Harvesting carrots

I have been harvesting carrots over the last few weeks and thoroughly enjoying them. They are crisp and juicy when eaten raw, and tender when cooked.  The variety is Berlicum from Kings Seeds.

I have pulled one or two and discovered that they have split, so I decided it must be time to harvest them all. I washed them, dryed them and put them in the fridge in a plastic bag but left the bag open so they won’t go mushy. I blanched and froze some of them.

Then I sowed some more seed. This time I used Yates Seed Tape. It’s really easy to use, just make a shallow trench and lay the paper tape in the bottom, then lightly cover over.

I sowed some a few weeks ago, then some more and now a third lot, so I will have succesive harvesting. You can just see the first carrots coming up. Planted at the left end of the bed are leeks. Buy a bundle and plant now.

Harvesting Red Onions

 

 

 

I harvested all my red onions because the tops were getting powdery mildew and I didn’t want the disease going down into the bulb.  As it is a few of them are soft and floppy in the stem just above the bulb, so if I had left them, the onion may have started to rot.  I will use the soft ones first.

The rest are laid out on the concrete in the sun in order to dry. Once the stems are completely dry, they should store OK.  I got 40 onions, plus a few that I have harvested over the last 2-3 weeks, all from a $2.99 punnet of seedlings.  I reckon that is pretty good value.

Dovyalis, Tropical Apricot

I have four Dovyalis “Tropical Apricot” trees growing in pots.  There are a few fruit on them, just small at the moment but I am looking forward to them getting bigger and riper.  I believe they have an apricot flavour.

This is a large semi-deciduous shrub growing to about 5 metres tall and 5 wide.

Fruit are produced during the warm season at various intervals and are yellowy when mature. The flesh is yellowy-orange, very soft with a distinctive apricot flavour. They can be eaten fresh or used for jellies, jams, pies and drinks.  The Doyvalis can be made into an excellent wine.

They can grow in a wide range of soil conditions but benefit greatly from being fertilized reguarly.  Put down a good mulch to keep the roots moist during dry spells.

Doyvalis will cope with light frosts, down to about -3 C, but you can spray with Vaporgard to give an extra protection against frost.

There are few pests that bother Doyvalis, but birds might eat a few.

Watch this space to see the fruit ripen!

fresh blackcurrant jam

I made jam from freshly picked blackcurrants and compared the taste with bought stuff.  My jam had a stronger flavour and fresher taste.  It’s a really easy jam to make.  Pick 1kg of currants, and wash them.  Boil 1.5kg sugar with 800ml water, for 5 minutes, uncovered.  Add blackcurrants and continue to boil for another 5 – 10 minutes.  Pour into sterilised jars, and that’s it.  Jam made!

The currants are also very tasty eaten fresh, but possibly a little tart for a lot of people.  I’ve added them to my ‘berry delight’, of mixed fruit with muesli and yoghurt.  Yummy!

I took the photo after harvesting, so its only the little currants that are left. Hopefully they will continue to grow and I can have some more!

long stemmed rhubarb

 

To grow rhubarb with really long stems, put a bucket round the crown.  Cut the bottom out of the bucket first of course.

As the leaves reach for the sunlight at the top of the bucket, so it forces longer stems, giving you a bigger harvest without using more garden space.

It also reduces evaporation of moisture from sun and wind, which is good as rhubarb likes a lot of water and food.  Feed with well rotted manure, sheep pellets or vegetable fertilizer.  As it’s the leaf stem that you eat, it is actually a vegetable, not a fruit.

Although the leaves are poisonous, they can be put in the compost.  They can also be used to make an organic pesticide, but I don’t know any recipes.

Spiral Tomato Stakes

These aluminium spiral stakes are ideal for tomatoes as you don’t need to tie the plant to the stake. You just wind the plant round the stake as it grows, it’s so simple.

Be sure to take out the laterals from the plants or you will end up with an out of control, monsterous plant, that has little or no fruit.  The laterals are new little branches that form in the fork between the main stem and an existing leaf stem.

The plastic cloche is protecting a cucumber plant from wind.

“See how my garden grows”

 

“See how my garden grows”. 

I have planted two more courgettes because often plants get powdery mildew and peter out before the season has finished, so by planting more latter, I hope to prolong the season.

I planted peas and supported them with bamboo canes criss crossed.  I put in snow peas (flat pods that you eat) and ordinary peas (that you pod).  They are mixed in together and planted too closely, they are difficult to harvest.  I won’t do that again. I’ll plant just one variety and space them according to the instructions on the packet.  The snow peas haven’t got a lot of flavour, but are nice for something different.

The red onions are looking grunty but I think they have a way to go yet.  I poked my finger in the soil to feel round the bulb and it’s still quiet small even though the tops look big.  I have been “stealing” some of the leaves to put in salads. Yum! We’ve had a good feed of radishes and I have sown more seed a couple of times.  They’re a fast crop.

The carrots and beetroot are coming along nicely and I have sown more of those too, for successive harvesting.  We like eating the young beetroot leaves in salads and the bigger ones steamed, tastes like spinach.