I've transplanted some of the red-veined sorrel to the front garden as I have planted way too much. I think it will be quite decorative so shouldn't look out of place. Once it is a bit more established I'll take a pic.

We planted three tomato plants that went absolutely ape**** this year. I removed about 30% of the tops about a month ago because they were climbing over the fence and blocking my pepper plants. After that they spread out like little shop of horrors.

We also have strawberries which are only producing mediocre this year compared to last, and the afore mentioned pepper plants that seem late this year. Jalapeño, serano, habanero and Tabasco. The serano is exploding with blossoms and peppers (white flowers near monster tomatoes). I am wondering if the hot summer has affected them because they all seemed to have extra strong vegetive stages with not a lot of fruit yet.

I also planted four citrus trees in the yard. Blood orange (pictured), clementine, rio red grapefruit and Mexican lime. We moved about a year ago and I am still mourning the grapefruit tree we left behind that was a good producer of the best grapefruit I ever ate. Also had a lemon and a blood orange.

Next year fewer tomatoes and more jalapeño.

Johnny,

Great garden you have going. Just curious in regards to the lime trees if it's recommended taking the flowers and fruit off the young trees the first couple of years? I only ask as that's what I was advised to do with a lemon tree and I was thinking they would be similar.

Planted some telephone pole peas and mixed lettuce today. It's still cold here but hopefully it starts warming up next month. I am going to buy a little hothouse or some type of growing set up to get some seedlings up while I am waiting for the weather to warm up. I really love growing from seeds, I'm not sure why but I find it a lot more enjoyable than just buying seedlings although I certainly do buy seedlings from time to time. I braved going out in my garage (it's a mess) and trawled around until I found some seeds, thankfully they were approximately where I thought they would be. Am currently going through them all. A lot are seeds I have saved and some are a bit old but I'm going to try them out and I hope they work. I'm a little sentimental and as they are from my old house it would be nice to have some plants growing that remind me of there. I have definitely got more seeds out there so I'm going to have to go face it again. Really want to find some apple cucumber seeds as they were originally from my mum. Awesome found them plus a heap of other seeds including an unopened pack of Gypsophila seeds with a use by of 1998 ha ha. Definitely going to ty them out, will post pic if they grow!

Lil' harvest from mine.



It's nice that once you get the plants started and give them water they just do their thing with very little attention. I've been very lazy about weeding and cultivating this season.

some nice pictures and bounties itt!

my tomato plants suffered tremendously in the dead heat of summer but now that it's a little cooler out, i've got some new green growth...sooo i stripped everything in the bottom 5' or so of the 3 remaining plants i have left, added some more foxfarm organic fertilizer (7-7-7 i think), the new/healthy growth up at the tops of the cages has continued and now i've got a couple dozen new flowers and have seen some bees buzzing around- hoping for another round of tomatoes in the next few weeks before the days really start to shorten. at least here in SC we'll have relatively warm temps all the way into november at a minimum. fingers crossed!

cucumber vines are deader than **** and have been removed, but my jalapeno plant is now like 7' tall (!!!) and still producing nicely

very nice!

Rexx,

It seems as though the blossoms are falling off of the smaller citrus trees this year, should I be picking them off also? What about the ones that have a few pieces of fruit at this point, should I remove them instead of letting them mature?

Not sure if this qualifies as gardening but the house we bought has a front and back lawn that were looking like weak garbage. I'm not big on lawns at all, the whole concept is dumb imo, but I do enjoy the yard work. I am 100% anti-chemical fertilizer and refrain from pesticides organic or otherwise. At some point I'd like to pull out lawns entirely and go with a low water landscape but I'm not ready for the commitment yet.

Anyway, I reseeded, spread organic fertilizer, and nothin really changed until I took the collection bag off my little lawn mower and started using it in mulch mode. Within weeks the difference is crazy. The lawn health improved by 100% at least.

prana picked a peck of peppers

Johnny,

I have never grown lime trees before but I was told to do it in regards to my lemon tree and that it was a general rule of thumb in regards to citrus trees. The people who passed this information on were very experienced gardeners though.

Great harvests everyone! Still cold here, hopefully it warms up a bit soon. Currently just harvesting silverbeet, lettuce, spinach and herbs. I'd definitely starve if just relying on my garden atm. I'd be like yim but I would be eyeing off the possums! Totally understand why so many people grew potatoes to survive being higher calorie and good to store long term. Also I think people were encouraged to grow them in medieval times because if invaders burnt crops people still had the potatoes underground to eat. Sorry for going off on a tangent.

man...i am super jealous



i bet you could put together an epic green hot sauce. any plans on what to do with them?

I am unexpectedly busy the next few weeks and have cayennes and habaneros that are still green. I will probably roast them for green chili and freeze them until I can make it. Last year I roasted and froze about 30 lbs and then had the freezer go out so those were a total loss.

what happens when you freeze peppers after roasting? ive tried freezing fresh peppers and it was a disaster, they thawed out to a soggy mess

Yeah I've never tried freezing them fresh. I dehydrate habaneros and cayenne and canned sliced banana and jalapeño peppers usually. Since they will be used for salsa/chili I don't think it will be a problem after roasting. They will be chopped up. Google seems to have a lot of links about roasting and freezing them without issues. We will find out lol.

seems like it'd be fine regardless if using them for sauces/chilis

report back on results pls!

Got my first eggplant today, and a couple more ready to pick this week. Also have a few still-green red peppers developing nicely, which I've never been able to grow before. Plus a few tomatoes a day.

Pics of peppers growing on the plant or it didn't happen.

I deleted it already because two green peppers surrounded by a sea of green leaves wasn't that exciting

Rexx, here are my two peppers:

Are you going to keep growing them next year? It's not much yield although obviously better than other years. They are nice looking capsicums though! Maybe they need more heat/sun. How hot does it get where you are?

Hold your horses. There are still a few tiny ones and some blossoms, and no frost for at least another month. I suspect to have half a dozen by the time I'm done. If I had more room at the side of the house where it's sunniest I'd grow them next year, but might just go with eggplant and a few different varieties of tomatoes since they all produce well.

Average highs in July and August are mid 20s with a couple of weeks in the high 20s temp. How far north are you that you can harvest stuff already and it's not even spring there, or is all of stralya like that?

I am actually in one of the colder areas of Australia, it's a maximum of 9 celsius here today. I'm only harvesting stuff that can be grown in winter. I can't even plant tomatoes until November. The area my brother is in you can grow zucchini year round! Still at least I can grow stuff in winter so I should be grateful.

damn, i never took gregorio for an aussie. am i reading that wrong?

rep, yes you are.

Rexx, damn, 9 celsius is cold for end of winter?

Greg,

It's spring!! Where I grew up it would get cold at night but warm up during the day, up as high as the 20s. Plus I have lived in tropical areas where there is no winter so yeah 9 Celsius is cold!!

Btw I love you defending your plants. That is so something I would do lol. I think it's funny how stubborn gardeners can be, continually trying something that just isn't giving them that great a return. I am trying to be more accepting of my limitations now. Having said that I planted some spinach when a website for my local area said it was too late to do so and it's doing beautifully!