After a dry hot February here in Auckland, it’s been delightful to get some rain over the past few days.
Just under a month away from the Autumn equinox as I write this, it definitely feels like Autumn is on it’s way. The temperature is down to 20 degrees so I’ve had to put a jumper on!
The Sweet 100 cherry tomato I grew up the balcony this summer, is significantly taller than I am now. The chooks have been helping themselves to the lower tomatoes, but I’m still getting enough from out of their reach. Since I fed my tomato plants predominantly with chooky-poo it’s only fair the chooks get their share of the tomatoes.
I actually didn’t plant enough tomatoes early enough this summer, I had been waiting to put in a specific tomato garden that didn’t end up happening, so in the end I squeezed tomatoes into other gardens. I only grew yellow pear cherry tomatoes (from last summers saved seed) and a sweet 100 plant I’d bought from the garden centre. I have lots of seeds left from last summer that never made it into the ground due to my dilly dallying about wanting a new tomato garden.
I had planted pumpkins too, however the chooks got into that garden and destroyed the seedlings, so no pumpkins for them or for me.
You win some, you lose some. At least those naughty chooks lay nice eggs for me.
I had planted a cape gooseberry at the start of summer, and that is still doing very well. The feijoa tree is looking promising, last March I had more feijoas than we could eat, even with me taking in bags of them to work each week.
Green veggies are going well, have just replaced the perpetual spinach that went to seed, and added more rainbow chard and kale.
My favourite vegetable this summer has been Purple Capsicum. A single plant grown in a pot on the balcony has been great. I think I’ll plant 10 of them next year! The colour is just lovely; shiny deep purple in the sun, appearing nearly black in the shade, and on an overcast day they look like a warm chocolate colour.
What’s gone well or not so well in your garden this summer? Any recommendations?
