Summer is over the hump and its all downhill into winter now, and you can tell in the garden. Even if its as hot as ever, and trust me, it IS!! many of the garden plants are starting to wind down.. One of the things that ive noticed in Auckland is that, while we dont get the dramatic colour changes that you do overseas where there are a lot of deciduous plants, you still see a colour change in early autumn, from the fresh bright green of the spring garden, to a more yellow/gold toned green as autumn approaches. Or maybe its just the heat affecting the foliage. That said, in an Auckland garden, things dont really slow down much due to the seasons.
I have, however planted out some of the autumn/winter veg seeds in peat pots. We have 3 different colours of cauli, yellow, purple and white, a mini green cabbage, and banking on the fact that it in general is a lot warmer on the deck than in the garden, a few "patio runner" beans which are supposed to grow in a more compact form than your average huge runner bean. I know that beans need heat, but im banking on an indian summer this year lol. Who knows? i might even get it.
The apples are looking good, most of them are at full size now, though a couple of trees, the ballerina, and the Golden Delicious, are still swelling fruit, so i need to overcome my laziness and ensure that i keep watering without fail. The Montys Surprise has HUGE fruit on it, but only about 5 of them. Ill be interested to see if we get more fruit off it next season. If so i might have to look into another stake and some proper tree ties.
The lettuces that i planted at the beginning of the month are going great guns, so i need to pick some soon. The trouble with lettuce around here, and salad greens in general, is that im the only one that eats them. so its usually a case of feast or famine. I either have lettuces coming out my ears or i have a spindly little plant that im scared of killing if i take one more leaf lol.
The little bush basil is growing strongly now, and the scent is just stunning. I find this small leaved, globe type basil to have a much stronger flavour than the big lettuce leaf types. Only thing is they can be a tad TOO strong in some cases. You have to be cautious with them. Every time i water that plant, the smell is just lovely though.
Im still harvesting tomatoes, and along with a couple of beefsteak types, i have some more "mystery seedlings" with green fruit still to come. I dont know that ill persevere with beefsteak type tomatoes any more though. They never produce well for me, and while i always get some fruit, its nothing on what i get from other kinds of tomatoes. Roma however has a home here forever. Roma tomatoes always produce well for me, fruiting for ages, and even when the conditions havent been the best. Last year when everything dried out to a crisp, the orange roma tomato managed to produce fruit. This year, i have 2 yellow roma plants and theyve been fruiting steadily all season. Of the 5 kilos or so that ive had from the tomatoes this season so far, the majority have been yellow roma. Definitely a keeper. Another one that i might try again next season is yellow Brandywine, ill just find a better spot for it. Its produced several good sized slicing fruits, and theyre very pretty with their red streaks on yellow, but its been attacked by both birds and snails poor thing, so its hard to judge just how well it might have done.
Speaking of tomatoes, i have another 2 kilos in the kitchen that i have to make used of pronto. Methinks another batch of relish is on its way (i already have an order lol), but i have to get the jars first. I do have a couple of 500 gm perfitt jars, but i find thats too big, and besides i want those to bottle a little fruit. I really need to get some smaller 250 gm jars, which make just the right amount for one or two people, not a huge amount that ends up being shuffled to the back of the fridge where it can dry out and go crusty! Hopefully i can manage to get some jars before the tomatoes go yuckky. I HATE wasting them, and when you consider the effort that goes into growing them, it would be a crime. Plus i love that sense of pride you get when you have a few jars of home made preserves in front of you!! its very addictive
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