Sun’s up and out today – thank goodness. I can’t bear the cold and when you’re feeling a bit under the weather there is nothing like a bit of sun to cheer you up and save your lettuces from being a flop crop.
I made the mistake of locating some of my lettuces besides the tomatoes. Had I really thought about it before I would have realised that the tall tomatoes were going to block their sun. At the time of planting I didn’t have much space so just bunged them in the ground and hoped for the best.
The tomatoes have had plenty of sun – hmm, when it’s shining – but it’s only now are these……
Turning to these……
To be frank I’m still worried that the full crop won’t realise it’s potential but with a few more hours of sun these suckers will do their thing. Won’t they?
Some have strutted their stuff already and we’ve enjoyed their sweet luscious taste.
But you can’t survive on a couple of cherry tomatoes every day. We need more for pasta sauce, tomato salads, tomato soup. Oh the possibilities are almost endless.
But enough about tomatoes. There are other things springing up still from the ground. Here’s my first broad bean shoot.
So dinky eh! The Fennel is now romping away.
Although I think you can appreciate romp in the context of first time gardening is a relative term. The high maintenance Celery is still alive. I’ve not done any maintaining yet so really must remind myself of their special needs.
There are a few more red cabbages to be turned into something for the larder and some cauliflower that’s going to be soup tomorrow. Hmm, that will be nice.
All in all the vegetable patch is doing it’s thing. I’ve learned heaps about what not to do in my short experiment but learn I will and get things better as time goes. The key issue for us is eating what we produce. I think I’m going to have to come up with a more scientific way of growing. Staggered planting is going to be a must which means staggered seed sowing which means I need a greenhouse. But that’s a long way down the track. For the moment my baby potager does me well.
Oh, if only the sun will continue to shine!
Jeff
February 19, 2009 at 2:51 amAwesome tomatoes, Julie! Have you considered paste tomatoes, which are great for sauces to freeze? They are in between cherry tomatoes and beefsteak tomatoes in size, and have less water and fewer seeds. We’re going to try a variety this spring called Amish Paste, which the Amish have developed over the decades.