Wednesday 03 July, 2024

[Dave]

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Here are as few of what I'm trying to grow in 15 to 20 pots, taken 07/01/2024:

1) Midnight Snack Hybrid (a uniquely colored variety of cherry tomato)...

   

2) Another plant of the same type...

   

3) Black Krim Heirloom (I have 5 or 6 thriving plants because this is my absolute favorite) They ripen to display a mix of deep red and almost black and have a rich complex taste with low acid and quite a depth of flavor in a complex mix of earthy hints...

   

4) Yellow Pear, a lovely variety that is showing signs of producing a lot of fruit...

   

Other pots contain a variety of peppers ranging from mild to very hot (Bell peppers, Poblanos, Dragon Cayenne, Blazing Banana Hybrid, two varieties of Thai Hybrids); but these are slow in developing and some aren't doing well.

[Man From Ironbark]

You have my interest piqued with your midnight snack.
All my tomatoes eggplants and capsicums went west when the temperature hit -3˚C.

[Dave]

Hi MFI.

That looks bitterly cold, but your photo captured a lovely light.

Yes, those black cherry tomatoes are neat looking. Apparently when they ripen they become redder, but still with an overlay of the blue-black.

[Rich]

Dave said " a mix of deep red and almost black and have a rich complex taste with low acid and quite a depth of flavor in a complex mix of earthy hints..."

WoW Dave quite a nice description of the tomato AND could work for some red wines! Love the name of the Midnight snack!
You have a green thumb! Excellent photo and presentations!

Peter, Brrr, awesome sunrise, there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Here is a 1959 Pontiac Bonneville from a car show last weekend at the Coke Plant.

[Dave]

Hi Rich.

Well photographed; it's nice that the red on the Coca-Colo building reinforces the red of the car.

You captured that era (may it never be resurrected) of the "land yacht" perfectly.

Thanks for the kind words about my tomato photos and description. But I must disagree about me having the proverbial "green thumb" - over the years only around 25% of my tomatoes have made it to maturity (the others were ravaged by critter), and those that survived have always been considerably smaller than expected.

Still, I agree that they are looking nice right now.

[Man From Ironbark]

In fact, red is quite forcefully outlined.

[Rich]

Thanks Dave and Peter.

Too bad about the citters. I read somewhere that sprinkling Cayenne Pepper around the plant and maybe on the plant in spots helps keep them away.
Might be worth a try.

[Dave]

Rich, I used to spray a solution of Cayenne pepper and mild liquid soap. Thanks for the reminder - I'll mix up a bit of it in a spray bottle and give it a try again.

[Man From Ironbark]

Garlic and chilli spray works very well for many insects.
Need BT Bacillus thuringensis for caterpillars.
Any milky or soapy water will be useful for aphids and scale as well as fungi such as downy mildew.
White oil is simply detergent and vegetable oil mixed with Dihydrogen monoxide. er; water.

I've found sources for the midnight snack in Au. Thanks Dave for showing me them.
I'll get some to try. I do like the so called 'black' tomatoes. I grow Black Russian and Black Krim. Also grow one called Kumato and another known as Tasmanian Chocolate. Though I wasn't overly impressed with the black cherry types that I have grown so far. Some tomatoes love my climate like Roma does. Others shy and shrink from my weather.

Thankfully we have had some rain to keep things moist enough for the moss to green up.