Tomatoes and Basil

You know the warmer weather is approaching when you start planting your tomato seeds. Here in Canberra, we have to start our tomatoes under cover, transplanting out after the last frost in late October or early November.

So today I put some seeds in pots for both tomatoes and basil (the two just have to go together!). I've recorded below the characteristics of the tomatoes, as best I know them from seed packets and other information. I'm going to see how the crop goes and compare it to the information supplied. Hopefully, we'll have lots of salad and cooking/bottling/paste/sauce tomatoes this season. I'm going to rely on self-seeding for the cherry tomatoes and yellow egg tomatoes...


The basil varieties I planted are: Lettuce leaf; Small leaf, ball-shaped; Classic Italian; Holy Basil and Thai Basil.

I'll keep you posted on their progress over summer.

love and light
naturewitch

A-maizing happenings in the garden

The maize I've been growing as part of the challenge is now over 1.8m (6ft) tall! Here it is a couple of weeks ago. Now that the weather is cooling down here in Zone 2, I'm just hoping we have enough frost free weather left to get a crop. Can't wait to dry it, mill it and eat it!

A great discovery in the garden this week was a yellow egg tomato. They mysteriously turned up with a bunch of other compost-generated tomatoes and I'm pretty happy about it. My grandfather used to grow these when I was a kid and I loved them. They are actually a bit darker yellow than in the photo. They measure approximately 4.5 x 6cm. These tomatoes are meant to be low acid and certainly seem to be less acidic than the red tomatoes I've been growing this season. If I can resist eating at least some of them, I'll save the seed for next year.

The arrowroot continues to do well, but I'm not sure how to process it for use. I know it's good for thickening sauces, etc. If anyone knows how to prepare it, please let me know.

The goji plant my friend gave me has now outgrown its little pot (in the photo) and I've given it a bigger home. Its root system is amazing! I'll leave it in a pot this winter and plant it out in open ground next spring.

I'm really enjoying all the new things I'm growing!

love and light
naturewitch