Friday, January 8, 2010

Summer Report


I haven't posted for a long time, but the vegetables haven't been as slack as I have.
Above is a photo of our north-facing vegetable plot in early December. Capsicums small but growing left front, lettuces growing up and to seed, tasting bitter. Tomatoes thriving but no fruit ready yet. Zucchinis spreading and some eaten, carrots looking good, onion and potato plant also healthy.


Our original plot is mostly empty (and unloved) we haven't been quite sure what to do with this one since pulling out the last straggling plants from winter.


The tomato plants now are well and truly fruiting, we have eaten about four of them and there are over 40 growing on the four plants.

Some of them have been beauties.

The taste has been quite sweet and mild compared to shop-bought tomatoes, they don't have the strong taste I normally dislike about tomatoes.

Delicious in bruschetta with basil.

I have saved the seeds of the beauty above on papertowel as described by Lolo.

The capsicums are slowly producing:

a banana capsicum

a green capsicum.

I pulled out the lettuces, as they were too bitter to eat, and planted 3 beans given to us by Fay at church, they are the white variety.

We didn't plant them immediately and Fay thought it was too late to plant them now, but I thought I'd try it and now about 2 weeks later 2 beans have sprouted, no sign of the 3rd one. I've saved 3 beans for next summer (to plant earlier)




The carrots are doing pretty well, considering. We have eaten a few baby carrots. A couple we pulled have had carrots about 2mm by 2cm, but most are about 8-10cm at the moment, we think. We planted radishes amongst the carrots, but they were nearly all eaten by something (lizards? mice?) and we missed out.

The herb pot is happy but taken over by chives and shallots (can't tell which is which anymore, either. The basil has been a bit disappointing, but maybe it just hasn't got enough room. We have eaten some basil, just in small amounts.


The peppermint is thriving in the shade and I cut some every night for my peppermint tea.

Next to the compost bins a tomato has self-seeded, and is doing well.


Max next door has tomatoes on his side of the fence, and corn growing.