It has been a wet week this week. Melbourne has been uncharacteristically damp and as a result my family is running out of clothes due to an inability get anything to dry. I feel bad whinging about rain as we have decent amounts of it comparatively rarely but I would be a lot happier if it came in short bursts rather the daily drizzle we have been getting of late. Having said that at least the garden is enjoying it and has rewarded me with some lovely harvests this week including some firsts for this year.
One first was these Turnip De Nancy that I thinned after sowing them too close. I don’t usually grow turnips but L from 500m2 in Sydney sent me some seed and I have to say I enjoyed eating these two raw with a little salt.
Also a first this week was this cauliflower. Unfortunately the heads aren’t dense and it isn’t as lovely and white as I would have liked but I forgot to peg the leaves over the developing head. The variety is called “Year Round”.
Also a first, of sorts, this week is this Scotch Bonnet/Bishops Cap chilli. I have been harvesting them since February from my mature (about 3 year old) plants but this is the first from a plant grown from seed sowed in late winter 2012. Interesting how much longer they take to fruit in their first year.
This week saw me harvest the last of the finger limes. Here they are pictured with a Tahitian Lime and a Kaffir Lime. I love limes and I particularly love how different limes are used in quite different ways. I use the juice of the Tahitian Lime (and occasionally the rind). The leaves and rind of the Kaffir Lime and the flesh of the Finger Limes. All have a unique flavour and yet all are definitely limey. All fruit predominantly, but by no means exclusively, in winter and all are generally considered ‘tropical’ fruit. Despite that all grow really well in Melbourne and, attacks from citrus gall wasp notwithstanding, all are relatively easy to grow and achieve good harvests from .
My final harvest photo this week is this lovely basket of goodies. As you can see my broccoli continues to produce nice heads, although this is the last ‘main’ head I will cut for a while. It will be side shoots from here on until the next plants mature in a couple of months from now.
Also in the basket, and not previously commented about, are some Long Cayenne and Tobago Seasoning chillies, a few Bonica eggplants, Purple Beauty and Cherrytime Capsicums and a Tigerella tomato.
I’m not sure what to do about my eggplants. They are taking up a lot of space but they are still setting fruit, albeit very few that are very slow to ripen. I’m in two minds. Should I pull them to free up space for plants that will crop better over winter? Or should I leave them in hoping they produce the occasional eggplant? The latter option has the possible benefit of much earlier eggplant crops next year if (and I do mean if) the plants survive the winter.
And that’s it from this corner of a not so sunny Melbourne. To see what is coming out of other climes head over to Daphne’s Dandelions.
Great job on the cauliflower. I understand they are hard to grow. I really like your limes and how they all have different flavors and functions. Cool.
Nice harvest for transitioning to winter gardening. You are still the pepper queen. As far as the eggplant, I don’t know. They are pretty heat sensitive, way more than peppers. Even if some survive the winter, will they ever be productive again? Maybe leave one in as a test?
Yeah your right. I will do as you suggest.
Lovely basketful of goodies there. I love that your seasons turn this way. I get to see your cool stuff as my hot stuff peters out.
As long as the cauliflowers taste good I wouldn’t worry about how they look!
Love your colorful harvest! I know it’s reversed seasons so very jealous of all those peppers and citrus!
Eggplant still! Amazing. You do have a nice mild climate. My plants would be dead from disease, if not an early frost by an equivalent time (mid-December). And wow, look at those beautiful peppers, and the perfect broccoli. It’s all lovely.
I don’t find eggplants particularly susceptible to disease here, at least not compared with tomatoes or peppers. But I do take your point – even if it does get through winter it may not be that healthy next season.
You have so much producing right now! I need to learn about planting the right things all throughout the year so that I can get produce year round.
I try to sow seeds at least monthly and that ensures I always have something coming on….of course it isn’t foolproof and I often have gaps and wish I’d sown more X and less Y.
Wonderful harvests. And if it were me I’d pull the eggplant, but then again I can’t eat it so it would be an easy call. But it depends upon how much you like eggplant. Would you appreciate the small amount more than a larger amount of something wintery?
Good point. if I can think of something I desperately want to plant then I will pull them.
Wow, such an impressive winter harvest for you. I always have a hard time with Cauli too. I think I have ever only grown one successfully! Your doing a great job keeping the harvest going!
I usually get one or two good ones each year, one or two mediocre ones and one or two that fail dismally. The problem is I have never been able to work out why some perform and others don’t.
What a great harvest, especially for moving into winter!! I sure wish we could grow citrus here in Utah, but no way! Our winters are way to cold! 🙁
Stunning, bright coloured harvest of some winter and some summer things. It’s amazing what we can get away with with our relatively ‘mild ‘climates ( acknowledging a previous post of yours!).
The eggplant dilemma is a tough one isn’t it… I guess it depends on how much you want the space. Are they eggplants still nice to eat? Sometimes they can get a bit strange it they are from older plants…be interesting to see how well/ if they over winter.
Hmm good point – I have a couple sitting in the fridge that I picked intending to cook but got side tracked at the vital moment and ended up getting take away. I will have to try them.
I agree with Dave – leave one (maybe two) to see how they go. Then use that info for next year. I can’t imagine that they will produce enough to warrant using the space. Having said that, I’m leaving my capsicum in to see how they fare. I’ve had one that overwintered and produced moderately. I’ll keep an eye on the others (planted in a different spot) and if they look like they might survive, I’ll leave them be. I’m not desperate for the space just now as I’ve not had a lot of time to plan and plant.
Your broccoli and cauliflower look fantastic! AND you have a tomato! That’s impressive. By the way, how did the ‘winter’ tomatoes go?
The winter tomatoes are going OK. They look reasonably healthy although I suspect they may have some disease as they have some black spots on the leaves. That tomato was from my one remaining summer crop plant. I don’t think they will crop over winter but I’m kind of hoping for some tomatoes in Spring. The same goes for the eggplant – I don’t expect crops over winter but I am hoping it will fruit a lot earlier (and more productively) next season.
Great harvest! I share your eggplant dilemma, but I’ve decided to leave one plant well covered in plastic and see how it goes, that way their isn’t too much space wasted if they don’t keep cropping well. I tried to overwinter one last year but it didn’t survive left out on its lonesome.
That is a good idea. I will leave one and hope for a mild winter.
Looks like a great harvest. I love it when it rains as I don’t have to water my balcony garden (plus we can hang clothes inside and use the dryer if need be).
We don’t have a dryer which makes things a little more difficult.
The variety in your harvests always makes me hungry thinking about the wonderful flavor combinations possible! Might be worth leaving an experimental eggplant to see if it overwinters, though we find once the temps drop and days shorten, they just take up space better given to something more suitable.
Good to see your cauliflower harvest… mine was rather measly…