Waitangi long weekend

Nice having another Monday off, last weekend was Auckland Anniversary weekend which we spent in lovely Napier, hence no update then.
I have pulled the corn out as well as the old beans, making room for a crop of broccoli.
Planted 14 leek seedlings deep in their holes

The eggplants are making lots of pretty flowers

and now there are tiny fruit starting to fatten up

made some simple frames to hold the new beans upright

And there are a new flush of big fat hot chillies starting to redden up

The plums have been falling off the tree at a nicely manageable rate, about 5-6 a day, we have to go out everynow and then to gather them up, or else this happens...

yesterday's harvest

Have eaten corn!

Went mad and picked the largest cob, and ate it!
It was still a bit small but beautifully formed and tasted tender and sweet!
Yay for more.

Spread granular fertilizer around all the vegetables and then watered it alll in so there should be a good growth boost.
Nipped the growing tops of both tomato plants today, any more extensions and I would not have been able to reach the fruit when ripe.

Plums are falling to the ground at 4-5 a day and they are tasting nice.

Very excited about the eggplants, magnificent specimens! Afternoon photo
(click to enlarge)

 

A pair of monarchs locked in epic embrace/combat on the lawn

Middle summer I guess

The weather is quite unpredictable, seems to happily swap from sun to rain at a moment's notice. It hasn't been the sort of summer that forces you outside for cool air, I hope it still comes, those nice long evenings outside with candles (and mossies) do feel like a real summer.

Have been using the barbie almost daily though! :)

The beans I planted the other day are up and looking good, the old lot are almost done now.

The corn is getting pretty close to harvest, the plants are huge and the cobs are fattening

Made some teepees for the ever growing aubergine plants, pulled apart an old trellis and used some of the long slats, the plants are looking very strong and are all showing flower buds now

in the foreground we have just planted the bottom cut off bits of spring onions, apparently they start sprouting and producing more in a third of the time if you start with seedlings! We shall see!

Zuchini flower, it's starting to get into serious production now

2012 and all's well

so far anyway...
:)
The corn is now as tall as an elephant's eye, taller I recon. There seem to be two cobs forming on each stalk, apparently one to two is as good as it gets for sweet corn. They are starting to fatten up now so hopefully it won't be too long till eating time.
Here is a photo of me and the cat taken by Miss Gnome

The plaited garlic had to be hurriedly unplaited and most of the husks removed. I don't think they dried out enough before I tied them up, the stems were beginning to rot! Now we have a large airy basket in a dark corner of the pantry that will keep them hopefully.

They look good though

Tomatoes are doing very well, no disease or anything much so far, fingers crossed. I had to get the ladder out to be able to tie the tops to the support. (which all need extending again).

There are now a few red ones ready for sampling.
Miss Gnome is dying to sink her fangs into the plums which are looking tantalizingly good

 

 Popped in another two rows of radish seeds before the rains began again, the last lot are lovely and crunchie when sliced onto a cheese and ham sandwich!

Last days of 2011

Everything is growing well, picked the first zucchini yesterday. Eggplants are beginning to show growth from the leaf joints and I have put paving stones between them for extra warmth and moisture retention.

The corn is having sex all over the patch!
These tendrils have appeared out of the very tip of the stalk. When you tap the stem a fine mist of pollen drifts down.

 Whilst below them where the leaves are attached bulges have formed and opened their tops to reveal the fronds of the cobs, each one has to be pollinated to form a single kernel.

 

Plums are now starting to look nice, we may need to harvest them before they fall off by themselves, it seems as soon as one hits the ground it gets pecked open by the waxeyes.

 Both the yellow and green beans need picking every two days and look to keep producing for a while yet. The yellow ones do seem to make far more faster maturing pods and are also easier to find amongst the leaves. The first tomatoes are just starting to have an orange tint, and I have had put the extentions onto the tomato frames as the main stalk is now taller than me and I need a stepladder to tie it up.