Gardening At The Junction

Seed Grown Rhubarb

2012-01-15T14:06:00.000+11:00

I planted the two seed grown plants this morning that I grew, which are for varieties usually found in the USA and UK., so hopefully they will establish better in the ground. I will be trying for my own seed, but not this year, as they haven't got a sizable crown at this stage that would support the flower. I had terrible germination on the seed for both of these plants, so hopefully when I get to save my own seed, they'll be a bit more viable.

Some of the Vegies picked so far.

2011-12-29T10:12:00.001+11:00

I've been a bit slack posting, but here are some photos to show what we've been picking in recent weeks.

Beans - Latest photo

2011-11-30T15:00:00.001+11:00

Here's what the Beans look like after the recent rains.

Growing Beans

2011-11-27T12:58:00.001+11:00

Our Beans, both the green Bonaparte and the Butter Beans are growing well.

Garlic Out - Beans In

2011-10-09T19:39:00.000+11:00

After removing the Garlic, I have bulked up the soil with one cubic metre of Mushroom Compost and sowed Bean seed, plus 10 Capsicum/Peppers in its place. It is hoped that sowing Legumes will be fine after having the Rust on the Garlic, so fingers crossed it all works out fine.

I sowed Bonaparte Beans and Butter Beans seed, so it's just a wait and see game now, hoping it all comes up OK. Not much else happening apart from swapping a few tomato plants that looked a bit worse for wear, plus I have sown more tomato seed to use as spare plants if any look like they aren't growing well.

Garlic Rust

2011-09-29T10:24:00.004+10:00

This is as bad as it gets in a vegetable garden situation - so what would you do.

You have about 260-280 maturing Garlic growing in your garden, then about 8-10 weeks out from harvesting, it happens - Garlic Rust, the incurable fungus that strikes certain Alliums.

This week I got to find out what I would do, a decision that was very difficult to make - I removed them, the whole lot and now I'm removing the mulch that surrounded them. I know that I won't be able to grow Garlic here again for at least 3 years, hopefully the spores will only hang around in the ground half that time. What a blow, an absolute waste, but that's how it goes - all in the name of garden hygiene.

I had sourced seed from a Garlic Grower at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, Australian Garlic from the Supermarket and bulbs from Digger's, so if my infection source came in on seed - who do I blame.

A lesson learnt I guess.

Rust on Leaves

Rust on Leaves

Binned Garlic Plants

All Done

2011-09-26T14:35:00.011+10:00

This morning I tied the plants to the cages to stop any wind damage, then I put on a good layer of Sugar Cane mulch then pruned, labeled and watered. All I need do now is to give them a regular watering and wait for the fruit to grow, how easy does it get.

The last six tomato plants were 'squeezed in' after this shot was taken, so I now have 21 plants in this caged area, while 17 plants take up the area I have the determinate (short) tomatoes in plus Jan's 2 Cherry tomato plants which I don't look after.. Now to plant the Gogosari Peppers.

What's in the planting holes?

2011-09-25T16:39:00.009+10:00

When I planted the tomato plants this year, I dug a hole with the shovel so I could fit the Aggi pipe which I use to water the plants deep down when they get a bit bigger, then when I started to back fill the hole, I added some A&C, Potash and some Tomato & Vegetable Food then mixed with some soil. I planted the tomato plants deeper this year (I took off the Cotyledons and two leaves above) and covered with the rich garden soil. Once ready to water in at the finish, I tossed on about a dessertspoonful of Epsom Salts to each plant and when the water hit, it dissolved instantly around the root ball.

All being well I won't have killed them with all the additives, but I'm a risk taker and it should be fine. :-)

Here's how the slotted aggi pipe looks when fitted beneath the tomato plant - a great idea for deep watering the tomato plants - which they absolutely love when it gets hotter.

Slotted Aggi Pipe

A 45-50cm length of pipe fitted beneath a tomato plant.

Tomatoes Planted Today

2011-09-24T15:41:00.007+10:00

I planted out more of the tomato plants today, but still have just a few more to go.

Here's where I'm up to at the moment, with these varieties planted in my caged area so far:-

Black Cherry
Ozgrow Cherry
Malakhitovaya Shkatulka
Chocolate Stripes
Nicoleta
Morado
Latah
Giant Belgium
Greek Witness
Yellow Kotlas (RL)
Grandfather Ashlock

The plants were planted a bit deeper with the cotyledons and the three leaves above them removed. In the hole was a mix of A&C, Potash and Tomato & Vegetable Fertiliser. Once the plants were in the ground, they got some Epsom Salts as well as a good watering in.

Salted Tomatoes

2011-09-19T19:06:00.002+10:00

I have now got 4 x Little Heart tomato plants growing in the ground and I'll soon start a little experiment on two of them to see what difference if any, dosing them with Epsom Salts makes. I have two in cages and two staked, so the two in cages will get the treatment.

I'll post photos here of the tomato plants when I start this 'test'.

Who Dares Wins

2011-09-18T14:10:00.008+10:00

I guess if you don't give it a go, you'll never know.

That's what I was thinking when I planted out 17 of my 'Determinate' tomato seedlings today and to be truthful, this Spring weather is too good to pass up on and the plants may as well be taking advantage of it. One thing I've learnt with doing my Horticulture Course is that you have to 'think standing up' and not follow leads that others set. Don't follow what I do here as it may not work for you, as I take risks and have been lucky - so far.

What are in the ground so far are:-

4 x Little Heart
4 x Totem
3 x First in the Field
2 x Caro Rich
2 x Sprite
2 x Siletz

Wind and Frost is all I have to worry about now. Here are a some photos to show the Mulch going down, but it has a couple of things under it as a 'back up' for the season.

Some A & C added along with some Potash

Next some Sugar Cane Mulch

Finished product.

Perfect Score -Again

2011-09-14T19:35:00.004+10:00

Well, I got my Weeds Assignment back today after being marked and another perfect score - 100% the result. Wow.!!!!

I do have my fingers crossed for a good result with my 'Pests & Diseases' Assignment as it took the longest to do as consists of 91 pages in total.

New Rhubarb

2011-09-10T21:40:00.003+10:00

I have a new seed grown Rhubarb with the variety name of Timperley Early, from the U.K. It's a green and red stem, so I won't know for a while how it tastes, but I'll grow it anyway.

Here's a photo of it today.

More Tomato Photo's

2011-09-10T11:00:00.001+10:00

Here area some more tomato photo from this season.

How to Tell Your Tomato's Leaf Type

2011-09-10T08:35:00.003+10:00

Here's how to tell if your seedlings are Potato Leaf or Regular Leaf at an early stage. If you look at the top photo at the leaf on the right, you'll see it is a Potato Leaf, with smooth margins, then if you look at the lower photo you will see the toothed margin of the Regular Leaf.

Potato Leaf

Regular Leaf

Some of My Babies

2011-09-10T08:22:00.004+10:00

Yes, I have been slack and not posted more about my tomato plants, but I have been busy with other things, so I do have an excuse. Here are the latest babies in the hothouse to start with, then I'll post other photos later to keep you updated.

Micro TomVillage Red

Whippersnapper

Fargo
Vodar
Striped German

Working with a Tech

2011-08-13T11:56:00.008+10:00

I've been doing some work (both voluntary and in class) in the TAFE Glasshouse over the past month or so and on Thursday I got asked if I would like to assist the Tech from 'PowerPlants' to do a service and calibrate the Fertigation Unit. For those that don't know what a Fertigation Unit is, then just think of it as a machine that mixes the fertilisers and injects it into the water that feeds the hydroponic feeding system for the Tomato and Capsicum crops. (something we touched on in our Irrigation and Fertigation Classes). The work was fairly easy and we replaced the EC sensors and scoured the EC tubes with sand, plus other cleaning to valves and injectors. The Fertigation System is connected to a computer and can be controlled by staff here at Cranbourne, or from a company in Holland that developed the system.

Part of the system can be seen here.

Grandfather for Ray

2011-08-13T10:39:00.006+10:00

I asked on Ozgrow for some seeds for a 'Grandfather Ashlock' tomato and received a reply from my friend Ray to say he had a small few that were getting a bit old I could have to see if I could get them to grow. In return for the seeds, I would give him some fresh seeds back at the end of the season. From the 3 seeds I sowed, I managed to get 2 to germinate, so hopefully I can get them through to be able to save seeds from them.

Here's one of the two seedlings growing, notice that these are Potato Leaf type tomatoes.

The Rhubard awakens

2011-08-13T10:26:00.005+10:00

I have about 30 Rhubarb plants in all size pots, most of which went dormant over the Winter, but they are now wakening and putting on new growth. A lot of them were seed grown last season and they managed a crown before dormancy, while the 'old' variety I have never slept and one plant is throwing a flower, which I'll let grow because this is a very sweet variety Rhubarb, which may show the same traits in seed grown plants. The old story goes - that seed grown Rhubarb never comes as true as what a division grown plant does, but that's yet to be seen here.

A flower on my old variety.

A Market Garden grown variety.

Seed grown and overwintered.

A Rarity in Cranbourne

2011-08-13T09:32:00.006+10:00

How would you like to have this growing in your garden?

This is Hibiscus insularis, an Australian Native that originates from Phillip Island, not the Phillip Island that is in Westernport Bay, but the Phillip Island in the Norfolk Island Group in the Pacific Ocean. I have some cuttings down for this plant, along with some seeds and I am expecting to get a plant going, hard and all as they are to grow.

Here's where I'm up to at the moment, not including the cuttings. I have had 5 seeds germinate, 2 mysteriously eaten off during the night shortly after surfacing, but 3 are still hanging in albeit ever so slowly to grow in our cold Winter.

Potato Leaf Tomato or Not?

2011-08-13T09:24:00.003+10:00

Can you pick if your tomato seedling is a potato leaf or a regular leaf? (This only applies to those who grow their own plants from seed.)

Once the first true leaf starts to show itself, that's when you can pick the difference. Here's two photos to show what I mean, the top is the regular leaf, while the bottom is the potato leaf.

See what I mean.

An extra Leaf doesn't mean a better plant.

2011-08-13T09:09:00.004+10:00

Each year when I sow my Tomato and Capsicum related seeds, I quite often end up with tricot and quadcot seedlings. A Tricot is a 3 seed leaf seedling, while a Quadcot is a 4 leaf seedling, which some believe will make the plant stronger and do extra things as it grows and fruits, but I've never seen any difference in all the years I've grown tomatoes. This year it was beginning to look like I wouldn't get a single tricot, but I managed a single in a tomato and a single in a Gogosari. I watched the tomato tricot when it grew its first true leaves and sure enough an extra leaf grew (on an extra stem) which doesn't usually happen, so I'll probably grow it and follow it through the season.

Here it is as it grows.

Online Results - My Course

2011-07-18T12:34:00.002+10:00

I have participated in and completed 7 Course Modules in my TAFE Course so far this year and I have just checked my progressive results online, since the mid year Semester break. In all 7 Modules I have 'Competency Attained', which shows I am on track to finishing with good grades for the whole course. I won't know what the points are for all of the subjects I have taken, but I do know that in Irrigation and Fertigation I managed a 99% in both. Added to this is my attendance in Class with 100% and no days lost for any reason.

I Have Babies

2011-07-16T20:40:00.000+10:00

I've germinated my tomato seeds a few weeks early this year due to enrollment in my Horticulture Course and while I have a semester break I thought I'd take advantage of it and sow my seeds. I had a couple of varieties that were slow to show, so I put down a couple more varieties to replace them, but as it happens, the slow ones grew. We're in the middle of our Winter here and the new seedlings will spend a couple of weeks on the heat pad before getting pricked out into individual cups.

Varieties are mostly ones we've grown before, with the exception of a few I will grow for seed, eg. Latah, First in the Field, plus Grandfather Ashlock which I'm growing for seed for Raymondo while he is busy with the Australian breeding for the Dwarf Project.

Here are a few of the babies.

Subject Results

2011-05-24T21:50:00.001+10:00

On Monday 23 May I received my final results for the combined Course subjects of Irrigation and Fertigation - I got a very nice 99% as my overall mark. My teacher was very pleased with my overall score and the effort put in - including the 100% for my Irrigation Assignment.

All I need now is to scoop a few more high ones and I'll be pleasantly pleased with my efforts for the year. Good results don't mean getting a job in the nursery industry - as I have found out lately, 'especially locally'.

I'm at School

2011-04-14T08:31:00.012+10:00

I'm now at School doing my Certificate 3 in Production Horticulture Course - can't you tell. Here are a few of my favourite formulas. :-)

E x ET = W

RAW ÷ W = F

RAW ÷ PR X 60 = RT

Rhubarb

2011-03-05T20:48:00.004+11:00

I've taken a fancy to growing Rhubarb from seed and Crown divisions and so far have had mixed results with what I have to show. My main varieties to date have been Sydney Crimson and Victoria, with seed sown for Paragon, French Harvest Red and Champagne Early but only the French Harvest germinating for some reason.

I did manage to get an old plant given to me, but I'm unsure as to what variety it is, but has deep red stalks and hasn't looked back after me attacking it with a knife and getting 11 healthy plants growing from it. Then while away last week I happened upon a Commercially grown red stalk crown, so it's potted up and looking good, the Rooster Booster works wonders on picking them up when they look a bit 'limp'.

The first of my Crowns cut from a gifted plant.

More from the same plant as above.

My Commercially grown crown.

Collecting Seed in the Garden

2011-02-15T13:45:00.010+11:00

Collecting seed from anything you grow in the garden is a simple task, but not everyone is enthusiastic enough to get into the habit. Amongst what I've saved this season are some Russell Lupin seeds (below) which are easy to collect now that the flowers are finished. All of these seeds are from the plants we grew to attract bees to our garden, so really no effort involved and a great result without even trying.

How easy is that.Russell Lupin Seed Pods

The end result - but not all.

Or maybe the 28 varieties of 'bagged blossom' Tomatoes that I've saved seed from this season.

Almost Done

2011-02-13T19:48:00.008+11:00

With the tomato season coming to a close for us here, I spent the afternoon pulling out tomato plants, but still have a few plants left that I want to get at least one fruit from.

Here's some from today, including an almost Black/Red with a beautiful sweet flavour and no sign of acidity along with a nice clear yellow.

These are Negrillo de Almoguera and Merciano Amarillo, both from Spain together with Caro Rich and Chocolate Stripes.

Negrillo de Almoguera 9/10

Merciano Amarillo 8/10

Caro Rich 8/10

Chocolate Stripes 8/10

Our Top Tasting Tomatoes 2010/11

2011-02-10T20:57:00.007+11:00

We've started to pull out our tomato plants as quite frankly, we're getting sick of eating so many. The season here has been the best we've had in years and all plants have produced abundant amounts of fresh tomatoes of every shape and colour.

Our very best tasting tomatoes this season has to go equally to Morado and Malakhitovaya Shkatulka, which are both fabulous and get a 10/10 from us.

Here's Malakhitovaya Shkatulka we cut earlier - notice how big it is on the scales.

Off To School

2011-02-04T23:54:00.004+11:00

Monday the 7th February 2011 sees me start a year of study at the local Chisholm Institute, where I will be doing my Certificate 3 in Production Horticulture Course. Depending on the workload as to how much gardening I'll get time to do, but I feel competent enough to say that I should cope with the course subjects, plus I may even get some time for propagating some Tuberous Begonia's.

It's Tomato Season here.

2011-02-02T15:59:00.019+11:00

As you will soon see, it's tomato growing season here at The Junction and we're having a great season too. We've had a mild and moist Summer here this season and together with some humid weather, it has been great for tomato production. I've posted a great selection of the ones we liked and have rated them out of ten, to our taste.

Japanische Zwiebel

First on the list are Japanische Zwiebel which translates to Japanese Onion which I've been waiting on and just picked these earlier in the week and as far as taste goes they're nice, but we'd rate them 6.5/10. They have a firm flesh which soften when ripe.

Ozgrow Cherry 9/10

Next on the list is a pink Cherry that grew as something else, so rather than just call it an unknown because I can't find the true name, I'm going to name this one Ozgrow Cherry after my garden forum. A lovely tasting cherry.

McSee's Grape 8.5/10

Then comes another unknown from a stray seed, this time it's a Grape tomato so as it doesn't have a name either, I'm going to call it McSee's Grape. I like this one very much and think I'll be growing it again. Taste is great.

As there are so many photos to post, I'll just add their names under the photos and if there's any further comment to make about any of them.

Ghost Cherry 8.5/10

Powers Heirloom 8/10

Miel du Mexique (Honey of Mexico) 8/10

Malakhitovaya Shkatulka 10/10

Morado 10/10

Old Ivory Egg 7.5/10

Black Cherry 9/10

Chocolate Cherry 8/10

Totem 9/10

Sara Black 8/10

Little Heart 7.5/10

Le Case de Apulia 8/10

Grub's Mystery Green 9/10

Rosado de Ademuz 8/10

UK2000 9.5/10

And these aren't all of the varieties grown here this season.

First Chilli for 2011

2011-01-29T00:11:00.008+11:00

Jan picked the first of the Chillies today, with Garden Salsa being the first to turn red. A nibble on the end gave the comment that it tasted like an apple.

Here are a couple that aren't quite ready, but will be soon.

Rocoto Jaune

Doux des Landes

Hierro

More to come on the Chillies & Capsicums.

I See Blue

2010-12-25T21:48:00.006+11:00

My Russell Lupins are flowering at the moment and from my Pink flowered plants I have a ring-in with soft Blue flowers, not that I mind though as it is a change to having about 4 shades of Pink.

Here is a Pink and a Blue flower.

Tall Tomato Plants This Season

2010-12-25T21:41:00.001+11:00

With the milder wetter Spring and Summer to date, my tomato plants have grown so big, they are 10cm (4") from the roof of my bird net enclosure which is 2.4m (8ft) high. On a couple of the plants, I have fitted blossom bags that are 2.1m (7ft) off the ground.

One of the main culprits is Rosado de ademuz.

Our Zucchini's This Year

2010-12-21T21:36:00.002+11:00

Here's the Zucchini varieties we're growing this season. Black Jack, Genovese & Gold Bullion. The Gold Bullion are a prolific producer of fruits, with as many as 30+ showing on the bush at one time, in different stages of maturity.

"Hotlips" or Rocoto Tree Chilli

2010-12-21T12:47:00.005+11:00

I met a fellow stall holder at a Market last week and he was telling me about his "Hotlips" or Rocoto Tree Chilli that he has growing and loaded with fruit all year, so I needed some tubes from him, so visited him this morning. This is an amazing plant, it grows through a Melbourne Winter and is currently loaded in flowers and fruit in all sizes to almost fully ripe. The plant in the photos is approx 1.5 x 1.5m and doing well in wet clay soil, but can grow up to 3.0m high.

I came home with two tiny seedlings that I'll grow in pots for a while to get some size. I can see these will be a good seller in the future. Without even tasting them I could tell they were very hot, as when I was rinsing the seeds, I could feel my throat burning from the fumes coming from the seeds.

http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/Perennialveg/rocoto.htm

Snow Peas

2010-12-20T14:27:00.002+11:00

We over planted our Snow Peas this season, so one lot have been left to mature on the bushes/vines for seed for next year.This variety is Mammoth, which will hopefully fill out and give us plenty of seed.

Why not come visit.

2010-12-20T13:57:00.002+11:00

Interested in gardening and want to see how we do it here in Australia, then why not come for a visit - www.ozgrow.com

Bagging Tomato Blossoms

2010-12-20T13:12:00.009+11:00

Anyone that knows me, will also know that I am committed to saving the purest tomato seeds that I possibly can, as I hate growing a plant for 6 months only to find it is from 'crossed' seed.

I'm re-posting this useful topic from my Garden Forum, (www.ozgrow.com) so that it is available to all who read my Blog who grow Tomatoes or Chillies, as it is suitable for both.

As an aid to the new growers who want to collect their own tomato seed, I'll try and give a brief run down on how I bag my tomato blossom to get the 'pure' fruit for seed saving, as doing it and writing about doing is not easy to explain in full. Assuming you have already got the organza bags, ribbon and tomato plants that are starting to flower, you're ready to start.

Working close to your plant, it is best to select the flower truss you want to fit the bag to.

Taking your marking ribbon, tie a running loop so it can be fitted to the stem of the truss. If you take each end of the ribbon, cross over and pass through 'twice', like the first part of doing a bow (as photo). Then slip over the truss and pull the ends until a loose fit on the stem. The idea with the running loop is, that when pulled to a loose fit around the stem, as the truss enlarges, the loop will slip open without strangling the truss and not come undone in the long process.

Take your organza bag and fold the top part back, so that everything above the pull string is back over the bag, this will give you a better fit on the stem when the bag is fitted.

Now the tricky part of the bagging process, to fit the bag over the unopened flowers, so that the bag fits onto the stem and the flowers are actually inside that part of the bag when the strings get pulled. Once the bag is pulled tight, grab each side of the bag and pull apart to give a more open area within the bag.

Now it's just a waiting game for the flower to set fruit, which will be noticeable when small tomatoes start forming inside the bag. When all the flowers have fruit, remove the bag. Here's a bag with fruit showing on some of the flower stems. Hopefully from your bag you'll get quite a few fruit to use for your seed. Just remember when the time comes that the fruit with the ribbon are the ones you are saving for seed.

After the bag comes off your truss should look similar to this.

Washing Instructions.

Remember if reusing the bags, that they actually hold quite a lot of pollen in the fibres and need to be washed to remove it. A tip for washing your bags is to use some Nappy San in a half bucket of warm/hot water, then add a squirt of Domestos to the water and it will assist with the Pollen release from the Organza. Don't soak the bags with any bleach as it will make them deteriorate. Rinse well then hang to dry.

Striving for Purer Seed

2010-12-13T19:30:00.004+11:00

In an effort to collect a purer strain of seed from my Chillies this season, I've decided to glue rather than bag flowers, to stop them getting cross pollinated. The idea is that using a PVA Glue will actually hold the flower petals together allowing self pollination to occur, before the new emerging fruit splits the flower as it grows, making the seeds as pure as they'd be if a bag was tied over it.

Today I put the idea to practice and glued some flowers on my Rocoto Jaune Chilli plant.

For the sake of this experiment, I'm using a PVA Craft Glue.

Ready to dip.

Just dipped.

Glue now dry.

First Flower

2010-12-12T22:00:00.002+11:00

As a follow up to my previous post on Russell Lupins, here is my first flower from those planted in the garden.

New from Old

2010-11-22T21:51:00.003+11:00

Have you been saving your laterals from your tomato plants??

This is a very simple way to increase the amount of tomato plants you grow in your garden, with very minimal effort, but the reward is huge.

You may ask if this is the same as taking a cutting from a shrub, the answer is yes, all you need do is to cut the lateral with a knife, lessen the head growth a little, then plant it. I prefer to grow in soil rather than potting mix and usually find somewhere where the sun won't stress it too much. You can use a hormone powder to treat it, but it will work without just as well. A cutting of about 150mm long is ideal, then use a stick or similar to make a hole, then plant and water - then wait.

Sowing Seeds - Flowers would you believe.

2010-11-15T20:25:00.009+11:00

Well, I've bitten the bullet this season and completely moved away from propagating cuttings and have now taken up 'trying' to grow flowers from seed instead. It's a bit early to say one way or another, but I do have a few things to show for my time to date. First up I grew Russell Lupins, which are doing really well for me at the moment.

Then came seeds for the likes of the Snapdragons, Petunia's, Alyssum, Carnation, Cosmos, Lavatera, Nasturtium's, Gazania's, Marigolds etc, etc. some bought and some given to me by my sister in law Pam. Then I've ordered three special lots of pelleted forms of Petunia seeds, so I can see another sowing as soon as the parcel arrives from Sydney.

In The Garden After The Rain

2010-11-15T16:00:00.005+11:00

We've had 40mm of lovely rain here over the weekend and the garden is looking a treat at the moment, so I thought I'd post a few photo's of what's growing at the moment.

Bounty Peas

Peas in their pods.

Coloured Silverbeet

Miel du Mexique Tomato (Honey of Mexico)

Tomato plants in the garden.

Bathtub Strawberries.

Jostaberry plants in pots.

Parsnip & Carrots

Baby Beetroot.

Black Jack Zucchini.

Jostaberry bush.

Last but not least, here is one for my Canadian and UK friends, Kirsti & Leslie as these are my Burnside's Yellow Romeo
and Japanese Onion Tomato plants.

Bush Beans & Snow Peas

2010-10-05T09:22:00.004+11:00

I've finally got something to show from my bush bean seeds that I planted 'ages' ago, but maybe it was too cold for them, or as I've been told 'too deep'. Either way most of the row has germinated and should now grow like they should.

Close by is a row of Snow Peas which are just starting to hold the trellis with their tendrils.

Left Overs

2010-10-05T08:11:00.003+11:00

Some left over plants from my stall at the Sunday Market. These are mostly Tomato and Sweet Peppers....

Planting Started

2010-10-05T07:50:00.004+11:00

I planted a few tomato plants in the garden yesterday and just to be different I planted two plants per hole on some of the rarer European varieties, like this one from Spain.

Merciano Amarillo

A Single Seed

2010-10-04T21:13:00.005+11:00

Amongst the tomato seeds this year, was a single seed for a tomato variety with the name Malakhitovaya Shkatulka which was sent to me from Scotland, which I managed to germinate successfully and actually planted it in the ground today (4/10).

The start of a new growing season

2010-10-04T20:59:00.007+11:00

We'll, lots have been happening here in the past few months with me and not the garden, so I have neglected to update the blog, so now for some catch up. July 28 saw the tomato seeds sown, which include plants for my October Sale.

Here's a couple of photos of some that were germinated.

Chillies almost Done

2010-08-14T16:46:00.003+10:00

I've almost pricked out and potted up the 300+ Chilli seedlings I'm growing this season. They'll manage another week or so in the hothouse before taking residence in the Cold Frames as the Tomato seedlings are a little over a week away from being pricked out and will take the place of the Chillies.

Countdown

2010-07-24T12:32:00.001+10:00

Four (4) days to go before I sow my tomato seeds for the season. I can hardly wait. :-)

Gotcha

2010-07-12T21:06:00.001+10:00

I lost several Eggplant seedlings last night and could find no sign of the culprit, so decided to check again tonight and found this snail on the tray next to the Eggplants. A small snail with a big appetite - until tonight.

A Sight for Sore Eyes

2010-07-05T15:46:00.005+10:00

The start of another season and it's always nice to see the new seedlings emerge in the seed trays, like those in the photo below. These are mostly sweet Peppers and Capsicums, with a few Long Cayenne Chillies amongst them. This is one of four trays in use this season, the rest are mainly hotter varieties.

Eggplants and Chillies 2010

2010-06-27T11:23:00.001+10:00

Well I'm off and running with my Chillies/Capsicum/Eggplants as I've sowed the seed for my Sale stock, with the following varieties done.

Eggplant
Vittoria
Thailand White
Chinese Pickling
Rosita
Striped Toga
Listada de Gandia
Udumulapet

Chillies/Capsicums
Californian Wonder Capsicum
Ariane Hybrid Capsicum
Turkish Cappia Pepper
Long Cayenne Chilli
Corno di Toro
Jimmy Nardello Pepper
Giant Aconcagua
Gogosari Pepper
Red Romanian Chilli
Little Red Devil Chilli
Pepperone Cayenna
Green Ball Chilli
Thai Birdseye Chilli
Aji Amarillo Chilli
Takanotsume Chilli
Gindungo Cahombo

Today, I have my first baby, lets hope the rest aren't far behind..

Seed Saving - Vittoria Eggplant/Aubergine

2010-06-08T20:30:00.006+10:00

Well, third time lucky and my 'Vittoria' Eggplants have given me mature seeds. I left the fruit on the plant until the snails decided they were tasty before seed saving.

After posting the above, I happened on an article on how to save seeds from Eggplants/Aubergines, making the task easier, so I went and tried it on another Eggplant. The result is the lot of seeds on the right, using the new method. This method uses a large container of water and after cutting the fruit into chunks, simply sift through the flesh with your fingers and extract the seeds while immersed in the water, so simple I could hardly believe it. Just a matter of getting the seeds from the bottom of the container and onto a filter paper to dry.

At Last - An Un-named Variety Ripens

2010-05-29T16:51:00.005+10:00

Here's some Peppers from seven tiny seedlings I had given to me after Xmas last year. They are very mild on the end, but can get hot towards the seed end and come in the oddest array of shapes and sizes. I haven't been able to name them yet.

Edit** - I've been asked to explain the ribbons on some of the above fruit. The ribbon denotes a flower blossom that was bagged for seed saving purposes giving fruit with 'pure' seeds.

What's Growing?

2010-05-20T11:36:00.006+10:00

I have over 100 Chilli/Pepper plants in the hothouse which I'm hoping will survive through our Winter and will give me advanced seedlings when Spring arrives and some warmer weather. That's my goal at this stage and the plants are still growing well.

I took a few outside to get a photo, but it didn't work too well, but here is the result. I managed a few of the smaller plants, but too many varieties to get them all. Plants like Joe E Parker, Aji Lima, Beaver Dam are starting to get some size to them and I'll need to rethink how I'll stop them from getting spindly being so cramped. Maybe the smaller plants will need to go into the cold frame now so I can spread things out a bit.

A few more photos, some of these are from my friends in the Northern Hemisphere.

Hot or Not?

2010-04-12T13:11:00.007+10:00

These Chillies are available in Supermarkets, this one is just listed as 'Yellow Chilli - Hot', but when Jan taste tested them, she though they were fairly mild (3/10), or maybe got a cool one.

So why are they listed as hot - Do you know them?

Taken on camera in Mobile phone.

Vittoria Eggplant (Aubergine)

2010-04-08T19:16:00.001+10:00

I decided to save some seeds today, so I sacrificed a ripe eggplant and set to work.

Then about 30 'slow' minutes later, I ended up with these.

What's In The Hothouse

2010-04-07T19:27:00.004+10:00

You wouldn't think we're heading into our Winter here if you saw what I have growing in my hothouse at the present time. There are over 130 Chilli plants, with about 32 varieties, plus 6 Tomato plants and they'll be joined soon by a couple of mature plants that will be potted and will 'over-winter' with the others. Some think I'm mad, but my strategy is simply to come out of Winter with mature plants, some of which will be sold, some given away to friends, some will be kept as stock plants. Well that's the plan anyway.

Here are some of the plants:-

Anaheim Chilli

Beaver Dam Chilli

A Volunteer than came up in a pot in the hothouse.

Siletz

What's about for seed you ask.

2010-04-06T23:50:00.012+10:00

Here's a recent purchase, an un-named variety of a long Cayenne type from a Fruit & Veg Shop near where we ate lunch in Black Rock and I'm hoping to recoup my 20 cents with a lot of seeds.

Our friend wants us to rate these chillies, but they aren't going near my mouth. Extracting seeds from these is bad enough as the fumes coming from the seeds when wet make my throat burn.

These are 'Red Romanian'.

I seeded my long Cayenne chilli, so it would seem it was a worthwhile venture for the 20 cents it cost.

These will warm up the cockles of your heart, but don't touch your eyes after washing seed as they burn badly. I got these as 'Thai Silk', but it's a name I cannot find anything on.

On the sweet side - Turkish Cappia Peppers on the left and Corno di Toro on the right.

Ready, Set, Go.

2010-02-23T16:15:00.004+11:00

I've decided to start sowing a portion of my Chilli/Pepper seedlings now (late February) instead of June/July when I'd normally start. The reason is that I want to try and get some sizable plants by the time Spring rolls around, giving me a head start with my stock plants that I'll use for seed saving purposes. I think I have about 30+ varieties sown and currently have about half germinated as sowing has been staggered.

Here's something that always amuses people, "Tricots", or seedlings with 3 seed leaves or cotyledons. Of the 7 seedlings in the photo, 3 are tricots.

What's Being Picked This Week.

2010-02-08T16:50:00.008+11:00

As the Tomato season winds down here there isn't a great deal to be picked in the garden at present. Here's what came in over the weekend and tonight.

Some Gogosari Peppers from Romania

Some Red Robin tomatoes

Or maybe some Father Tom tomatoes

Here's a half a bucket of Cherries just picked, which comprise Ida Gold, Totem & Tiny Tim with a couple of my latest cross. Given good growing conditions, you'll be well rewarded with any of these. Black Cherry are in a league of their own as far as taste goes and are good producers as well.

Here are a couple of Takanotsume Chillies

Not forgetting the 'Vittoria' Eggplant.

Zucchini - Saving some seed.

2010-02-04T19:25:00.006+11:00

We had this given to us and although a little larger than expected, will still use and try and save some seed along the way. This is a 'Romanesco' Zucchini, so should be a good addition to the garden next season.

Picked This Evening

2010-02-04T19:20:00.002+11:00

A few of what else we grow here. These include Jimmy Nardello Peppers, Barkol Chillies, Ariane Hybrid Capsicum, Gogosari Pepper, Balassa F1 Hybrid Paprika.

I'm Not Complaining.

2010-02-03T10:35:00.005+11:00

I grew a tomato plant for seed, just based on the name only and bagged lots of trusses early on in the season only to find that the plant is a cross. I'm not complaining as this plant was a heavy producer of golf ball size red fruit which taste pretty good, so I'll use this seed for my sales next season.

These Got Away

2010-02-02T19:57:00.004+11:00

These couple of "All Green Bush" Zucchini's that grew too large to really do anything with, so I decided to save some seeds from them. Little did I know at the time, but there were no mature seeds in either of these two fruit. There was a third fruit from the plant which I have now obtained seeds from. This will save buying seeds next season, if we decide to grow them again.

Village Red - Update

2010-01-25T17:00:00.003+11:00

This is more the size I'm expecting from this variety, although the shape could be a little better. This is my 'Village Red' tomato which has Casey's Pure Yellow in its parentage. Earlier fruit were more heart shaped as shown in an earlier posting, but this one is more oblate if you can call it that.

Weight here is 472 grams.

Some of The Different Ones this Year

2010-01-25T16:45:00.006+11:00

Something different for the home garden and maybe something you're interested in trying, is this great little tomato called Konig Humbert (King Humbert), with supposed resistance to Wilt & Blight.

More to come on this one I think.

Here is a nice little tomato for those who want a good producer with heaps of flavour, this one is 'Le Case di Apulia'.

And for something to cook with, why not try 'Speckled Roman', one of the many paste type tomatoes.

Here's 'Siberian Cherry', one from the Digger Collection which I bought on a whim at the B Store one day. Taste is about 8/10 to be fair and a solid little tomato which will be great in salads etc.

The Paradise Tomato

2010-01-25T16:31:00.004+11:00

I grew a Hungarian tomato with the name 'Paradicsom' (translated to Paradise) this year with good results before the hot 44C burnt off a lot of my tomato plants in the yard here. I've managed to obtain enough seed to keep me going next season as I think I'll include them in my plant sales in October. They are a sweet tomato, very meaty and although not really big this year, I do think they'll get to their normal size next season. The good thing with them is that they are a determinate plant, growing about 1 metre high, so what more can you ask for.

Here's what it looks like:-

Something Odd Here

2010-01-19T11:13:00.009+11:00

Towards the end of 2008 I received some seed from a friend in the UK, for a tomato called 'Tamina' which I grew one plant late in the season and managed one fruit as the plant succumbed to the excessive heat of our Summer. The plant was a Potato Leaf Indeterminate, which seemed true to form - as you can see here.

This season I grew just one plant and we have been gathering some very sweet, golf ball size fruit from it, not previously noticing something very odd about the plant until I decided to post photos of it on the forum. As you may know, Tamina is a Potato Leaf variety, but the plant I have growing is a Regular Leaf, which has got me thinking that there is something amiss here with this plant.

I suspect there would have been either a cross, or a mix up with seed at my friends garden, so I now have this 'Odd' variety with sweet tasting fruit, that I can't really call Tamina, so looks like they will have to take on a name, so I've come up with something appropriate. I've named these 'Surrey Cross', because the cross most likely occurred in my friend Mark's garden in Surrey, England.
Oh well it was a good name at the time.

A Different Year - A Different Shape

2010-01-19T10:52:00.008+11:00

Last season I grew out a self sown tomato which I first called Red Velvet as shown in a previous post, which was a globe shaped fruit as you can see in the photo in that post.
This year the very first fruit showed that it had changed shape and was looking more and more heart shaped in its appearance.

The interesting thing first noticed when looking at the fruit on the three plants I grew this year, was that two plants had oblate fruit, while this one had a mix of oblate and heart shape. For my seed saving efforts this season from this variety, I have selected only seed from the heart shape fruit, maybe not a wise move but as only at F2 I'll see what happens next season.

I still have my work cut out for me with growing this tomato I've called 'Village Red' - but it's all good fun.

Odd Fruit - Fused Blossoms

2009-12-19T11:40:00.004+11:00

Often you get the misshaped tomato that is the result of fused blossoms. Here are a few photos from this seasons crops.

New Tomato Name

2009-09-24T16:22:00.000+10:00

I had previously called my newest tomato 'Red Velvet', but I've been informed from Tania (Tatiana) and Carolyn Male that the name is already being used in one form or another, so a new name was needed. It's now called 'Village Red', so I hope this time it will last a bit longer than the last one.

What's Growing You Ask

2009-09-05T19:56:00.002+10:00

Here are some 'Totem' seedlings sitting in the cold frame waiting for someone to purchase them. They are a short plant and grow about 30cm high with loads of cherry size fruit.

Totem

In the hothouse I have just about pricked out the last remaining Gogosari Peppers, which originate from Romania and will make a welcome addition to my plant list next year. The fruit looks like a tomato when ripe and I have been assured they are sweet and tasty.

Here's one of the babies emerging.

Gogosari Pepper

Also something that has been potted on, is some Purple Explosion Chillies, which are an ornamental variety with small hot fruit. Here you can see a genetic mutation where two colour forms have grown, I managed 2 green and 12 purple seedlings.

Explosion Chillies

I haven't sat down yet and got the final figures on Tomatoes and Chilli/Peppers, but it looks to be around 650-700 maybe more in total plants. I'll get that done next week where I can sort the good from the bad and bin a few and work on the final numbers once sorted.

Different

2009-08-27T16:14:00.003+10:00

Here's my volunteer tomato plant from last year that came up in a tub with a Zucchini. (Note that it's a regular leaf)

This plant went on to grow a nice big red tomato which I've called Red Velvet.

: Volunteer

And now one year on - can you spot the difference? (all 4 seedlings the same)

: Red Velvet seedling

I'll be happy if it improves, although we liked it last season.

All Sown

2009-08-15T10:47:00.004+10:00

The last of my tomato seeds that were sown on Monday are germinating, so the germination process is closing for me for another year. My grow list is larger than I'd hoped for.

After giving several varieties the chop, it looks like this will be what I'll grow at home. Some will be mainly used as a seed source for future sowings, plus a couple that will be grown to improve their filial status.

Black Cherry
Collioure Plum (Seed)
Cornue des Andes (Seed)
Crisana
Grub's Mystery Green
Konig Humbert (Seed)
Le Case di Apulia (Seed)
Lime Green Salad (Quad cotyledons)
Little Heart (Grow Out)
Nicoleta
Peron (Seed)
Red Velvet (Grow Out)
Siletz
Speckled Roman
Hungarian Paradicsom (Seed)
Tamina (Seed)
UK2000

Varieties I'll be selling at my Plant Sale will be listed at a later date.

Germination - I just love it.

2009-08-12T20:38:00.004+10:00

Some seeds have germinated today, which is no surprise and I now have Speckled Roman tomato, Gold Bullet Habanero, Tahitian Goat Chillies, White Habanero, with Thai Silk, Cayenne Peppers coming up in past days.

Working out what to keep and what to sell now will be the hardest part of the process - well perhaps.

Update to last post

2009-08-11T20:21:00.002+10:00

Fast forward the last post to Monday morning when I opened my P.O. Box and found two envelopes of seeds inside. Where to start...............

First to be sown are the tomato varieties, Collioure Plum, Cornue des Andes & Konig Humbert, so I will hopefully be able to increase my seed supply after this season..

Now for the interesting items, the chillies. Petit Marseillais, Piment d'Espelette, Hot Portugal, Aribibi Gusano and Takanotsume. Talk about some good varieties, now all I need do is get some of each to germinate and grow.

All varieties with the exception of Hot Portugal are sown into a nice moist mix sitting on the heat pad.

Let the season begin.

Last seeds sown

2009-08-08T23:50:00.003+10:00

I've sown the last of the seeds for this season, the last tray taking up room that two seed swaps would have filled, but failed to eventuate. In their place I have resown, Granka & PCR Peppers from Slovakia, plus trying White Habanero, Gold Bullet Habanero, Explosion Chilli, Thai Silk, Orange Habanero and my last for the season Giant Aconcagua.

A few more tomato seed has been planted, with Sarnowski's Polish Plum, Noir de Crimme, Speckled Roman making up the list.

What are the chances?

2009-08-05T21:10:00.004+10:00

In a small row of germinated seedlings for Lime Green Salad tomatoes, there is a Tricot and a Quadcot within a few centimetres. It's not very often that 'quads' come along, but add to the excitement of growing.

Off and Running

2009-08-03T16:26:00.012+10:00

Six days out from sowing the tomato seeds, the hothouse is looking really good, with seedlings in trays and doing well.

Here's some seedlings that were sown last Tuesday:-

Sweet Temptation Chillies forming their first true leaves. These were sown earlier than the tomatoes.

Here are some of the Chillies, with lots of gaps where the seed didn't germinate, possibly too old.

'D-Day' 28 July

2009-07-27T13:04:00.002+10:00

Tuesday 28 July is the date I sow my tomato seeds each season, in an effort to have salable size plants for sale in the first week in October. The varieties are changing this year and rather grow 20+ varieties for sale, the figure will only be 8-10 varieties as it's too hard to explain the characteristics of the plant to so many people who buy the plants, that we'll only go with a few.

In my own garden at home, I will be trying a few new ones so I can collect seed and maybe offer them next season. Three of the newer ones are Cornue des Andes, Konig Humbert and 'Collioure Plum' tomato, which I hope are as good as they say and that I can manage seeds from them.

More to come later when I sort some seeds. :-)

Early Start

2009-07-26T19:11:00.004+10:00

I have a small heart shaped tomato that I've been 'growing out' for the past 2 seasons, last year I achieved two filial generations in the one season with it and got to F3. So, once again I am attempting to grow this tomato, then from a ripe fruit, extract seeds and grow and other generation in the same season, well that's the plan anyway. I put some seeds in to germinate last week and have now a few seedlings to select from for this task.

The tomatoes are aptly called "Little Heart" from the shape in their beginning and which still bear a similarity in the later generations.

Here's my babies today.

A Few Late Seeds

2009-07-26T10:44:00.006+10:00

I was given some Chillies last week for seed so I could grow them myself this year, so now I have a bit more variety in my plant list.

Here's what I got:

Chilli 'Explosion'

Chilli 'Thai Silk'

Chilli 'Orange Habanero'

Chilli - unknown variety.

Some of the washed seed

Round #1 - Hit and Miss

2009-07-25T19:02:00.006+10:00

My first sowing of Chillies and Capsicums has proven to be a bit hit and miss, with only small numbers of a few varieties emerging. It seems to be seed older than one year that is giving me the problem, but even without any further seed being sown, I will manage with the seedlings I have so far, which would be over the 150 mark. I have been given a couple of Hungarian Paprika family varieties, which the first couple of seeds have germinated and are showing (photo).

Yesterday I sowed a few seeds of each of, White Habanero, Gold Bullet Habanero and some Tahitian Goat Chillies, which I'll grow mainly for seed. Also added since I made up the list were Balassa Paprika, Purple Beauty Capsicum, plus a resow of a couple of varieties from Slovakia.

Another week and I will be pricking out the bigger seedlings of Thai Birdseye, Cappia Peppers and Corno di Toro Pepper, then we'll see how we're going for room to grow them until they get hardened off.

Here's some of the Csipos Almapaprika seedlings emerging. (Blurry)

And some seedling Cappia Peppers.

Starting all over again for 2010.

2009-07-18T10:37:00.005+10:00

As the Cappia's are all pulled out in the previous post, it's now time to start all over again and plant the seeds for this seasons crop. I've put down most of the Chillies and Peppers I intend to grow and they are showing signs of new life. Here's a list of what I have down so far, all 14 varieties.

Seed sown to date:-

Cappia Pepper
Peter Pepper
Corno di Toro Pepper
PCR Pepper
Granka Pepper
Jimmy Nardello Pepper

Tam Hybrid Chilli
Firecracker Chilli
Sweet Temptation Chilli
Barkol Chilli
Serrano Chilli
Bhut Jolokia Chilli
Thai Birdseye Chilli
Red Romanian Chilli

Using a 4 tray Heat'n'Grow heat pad this season will make the task easier than the 2 tray from previous seasons.

Here's some of the Thai Birdseye chillies that were first to germinate (1 week).

Finally Finished for 2009

2009-05-30T14:50:00.004+10:00

Friday saw the last of the Turkish Cappia Peppers being pulled from the pots they've been growing in all season. These were a good producing plant variety and we've been well rewarded from them, with their sweet flavour. They are sure to make the growing list again this season, which is only 8 weeks away from sowing.

Fingers Crossed

2009-05-05T16:27:00.005+10:00

A few weeks ago I was invited to a fellow Forum members residence in the Mornington area to collect a few cuttings of the 'Critically Endangered' Hibiscus insularis, or Phillip Island Hibiscus. Phillip Island is of course one of the island in the Norfolk Island group, in the Pacific Ocean, due East of N.S.W. I'm unsure as to how many plants actually still survive there in their wild state, but it isn't many from what I've heard. The good news is that the cuttings are still looking good, so hopefully in the coming weeks, I'll have some struck cuttings. They are a woody plant and not something I've actually tried propagating before, so fingers crossed.

I'll check on them weekly from now on.

Still My Favourite

2009-04-20T22:16:00.005+10:00

I have to say that when the vegetable garden is idle, I tend to revert to my favourite pass time of all, plant propagation. I've grown so many native shrub cuttings over the years, I could have grown a forest or two with the plants. Currently my hot house is 2/3rds full of cuttings or about 600, which includes Natives, Citrus, Berry, Flowers along with seed sown for Ponytail Palm and Illawarra Flame trees. Much has struck and I'll be reliant on the rest striking before the 28th July when I'll sow the seeds for my tomato crop. Then of course there are my rose cuttings, all 70 of them, taken from a variety of plants from around the district, hopefully few more to come when rose pruning starts in June/July.

Life is good in the garden at the moment.

New in the ground is a Meyer Lemon tree, while two Heritage Raspberry canes sit in pots waiting to be planted. Citrus cuttings for Meyer Lemon, Lisbon Lemon and 'Sublime' Lime sit in the hothouse, so I'm ever hopeful of a strike or two.

Talking about Peppers

2009-04-14T13:19:00.002+10:00

While recently on the subject of Capsicums, of which Chillies and Peppers for an intricate part, I decided to get a photo of some of my Peppers growing in the back yard. Using my wife as a measure, I took the photo below which shows the growth well over 5 foot in height (150cm) and there are 4 of these plants growing side by side. They are currently ripening their fruit and I'm loving seeing the masses of red each day. I'm even thinking of overwintering some of these plants and just shroud them in a plastic enclosure for when the frosts start.

New in 2009

2009-04-11T10:15:00.003+10:00

This year I will be trialing some Slovakian Peppers, a Chilli and a Tomato that will be new to me, so fingers crossed I get a good season for them. First on the list is "Granka", a pale cream coloured, sweet, apple type Pepper which I'm hoping are as good as I've heard. Next on the list is "Barkol" which is a long, thin Chilli with medium heat and maybe good to cook with although anything too hot will be just grown for seed. The last of these will be the "PCR" a light green, short pointy sweet Pepper, all will be tried and if we like them they'll make the list for next year.

A new Slovak Tomato will also be grown this season with "Perun" which is a small yellow pear shaped fruit. Also making the list will be Purple Ukraine, Tamina from the U.K. and lastly is Crisana from Romania which we tried the season just gone and they rate highly here.

Winter Crop

2009-04-03T15:12:00.000+11:00

Finally getting away from Tomatoes and looking at what else is happening in the garden at the present time and there is some green showing.

Garlic

Swede

Autumn Cherries

2009-04-02T12:20:00.003+11:00

I think I'll get a feed or two from my autumn crop of Black Cherry tomatoes, on the single "cutting grown" plant growing in the garden at the moment. Yesterday I took the blossom bags from several trusses that were well formed, so there will be some fruit within the next few weeks. This will actually make the third growing of this variety this season, so I can be thankful they grow and mature fairly quick.

Seed Time

2009-04-01T11:45:00.002+11:00

It's that time of year when the collection of seed is starting to come to an end and the seed drawer gets filled with all the goodies collected. Here are a few photos of some that have been done recently, or are currently being done.

One of my Peppers

Seed from above Pepper

Qarabali Seed

Tomato Seed

Autumn Tomatoes

2009-03-23T10:16:00.002+11:00

So far so good, with Siletz tomatoes ripening at the moment, which is a lot quicker than I imagined. After a week in Adelaide we came home to ripe tomatoes, which although aren't as big as the ones that grew outside during Summer, they are still a nice sandwich size. The 'Little Hearts' are forming fruit, although I pulled 3 plants out yesterday, as I'm having second thought about them as the weather is definitely cooling quick this season. Even staying with what's growing in the hothouse (3 x Siletz & 2 x Little Heart), we should get tomatoes for another 6-8 weeks.

Here's the ripening Siletz this weekend.

Adelaide Tomatoes

2009-03-20T16:15:00.000+11:00

While in Adelaide recently, I managed to get hold of some tomatoes that are for sale at private residences along Tapleys Hill Road in Fulham Gardens. These tomatoes have quite thick flesh under the skin, very meaty and quite a few seeds. I cut one for a look and scooped out the seed and was amazed at what was left, possibly a good tomato for making sauce from.

The next day while at Central Market in the centre of Adelaide, I found most sellers of tomatoes carried this variety, labeled as 'Sun Ripened Vine Tomatoes'. The market price was $1.99kg, quite a bit cheaper than the $4.00kg I got mine for.

I know a few who would grow these tomatoes for sauce, so I may add a few plants to my seedling sale.

What do you do when you find some interesting tomatoes like these when away from home for an extended period - you'd probably want to ferment them, which turned out a simple task. The seed, juice and pulp was collected in a plastic drink bottle and allowed to 'rest' in the warmth of the car for a few days until a good scum had formed on top (lid removed outside car regularly to let the gases out). Then a simple task to wash them and dry them before returning home. A visit to a kitchenware store and I was soon able to wash them through a tea strainer, which was compact enough to fit in luggage and be used again.

Second Crop Doing Well

2009-03-12T11:47:00.005+11:00

The plants in my second crop for the year are doing well, with fruit swelling every day on my Siletz plants.

In the hothouse with them are two Little Heart plants which I'm pinning my hopes on getting at least one ripe fruit for seed for next season, which will put me one filial generation ahead with the grow out I'm doing on this variety. So far so good, but I won't be too disappointed if they don't make it through to maturity, I'll have at least tried.

The End Is In Sight

2009-03-09T08:16:00.004+11:00

The end for some Tomato Plants came a bit early and we have now got four plants with ripening fruit on them which we'll keep going for another two weeks. We're getting to the stage we need to have a spell away from Tomatoes, as we've been eating them since mid November, but we've had a productive year and no-one's complaining.

At present the three 'Siletz' plants in the hothouse have good sized fruit forming, while the 'Little Heart' plants both in the garden and hothouse are growing well.

I've dug over an area to plant our Garlic on the 20th of March - so all in all, the garden is still getting some attention, albeit minimal. The Peppers are starting to ripen now and seed is being collected from overloaded plants, so some seed will now be passed on to those who wanted it.