Suburban Tomato

This week was definitely the week of the tomato.  I harvested some of every variety I grew this year, save the Beefsteak that never really got going and I suspect died sometime back.  In the basket below you can see Broad Ripple Currant, Black Cherry, Tigerella, Yugoslav, Burnley Bounty, College Challenger, Yellow Boy, Rouge de Marmande, Tommy Toe and Tiny Tim.  I’ve had some great salads this week.

I did harvest some things other than tomatoes too.  A few Bonica eggplants, a golden nugget pumpkin, garlic chives, spring onions and beans.  Once again I harvested a lot of beans this week.

And cucumbers, so many cucumbers.  I keep thinking the Lemon Cucumbers are finishing only to find a whole lot more the next day.

This next basket is more of the same, summer harvests get a bit like that don’t they?  So much produce.

We seem to have hit the height of the mini capsicum season.  Interestingly my overwintered plant is producing at the same time as the one sown this year (early July).  The fruits are bigger on the new plant although not as plentiful.  I’m wondering if I am better off growing this variety from seed each year and plant in a larger pot than I did this year to try and increase the yield.  The fruits have heaps of seed so saving some is no issue at all.

My cayenne chillies are starting to ripen too.  These went into a cucumber salad.  Soon I will be producing enough to start making chilli paste.  But hopefully not too soon as I am starting to feel a bit preserved out.

That’s it from me harvestwise for this week – head over to Daphne’s Dandelions for more harvesting fun.

Its been a warm week here with another one forecast for next week (albeit slightly cooler).  I do like to have a couple of proper heat waves over summer otherwise I feel a bit cheated.  I don’t always enjoy the really hot weather but I’d miss it if we didn’t get any.  The forecast for tomorrow though is mild so I’m hoping to spend a bit more time in the garden which is looking a little distressed due to; not just the heat but our complete lack of rain.

One advantage of the heat is that the tomatoes the rodents missed (they seem to have vacated my garden for the time being) are ripening:

The above basket contains Tigerella, Rouge de Marmande, Yellow Boy, a number of Black Cherries and a couple of Burnley Bounty as well as some Mini Mama Capsicums.

My peppers seem to be enjoying the heat – provided I keep the water up to their pots.  They are all setting fruit and I am harvesting a few each week.  Below is an Alma Paprika, a couple of Hungarian Yellow Wax and a Purple Beauty.

I finally bit the bullet this week and pulled out the zucchini.  I’ve loved having it but it was starting to smothered more and more of my other crops and I felt it was time for it go.  In the process of pulling it out I harvested a number of small zucchini’s and flowers which I later stuffed with a herby rice mixture.

My most prolific crops at the moment are beans, particularly the Majestic Butter, Bonica eggplants and Lemon Cucumbers.

I had quite a few very similar basketfuls this week but I’ll try and show restraint not post too many of them today.  Instead I’ll include a basketful of herbs which I haven’t photographed much of late.  At the moment I’m harvesting a lot of basil, parsley, mint, oregano, thyme, tarragon, chervil and spring onions.

As well as the European herbs I’m cutting quite a few Asian ones.  Below are a Kaffir Lime and leaves, some lemongrass and Thai basil.

Finally, a winter crop – the Cavolo Nero seems to thrive in all seasons here and I have to say I really enjoyed the quiche I made with this lot this week.

For all things Harvest related head over to Daphne’s Dandelions and I will be back tomorrow with a Top 5.