A comparatively warm week has ripened a good number of eggplants and chillies. While the eggplants are finishing – the plants have set far fewer fruits recently, the chillies still have a good few weeks to go.
I have Birdseye, Bishops Cap, Cayenne and Tobago Seasoning chillies ripening at the moment. I love the shape and colour of the Tobago Seasoning. Really pretty and pretty hot on the tongue as well.
I am also harvesting capsicums. Purple Beauty, Cherrytime and Topepo Rosso are all hitting the harvest baskets and regularly featuring in our meals along with what is fast becoming a glut of Bishops Cap. Oh for some time to make Sambal….
Eggplant wise I have harvested a few Bonicas and a couple of Listada de Gandia. I love the colour of the Listada de Gandia. Just perfect.
I did harvest some other crops this week. The Watermelon radishes were ready:
As were some of the Easter Eggs:
There they are buried under a pile of mint and parsley. I have harvested heaps of both herbs this week. I am eating a whole heap of tabouleh before the home grown tomatoes (note: mine dried up a while ago but mum & dad’s are still going strong) dry up. I also gave my potted mint a good spruce up as it was looking a little ragged. I took the opportunity to put mint in pretty much everything I ate today and enjoyed it all the more for it.
Finally I am also enjoying my spring onion crops at the moment. I am trying to get through as many as possible as the chooks keep sitting on them and I’m not sure poo covered squashed spring onion is really that appetising….These were relatively unharmed though.
And that’s it for me for this week. For more harvests head over to Daphne’s otherwise I have a request:
Does anyone grow Jamaican Scotch Bonnet chillies? If so I have a reader who is very interested in some viable seed. I’m struggling to find an Australian source for Jamaican Scotch Bonnets (as opposed to the Bishops Cap that I grow) so if you know of or have a plant then please let me know by leaving a comment below.
Love the look of the watermelon radish
Oh that is so funny. Yes poo covered squished veggies are not really all that appealing. I wonder why they like to sit on them. At least they aren’t eating them.
I think because they don’t grow as thickly as some veg it just looks like dirt to them but perhaps they feel nice???
Definitely a time to make sambal.
The Chilli you wanted, you can get it from Australia Ebay.
Thanks Diana, I always forget Ebay, as does my reader who I passed on the info to and she is very grateful. Thankyou – hopefully they germinate for her.
Hi Liz, I would love to know more about the watermelon radish- are these similar to normal red radish? I had seen them in Japan- but had no idea what they are used for.
The flavour is similar but different, and difficult to describe. Having said that if you like other radishes then I think these are definitely worth trying. I eat them raw in salads or just with a sprinkle of salt or with dips – ie the same ways as other radishes.
I freeze my extra spring onions and add to pot when making broth.
Growing what I think is a Jamaican scotch bonnet, seed germinated but not growing well. Happy to share seeds if the plant turns out to be the correct pepper.
Thanks Norma, I’ll check Australia’s policy on importing chilli seed as we have quite strict rules on such things. Hope your plant’s health improves.
Those peppers and eggplants are simply beautiful. Such bright beautiful colors in your harvest basket. We are in the dull spring greens only stage of the year, so seeing your summer crops is good for my winter weary heart. 😀
Its starting to get cold here and I’m already looking forward to Spring so I imagine you must be really impatient for some decent warmth to arrive.
You’re still getting good harvests. I’m not a fan of chillis but I’ve grown them in the past just for the ornamental factor. I think the plants look great dripping with fruit.
They do don’t they – they are the prettiest thing in my garden at the moment.
Amongst the chilli seeds I sowed the other day were some for what you call Bishop’s Cap. Mine were marketed as Christmas Bell, but they look very similar to yours. I have a Scotch Bonnet plant, but it is only just beginning to flower, so no seeds yet. (Probably not allowed to send seeds to Australia from UK either…)
If it is the same plant I find mine fruit pretty late in their first year. Hope you get a good crop. I take it your Scotch Bonnet is inside? And yeah you are probably right about not sending seeds to Australia – we tend to be fairly strict about plant material.
Those chiles are beautiful and I especially love the look of that striped eggplant. It seems that you are enjoying a rather extended harvest of summer vegetables – how wonderful. I’m going to find a spot in my garden for some of those watermelon radishes, I’ve got some seeds for them that my sister gave me.
I like the radishes – fun and reasonably quick.
I just love your garden’s bounty.
Funny thing, I got a watermelon radish this week. Only, I didn’t plant any! It was a rogue seed in with my purple radishes. Strange. Lovely harvests. Your peppers are so beautiful.
Wow! so much harvest. I can’t wait for ours to start soon. When do harvesting usually stop there?
We garden all year round so it doesn’t stop really.
Love your beautiful colors! Enjoy!
Oh chooks will find the sweetest new lettuce seedlings too! my Chillies are finally turning color!
I have just discovered that and they have had to spend the last two days inside so that I can sort out some sort of fencing system.
What an amazing harvest! Sadly we’re at an inbetween, with all this learning and planting going on, we got so excited about our summer crop but hae only just started planting our autumnal seeds. We’re not collecting anything at the moment.
It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and forget how long plants take to mature isn’t it?
Love that watermelon radish!