All Quiet on the Garden Front

Nothing much to report this week. The weather has been on the warm side again, with no rain in sight.

The original tomato plants have almost reached the end of their productive lives. It's likely that I'll pull them out over the next week or so. Any fruit left on them will have to ripen using the trick I learnt last week from ABC TV's Gardening Australia program. Meanwhile, I've left just one "Costoluto di Marmande" plant growing in the ground. That plant has a few almost-ripe tomatoes, and will probably be pulled out this week too. That will leave just two plants growing in pots. Despite the withering state of the plants, I managed to harvest eight tomatoes of the "Costoluto di Marmande" variety.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 31)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 25 after transplanting)

A Return to Normality

The weather finally settled down to "normal" autumn conditions after the unusual heat of the past two weeks.

As can be seen from the photos I've let the tomatoes go a bit. Grass has been growing between the plants. I will probably pull the plants out soon. I saw a useful tip on ABC TV's Gardening Australia program: if the plants have dried out with fruit still growing, pull the plants out and hang them upside down to let the fruit ripen. I've done that with some of the "Costoluto di Marmande" plants, and will probably do the same for the remaining plants from the first batch of seedlings planted in September. Meanwhile, this week I harvested eleven tomatoes of the "Costoluto di Marmande" variety, and two from the original plants.

I picked a couple of capsicums this week, with several more maturing quite nicely. Unfortunately my aubergines aren't looking so good, thanks to attacks by insects. I don't want to use any pesticides, so I'll have to see if there's an organic way to deal with the problem.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 30)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 24 after transplanting)
The "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes (week 14 after transplanting)

Equal. Hottest. April Day. Ever.

More unseasonably warm weather again this week. Believe it or not, yesterday's temperature matched last Saturday's, which was the highest April maximum on record: 36.9 degrees Celcius. Maybe those people talking about global warming might be onto something ;)

Another paltry tomato harvest this week: just one edible tomato from the original plants. Soon I'm going to have to decide when to pull out those seven month old tomato plants. Meanwhile I did get four tomatoes from the "Costoluto di Marmande" plants. As I mentioned previously, the new tomato plants probably won't last much beyond their first (admittedly bountiful) harvest.

I didn't pick any capsicums or aubergines this week, but I should have some in the next week or so.

In general, it's probably going to get rather quiet in the garden. I haven't had space (or time) to grow anything for winter, so I'll have to make do with the product of the various fruit trees in the garden: mandarines, persimmons, feijoas and lemons.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 29)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 23 after transplanting)
The "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes (week 13 after transplanting)

Hottest. April Day. Ever.

The weather this week started out nicely, but ended up decidedly nasty, culminating yesterday with the hottest ever April day in Adelaide on record: 36.9 degrees Celcius. Fortunately we got some much-needed rain this morning.

The unusual burst of hot weather could be the final blow for the original set of tomato plants. I watered them every day, but I didn't expect it to get so hot, and made the mistake of not putting up the shadecloth. Last week I harvested only one tomato from the original plantings.

Last week I picked the first of the "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes. It tasted very good, but it wasn't as sweet as the other varieties in the garden. But that could be because I picked it a bit early.

The capsicum plants are now firing on all (five) cylinders: the fifth plant has finally started to bear fruit. Meanwhile, I made some peperonata last Monday using the first two capsicums harvested, and it tasted great. Also of note, there's a capsicum plant from last year still growing, and it looks like it's fruiting too. It will be interesting to compare the taste.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to pay as much attention to the plants lately, so I hadn't noticed that some insects seem to have attacked some of the fruit on the capsicum and aubergine plants. I may have to throw away a couple of capsicums, but I will save the seeds at least. I've already saved tomato and aubergine seeds.

I haven't mentioned the basil plants for a while. They are still growing fine. I've left the plants that are growing in the ground go to seed, in the hope that they will self-propagate. These are the ones that I've been taking photos of, but I'm going to stop including pictures due to the lack of visible changes. Meanwhile, the basil plants growing in pots are also growing well, and I've been using the leaves from these plants for eating.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 28)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 22 after transplanting)
The "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes (week 12 after transplanting)