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

In the past week I finished the slightly sad task of uprooting the remaining tomato plants in the garden. One solitary "Costoluto di Marmande" plant is left growing in a pot. Soon I will have to start buying tomatoes from the grocery store again.

The capsicum plants still look healthy. I picked a couple last week.

In other garden news, the mandarines are starting to ripen. Some lemons are also coming along. Birds have almost wiped out my persimmons. And the lack of rain has meant very few feijoas this year.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The space formerly occupied by the tomato plants (week 33)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 27 after transplanting)

The unseasonably warm April continued almost until the end of the month. In some ways I don't regret not planting any winter crops yet, because it still feels like summer.

Yesterday I began pulling out the tomato plants growing in the main garden area. The plants lasted about seven and a half months, so I can't complain. They produced fruit for four months, yielding about 120 tomatoes, averaging one per day. I guess that means one less photo to take each week. Hopefully the two remaining "Costoluto di Marmande" plant growing in pots will keep going for a little while.

The capsicum plants are still looking healthy and producing fruit. The aubergines. on the other hand, look like a lost cause. They aren't producing much fruit, and when they do, insects attack before the fruit matures. Next year I think I'll stick to tomatoes and capsicums.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 32)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 26 after transplanting)

Nothing much to report this week. The weather has been on the warm side again, with no rain in sight.

The original tomato plants have almost reached the end of their productive lives. It's likely that I'll pull them out over the next week or so. Any fruit left on them will have to ripen using the trick I learnt last week from ABC TV's Gardening Australia program. Meanwhile, I've left just one "Costoluto di Marmande" plant growing in the ground. That plant has a few almost-ripe tomatoes, and will probably be pulled out this week too. That will leave just two plants growing in pots. Despite the withering state of the plants, I managed to harvest eight tomatoes of the "Costoluto di Marmande" variety.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 31)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 25 after transplanting)

The weather finally settled down to "normal" autumn conditions after the unusual heat of the past two weeks.

As can be seen from the photos I've let the tomatoes go a bit. Grass has been growing between the plants. I will probably pull the plants out soon. I saw a useful tip on ABC TV's Gardening Australia program: if the plants have dried out with fruit still growing, pull the plants out and hang them upside down to let the fruit ripen. I've done that with some of the "Costoluto di Marmande" plants, and will probably do the same for the remaining plants from the first batch of seedlings planted in September. Meanwhile, this week I harvested eleven tomatoes of the "Costoluto di Marmande" variety, and two from the original plants.

I picked a couple of capsicums this week, with several more maturing quite nicely. Unfortunately my aubergines aren't looking so good, thanks to attacks by insects. I don't want to use any pesticides, so I'll have to see if there's an organic way to deal with the problem.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 30)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 24 after transplanting)
The "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes (week 14 after transplanting)

More unseasonably warm weather again this week. Believe it or not, yesterday's temperature matched last Saturday's, which was the highest April maximum on record: 36.9 degrees Celcius. Maybe those people talking about global warming might be onto something ;)

Another paltry tomato harvest this week: just one edible tomato from the original plants. Soon I'm going to have to decide when to pull out those seven month old tomato plants. Meanwhile I did get four tomatoes from the "Costoluto di Marmande" plants. As I mentioned previously, the new tomato plants probably won't last much beyond their first (admittedly bountiful) harvest.

I didn't pick any capsicums or aubergines this week, but I should have some in the next week or so.

In general, it's probably going to get rather quiet in the garden. I haven't had space (or time) to grow anything for winter, so I'll have to make do with the product of the various fruit trees in the garden: mandarines, persimmons, feijoas and lemons.

To view the latest photos, click on the links below:
The tomatoes (week 29)
The aubergines and capsicums (week 23 after transplanting)
The "Costoluto di Marmande" tomatoes (week 13 after transplanting)