Thwarting the cabbage white

Yes indeed white cabbage butterflies are pestering our poor broccoli seedlings as though they are the last ones on the planet. The smallest leaf had 20+ eggs at least and derris dusting is quite difficult as well as unsightly.
I went to Mitre 10 today and bought 2 meters of bird netting. White in colour as the black would reduce the amount of light falling on the plants.
A few sticks to prop it up and and hopefully it will keep the beasts at bay.



Not exactly pretty but effective I hope.

Monday, after a nice weekend

Still lovely and warm and late summery.
In spite of the earthquakes in Christchurch and the disaster movie being played out in Japan live is pleasant here. Almost feeling guilty.

We have had BBQ's and friends and family. Lovely indeed!
:)
The tomatoes are still firming and reddening on a daily basis, it's a job to keep thinking of things to do with them. One favourite is passata, a simple tomato and garlic sauce that can be kept in sterilized jars for quick sauce for pasta or pizza.
Passata recipe
Although we didn't bother putting it through a sieve or anything, lumps are good.
I pick a daily small handfull of red chillies, lay them in a single layer an a plastic lid in the freezer and pop them into a tupperware type container when frozen the next day. we have three containers full already this season. More than enough for the year. They are nice to use frozen, they chop up better than when dried as well.

We went mad and bought another citrus, a bearss lime, nice useful green/yellow fruit.
We hope.
Planted broccoli (tender stems) and leeks are about to be put out. Been reading about poking a hole in the ground and leaning the leek in and watering gently. The idea is that the hole fills itself gradually and naturally to keep the bottom of the leek nice and white as it grows.
Shot of the radishes in front of the beetroots in front of the yellow beans in front of the green beans in front of the chilli plants etc etc



a bucket of tomato pickings



a gnome risking life and limb on a ladder picking a peck of the above



these roma ones are wonderful sliced onto bread and cheese with a dribble of mayonaise and a good grind of black pepper



and last but not least a shot of the queen of the garden



:)

March, late summer?

Early autumn?
They say it will be a warm and gentle autumn, sounds good to me. There are still many tomatoes to ripen on the big plant. Sauces and chutneys and passatas have been made and more will follow hopefully. The chillies have been producing like mad, I pick a small handful daily.



Disease and fungus is a problem as everything ages. It's all part of life and the universe it seems.

Spotteds a bright friend on the edge of a cucumber flower



And the chillies on the black plant look wonderful now



We have new beans doing well and all is good

As I am writing this we have just had a random hail storm, it finished as quickly as it started thank goodness, but it does explain why the temperatures dropped this afternoon.

A view of the new radishes, beetroot, yellow beans and green beans,