tomatoes almost ready to go

It's time to swap over the beetroots to the tomatoes.  Unfortunately not many of the beetroots reached even "baby" size but I really needed to make the swap!

Once they were out I finally had to dump out all the dirt in this tub.  For the last two years I suspect that my tomatoes have gotten some kind of disease that's in the soil.  Which meant I needed to get rid of all the soil and I even rinsed out the tub with bleach.  I got a bit of a surprise when I pulled the tub away from the steps - a whole colony of snails!

Once the snails were dealt with I put together the wooden frame I use to keep the tomatoes in shape.  This year I got extra-fancy and fit cross-beams along the length of the tub too.  The soil is a fresh mix of potting soil and mushroom compost plus a sprinkle of some sulphate of potash and organic fertilizer pellets. 

The only down side is that I can't plant out my tomatoes just yet.  I was out of town this week so I haven't had the chance to harden them off yet.  But hopefully mid-week I'll be able to finally put them in their new home!

edible favourites: peas, green onions and parsley

I have to gush about how much I love my Oregon spring snow peas.  They're super-sweet, not at all stringy, compact and do really well in pots.  Two plants is a great amount for the two of us - every week or so I get about this many.  Perfect mixed into a stir-fry, and really, you wouldn't want much more than this. 

Spring onions are also a favourite of mine to grow.  You only ever need a few in a recipe and I got sick of buying a whole bunch and having to throw the extras away.  They're one of the first things I started growing and I'd hate to be without them.

Parsley is probably my favourite herb to grow.  It never thrived in a pot but ever since I started growing it in the ground it's done this - turned into a huge triffid!  You can also see the beetroot and kale in the background.

You never need very much in one go but I'd hate to be without it.  But as you can see it's starting to go to seed.  Many people let it seed and re-grow on its own but I don't have that kind of patience, I need to always have a supply.  So this weekend I ripped up half the triffid and planted a little seedling!

This is the first time I've tried this, but I'm hoping I'll be able to keep eating off the clump whilst the little seedling grows up.

What do you grow that you couldn't live without?

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!

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.

My firecracker chilies were so laden I went through and picked every single red chili so they didn't rot on the plant!

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.

So even though it's winter there are a few things going on.