Sunday 31 July 2011

planting and harvesting

Today I started my tomatoes. Two different varieties once again: black cherry and miel du Mexique (honey of Mexico). I threw out my sun reflector shield thingy so I'll have to make a new one when the seeds sprout. I forgot to mention when I originally wrote this, I'm using the heat pad again - the kind you're meant to put under a terrarium for lizards or frogs. However I've learned that they're powerful things, so I put a folded-up plastic crate between the heat pad and the planting tray. And on sunny days (like today), I unplug the whole thing or the soil heats up to 30+ degrees!
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/tomatoseeds.JPG
I've also recently decided to grow some colourful beetroot. These were bought as mixed seedlings - red, golden, and striped beetroot. I've also planted a set of golden beetroot seeds but apparently they're hard to germinate so we'll see how they go.
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/beetsjuly.JPG
My firecracker chilies were so laden I went through and picked every single red chili so they didn't rot on the plant!
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/chiliesjuly.JPG
My snow peas in the back bed are struggling, I don't think there's enough sun for them. They're only half the size of the plants in pots on the front porch. I don't think it'll be worth growing anything here over the winter.
http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden11/peasjuly.JPG
So even though it's winter there are a few things going on.

2 comments:

Me said...

Hi Alexa
What is your sun reflector thingy? Are you just keeping these inside until November? I am in Melbourne as well, and saved some seed from last year, so I am keen to get started if it's not too early.

Alexa said...

Hi there, you can see my sun reflector in this post from last year:

http://littlegardenmelbourne.blogspot.com/2009/09/tomato-scare.html

It's 3 sides of a cardboard box I lined with tin foil! I like to think it keeps the seedlings from getting leggy. Yes, they'll be inside for a while but I plant mine out in late September.