Studies of an eggplant

Picked the first one today, still small compared to the perfect ones at the vege market, but a nice firm one none the less, and fully deserving a photo or two...

Secret code was inscribed on one side, probably the answer to everything

I do like the spiky cap, looks interesting in black & white

Very summer

Total blue dome skies and burning rays the moment you were in the sun, definitely had to plan the gardening around the shady bits.
Planted another 53 Cardiff leek seedlings, all from one punnet. Put in some zucchini seeds, they say there is time for a whole new generation of new plants, in theory not as diseasy as the old ones.
The tomatoes are producing copious amounts of perfect fruit, it will be hard work making them all into sauces and chutneys.

The plants are looking fairly naked, the leaves are showing lots of yellowing so I have been pretty ruthless in removing them. The fruit don't seem to mind and are ripening well

Ugly but effective I guess.

Planted a six pack of tender stems broccoli, the type you can keep harvesting. Had to build a butterfly net cage around the though to give then a chance.

the umbrella is shielding them from the ravishes of the midday sun

Happy vegetables are good vegetables!

Path finishing

Spent some time sorting out the brick path as well as putting an edge along the garden next to it, looks almost like a proper garden new! Planted out a bunch of triple curled parsley as well as six new coriander plants, never enough...
:)

The eggplants are getting larger and the tomatoes are starting to go into serious orange mode, sauces will need to be made pronto. Bulk butter chicken/lamb sauce is first in the queue. Yum, it freezes well for easy future meals.

Eggplants in the foreground, my two tomatoes in the back

The largest aubergine so far

and my path and raised garden edge all done


 Lovely!
:)

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