The tomato plants have done their duty this summer, and are now progressively being removed. However one of the Green Zebras is still going strong, it's draped itself over the lemon tree and is still getting new growth on it, so I'll leave that one in to see how long it lasts.
I'm also planning to take out one of the courgette plants (the runt), and the purple sprouting broccoli today - I don't think I'm going to get any more shoots off the latter and it's getting a bit stinky! The watermelon vine is another one that can come out now.
22 February 2009
18 February 2009
Sauce
1kg of tomatoes equals 250ml of tomato sauce (give or take). Now we have Roma sauce, San Marzano sauce, Green Zebra sauce, and a mixed sauce (the last two are in the photo).
11 February 2009
100% humidity
The battle against powdery mildew has been lost - in my defence, Auckland hit 100% humidity overnight so there's not a lot I can do. Oh well, I had a pretty good run this year!
The tomatoes are also struggling in the hot, showery and excessively humid conditions. This evening I have pulled out one of the Watermouth plants after harvesting all the tomatoes on it. Once I had cleared away a lot of the dead branches and damp droopy leaves in the tomato patch it was clear that the remaining Watermouth plant was much much bigger, healthier, and producing bigger fruit than the now-deceased one.
The tomatoes are also struggling in the hot, showery and excessively humid conditions. This evening I have pulled out one of the Watermouth plants after harvesting all the tomatoes on it. Once I had cleared away a lot of the dead branches and damp droopy leaves in the tomato patch it was clear that the remaining Watermouth plant was much much bigger, healthier, and producing bigger fruit than the now-deceased one.
08 February 2009
Watermelon
Ta-da! 6.6kgs and very juicy. This one will be the total of the harvest this season, I didn't get any more flowers once this one had gotten going, and both vines I planted have now faded away in the heat.
World famous in NZ
A photo of my hand holding a freshly harvested beetroot (from the second batch of beetroot if I remember correctly) has sold through a stock photography website. No idea who to, or what for......
07 February 2009
Weekend roundup
The heat is getting just a tad monotonous, is it not? I hosed the garden down again this morning (quite a mission as the hose is at the other end of the house), and noticed the following:
* The spring onions and the onions (which are particularly weak looking) are still suffering from the purple aphids, it doesn't seem to matter how much I water them
* Whitefly is back, this time on the underside of the tender new purple broccoli seedlings and on some of the citrus. I will try to remember to spray with Neem tonight.
* I seem to have planted the basil a bit late (although it will still get there - mmm pesto) and the eggplant very late - must try harder next year!
Here's my poor exhausted tomato plants mid way through the harvest:
Red Russian in the foreground, Green Zebra in the middle and Watermouth at the back. The San Marzanos are below:
And lastly, my courgette. I've been trying to get a photo of this for a while, but had to wait until all the leaves in the immediate vicinity were gone. You can see the vine coming out of the ground (it always surprises me just how dead it looks once it's dried and split, but evidently it still does the job), then it splits into two! Is this common? Both ends are equally sturdy and as productive as the average plant so I have two for the price of one.
* The spring onions and the onions (which are particularly weak looking) are still suffering from the purple aphids, it doesn't seem to matter how much I water them
* Whitefly is back, this time on the underside of the tender new purple broccoli seedlings and on some of the citrus. I will try to remember to spray with Neem tonight.
* I seem to have planted the basil a bit late (although it will still get there - mmm pesto) and the eggplant very late - must try harder next year!
Here's my poor exhausted tomato plants mid way through the harvest:
Red Russian in the foreground, Green Zebra in the middle and Watermouth at the back. The San Marzanos are below:
And lastly, my courgette. I've been trying to get a photo of this for a while, but had to wait until all the leaves in the immediate vicinity were gone. You can see the vine coming out of the ground (it always surprises me just how dead it looks once it's dried and split, but evidently it still does the job), then it splits into two! Is this common? Both ends are equally sturdy and as productive as the average plant so I have two for the price of one.
Growing Today:
*photoposts*,
basil,
broccoli,
courgette,
eggplant,
onion,
spring onion,
tomato
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04 February 2009
Dozens of tomatoes
Definitely time to sauce, but it's far too hot to be in the kitchen this evening! I have around 4 dozen tomatoes picked and ready to be turned into pasta sauce or tomato sauce, and did a big batch of ratatouille last weekend weekend. It might have to wait until Friday - since it's a public holiday I'll be home in the morning and might be able to summon the energy to be in the kitchen.
My San Marzano aren't quite as pretty now they're ripening - they're mottled. I don't think it's in a something-wrong-with-them way......
My San Marzano aren't quite as pretty now they're ripening - they're mottled. I don't think it's in a something-wrong-with-them way......
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