L'orto di Bruno [Bruno's Vegetable Garden]

This week I harvested the beans, which was a pretty satisfying experience. I haven't mentioned that there are three rows of beanstalks: two rows of borlotti beans (aka cranberry beans, notable for the bright majenta streaks on the pods and the beans) and one row of a "mystery" bean (grown from some beans I found in the garage). I took the borlotti beans off the stalks on Thursday. The two rows yielded 478 pods (roughly), and with each pod averaging three beans, that's over 1400 beans! I won't be eating all those in a hurry, so after letting the pods dry out I'll remove the beans from the pods (technical term: shucking) and put them in the freezer. The single row of "mystery" beanstalks (I'll let you know what they are when I find out) yielded about 171 pods, and assuming an average of six beans per pod that's just over 1000 beans. Again, after shucking I'll freeze them.

As a result of the harvesting this week's photo of the beanstalks looks pretty sad. Apparently beans can reflower after harvesting, but I think the short burst of hot weather towards the end of the week has almost dried the poor plants out. I have more than enough beans anyway, so at some stage I will pull out the plants and dismantle the trellises. And there won't be much point taking any further photos of the beanstalks. But I have included closeup photos of some of the beanstalks just before harvesting.

The tomatoes continue to grow. One of the plants must be on steroids because it's almost overflowing with fruit. I'm worried the branches won't be able to support the fruit. The rest of the plants are also making steady progress.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 13)
A tomato plant with some fruit (week 13)
The beans (week 11 - post harvest)
Borlotti bean pods growing (week 11 - pre harvest)
Harvested borlotti beans (in pods)
"Mystery" bean pods growing (week 11 - pre harvest)
Harvested "mystery" beans (in pods)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 7 after transplanting)
The basil seedlings (week 6 after transplanting)

Another week of strange weather. Overcast and very humid early in the week, with a severe thunderstorm and much-needed rain on Thursday evening. The mulch applied last week has helped maintain moisture levels in the soil.

All the plants continue to make good progress. My uncle visited this morning and was pleased with the progress of the beans. Apparently they're almost ready to harvest.

I transplanted seedlings of a different variety of tomatoes to a pot. I want to see how they grow in the pot for a while. I also transplanted a second batch of basil seedlings to another pot.

Friday night I gave all the plants their now-regular fortnightly feed of seaweed solution.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 12)
The beans (week 10)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 6 after transplanting)
The basil seedlings (week 5 after transplanting)

Summer officially started this week. The previous week's heatwave did end on Monday as forecast. I removed the shadecloth as the temperature cooled.

The tomato plants really enjoyed the warmer weather, and are starting to thrive. The basil seedlings that I transplanted a few weeks ago are now starting to grow well. And the aubergine seedlings are also getting bigger. A confession is in order: for the past few weeks I've neglected to mention that while the photos show two rows of plants, only one row is in fact of aubergines. The lefthand row (closer to the fence) is actually a row of capsicum plants. I've just been too lazy to relabel the photo links for the past postings. I'll get around to doing that eventually.

During the week I bought a big bag of pea straw mulch. On Friday I cleared out weeds growing in the channels between the rows of tomatoes and beans. The channels had become shallow so I made them deeper, taking care not to damage the plants' roots. Then I laid the mulch into the channels as instructed, and watered.

A couple of weeks ago on a whim I planted some seeds from a rockmelon I bought, and to my surprise a couple germinated in the past week. I'll leave them in the pot they're in for now, and if they continue growing I'll transplant them to the main garden area.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 11)
A tomato plant with some fruit (week 11)
The beans (week 9)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 5 after transplanting)
The basil seedlings (week 4 after transplanting)

Several tomato plants are starting to produce fruit. Most of the beanstalks now have pods growing. The basil and aubergine seedlings are making some progress.

The weather turned a bit nasty this week, ending with a mini-heatwave. Today is the fourth consecutive day of temperatures in the mid-30s (centigrade), and it's not even officially summer yet! Hopefully the cool change predicted for tomorrow evening comes in. I've had to give the plants a thorough watering every evening. Luckily I have a large rainwater tank to reduce the need for mains water. I hooked up a standard hose fitting to the tank's tap and the water pressure is good enough to water the plants.

To protect the tomato plants from the sun's harsh rays I've put up some shadecloth. Coincidentally, I was watching The Godfather on DVD on Wednesday, and late in the movie there's a scene where the Don is playing with his grandson among tomato plants in the garden. What looked like old bed sheets were nailed to the stakes to protect the Don's tomato plants from the sun. In my case I draped some old lace curtains over the tomatoes and fixed to the tops of stakes. Shade from nearby fruit trees provides some respite for the other plants.

This week I will probably get some straw to use as mulch. Admittedly I don't remember my father ever using mulch, and my uncle hasn't mentioned it either. But I'll start using some to help maintain the moisture level during what could be a very hot summer. Mulch should also help prevent weeds growing around the plants.

Friday night I gave all the plants another feed of seaweed solution.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 10)
The beans (week 8)
Bean pods growing (week 8)
The aubergines/eggplants/melanzane (week 4 after transplanting)
The basil seedlings (week 3 after transplanting)

I didn't do much to the garden this week. The biggest task was setting up a removable shade cloth to help protect the tomato plants for a very hot day last Wednesday. Other than that, I had to water the plants a little more than usual as there wan't much rain. I took the opportunity to check the stakes were firmly in the ground and that the beanstalk trellis was stable.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 9)
A tomato plant with some fruit (week 9)
The beans (week 7)
The aubergines/eggplants/melanzane (week 3 after transplanting)
The basil seedlings (week 2 after transplanting)