've collected:

 

 

I'm also drying some lettuce seeds, dill, radish, beans and zucchini. As long as you're growing the heritage varieties, most of the vegetables will grow true to type. It's easy, it saves money and you can put some in a pretty envelope and give them to your friends as a little gift for their garden. The coriander above I've been collecting the seeds from for three generations now!

The picnic

Going to Perth's outdoor cinemas in summer is one of my favourite things to do. Last week I packed up a picnic and we went to see a comedy with some friends. As the sun went down, we snacked on a whole range of things from my garden:

 

 

We had delicious home-grown and home-made; basil pesto, semi dried tomatoes with thyme and garlic, mini zucchini and bacon quiches... and at the top of the picture are slices of fresh cucumber, with a dollop of cream cheese mixed with chopped chives, with smoked salmon on top, finished with a sprig of dill. Fresh and delicious. The picnic was a big success!