My. favourite tomato is Tommy Toe - lots of delicious smallish tomatoes - each is the right size for a sandwich, so if you just want one you don't have half a tomato left.haha. My tomtoes, Tommy and Roma, are covered in green ones and I'm STILL waiting for the first red one. Hopefully won't be much longer and then it will be the usual feast or famine scenario. Great to get a little rain - was hoping for a downpour - which will give the veges a boost. Have two courgettes, side by side, (Blackjack) and one has been producing prolifically since mid December and the other has still to have one - go figure! Gave everything a foliar feed three days ago so hopefully well ingested before the rain.
sit1,
Jan 20, 4:51pm
Yay the rain is here! I too love the homegrown magazine. Last night made a mix of raspberry, strawberry and blueberry jam based on the book recipe. I had been saving up the surplus smaller sized strawberries from the garden by cutting them and adding them to a container in the freezer. Love the smell of homemade jam cooking. My only gripe with the homegrown book is that there aren't many ideas for things to make with grapes and I have two fences groaning with grapes. Would love the recipe for old fashioned grape juice. Don't have the room for making home made wine or the patience.
stevee6,
Jan 20, 6:14pm
Elizabeth - just freeze your grapes whole. They're really nice as cool snacks for kids.
stevee6,
Jan 20, 10:36pm
Bump for some more newbies.
jules.,
Jan 21, 12:53am
got the new eggs for 'lucy' to sit ontoday. also managed to get a guinea pig hutch for $5, had 2 guineas with it, so gave them to my sister as a house warming gift, hehe. she was so excited, her partner, not so much. he now has to build them a house. the new mum and her chicks are going in it in the morning. the babies are now 2 days old. found a massive cucumber in the garden today, was hanging in amongst the beans so hadnt noticed it. have pegged all the cauli leaves closed to protect from the sun too.
juliewn,
Jan 21, 5:58am
Hi Everyone. so lovely to hear rain on our roof tonight - was much needed here too. My yellow courgette flowers are falling off without setting fruit - any suggestions please. They're in full sun, growing healthily, and I'm watering regularly - yet the flowers are falling off. thanks for help.
juliewn,
Jan 21, 5:59am
Thanks for the suggestions regarding tomatoes too. we had the first three yellow cherry tomatoes today - sooo nice. can't wait till they are giving us lots of fruit.
juliewn,
Jan 21, 6:03am
Hi Sit1. this is my favourite grape juice recipe - it's a recipe from a book from when my mum-in-law was young - and I make it for use throughout the year. Sterile some jars in your oven - pop top jars are good as the lids will pop down again sealing the jar well. Wash the grapes while still in bunches, so the insides don't come out - then leave them to drip-dry in a colander or sieve. Remove the grapes from the stems, and place themin a bowl. Bring to the boil some syrup - 1 cup sugar to 3 cups water. times the quantity you want. Stir often to dissolve the sugar. When that is boiling and the sugar is dissolved, remove the jars, a few at a time, from the oven and place on a wooden or similar surface (thick newspaper works fine too) so they won't break going straight onto a cold surface.
juliewn,
Jan 21, 6:04am
Fill each jar to 1/3 full with some of the grapes. Carefully pour over the syrup, a little at a time, to completely fill the jars right to the top. Place the pop-top lids on and screw tight. Wipe the outside of the jar and set aside to cool. As they cool, the pop-top lids will pop down to seal the jar. Wash the jars when cold. Over the next couple of weeks, the colour and flavour of the grapes will seep into the syrup, making lovely grape juice.
juliewn,
Jan 21, 6:05am
This is delicious chilled - pour some into a glass and top up with lemonade.Use a few jars of the juice (the grapes taste good too) with lemonade as a refreshing punch for parties and bbq's, etc. I would think this would be great with blackcurrants too. and for any berries. Hope this helps.
stevee6,
Jan 21, 2:16pm
Juliewn - with your courgette problem, have you any bees or other pollinators around! Often if plants don't set fruit, that's the reason. You may need to hand pollinate.
simplesean,
Jan 21, 5:56pm
bump. so close. only 2 more posts!
simplesean,
Jan 21, 5:57pm
999 .
simplesean,
Jan 21, 5:57pm
1000! !
simplesean,
Jan 21, 5:58pm
yay. i got a 1000! woohoo. aah, small things amuse small minds ;)
juliewn,
Jan 21, 8:46pm
Bumping for Shayam.:-) hope this helps. Hi Steve. I'm seeing bees and bumblebees often in my garden this summer - and the courgettes are planted just a few feet away from pumpkin plants that are setting fruit - and are also near borage plants on which there are often 3 or 4 bumblebees at a time. To self-pollinate, is there a particular flower I need to look for on the plant, to brush it inside the others, or will any flower do!. Thanks for your help.
jules.,
Jan 21, 9:25pm
YAY over 1000, not many threads get to be this big! what an acheivement, and so much friendly advice too. have learnt so much, keep it going!
mim5,
Jan 22, 2:18am
Yaaay! Just picked my first two tomatoes of the season. Peppers nearly big enough to pick, along with the chilis. Still waiting on peas. Beans, lettuce, courgettes, coriander and basil going strong.
valleystream,
Jan 22, 2:20am
Gardening Fiddy
kiwiscrapper1,
Jan 22, 2:49am
I'm picking beans everyday enough for just two of us for dinner, if we go out I will be in trouble, they are growing fast! just planted more beetroot, but its looking a bit sad, hope it perks up with this rain, and lettuce, coloured silverbeet and spring onions. Still waiting for the toms to ripen they are so slow should be eating them by now I would think. I read Lindas article about how the spring onions took 9 mths to fatten up, would love to get some seeds on the red ones she shows in the mag.
sit1,
Jan 22, 2:55am
Thanks Julie For the grape recipe. I shall give it a whirl once the grapes ripen. Picked our first tomatoes today from the garden. great to see the rain has been steady and soaked into the vege plots. I am dreading getting my next water bill :-S
sit1,
Jan 22, 2:58am
Anyone using greywater on their garden! I'm using all the water from the washing machine on my trees and flower gardens- not brave enough to use it on the vege garden even though I am using the next generation plant based washing powder. Anyway would love to know if others do this too. I have a rather primitive system at the moment that involves filling up buckets of water and carrying them all aroudn the garden and rushing back too refill from the next rinse, keeps me fit
em007,
Jan 22, 4:16am
From no tomatoes to our first 8 today! They were delicious! Its starting YAY! we have hundreds!
katelin1,
Jan 22, 6:02pm
preserving etc. I am LOVING the Home Grown maggie too!Very inspirational! I have to hold back from planning my winter veges cos I have to focus on my wedding in less than 2 weeks!But I have managed to fit in making batches of boysenberry jam and spicy plum sauce - delish :)the fruit on my 30 tomato plants are yet to ripen - looking forward to fresh toms and making sauce & relish!All very good healthy fun :)
temco1,
Jan 23, 1:11am
#103. not yet.but i've been looking at those cool slimline tanks.Bit scared to ring for a quote really.*forgets about tank*
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