Tag: tomato

Growing up revisited

Just a quick post to show the new seedlings growing. I can see the difference between the kale and the chinese cabbage now with the second set of leaves (I am sure they have a more scientific name) coming through. I am excited about the kale – I saw a recipe with kale and it looked so scrumptious! With so much nutritional value, it can only be a great addition to any plate! I also harvest a variety of lettuces daily for our lunch salad! No more red, juicy tomatoes, but I do have the small yellow Blondekopf tomatoes. Very sweet and there are always lots of them!

Here we have the kale

[one_half]Kale[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Chinese Cabbage[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Rocket[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Rocket in the raised bed[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Ok – I think this is more cabbage[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Potato plant emerging[/one_half_last]

[one_half]A necklace of Blondekopf tomatoes[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Some lettuce in a bald patch[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Oak leaf lettuce[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Rosemary[/one_half_last]

What else is growing in my garden that I haven’t talked about for awhile?

[one_third]Passion Fruit Vine[/one_third]

[one_third]Fennel[/one_third]

[one_third_last]Lemon Tree[/one_third_last]

[one_half]Bulbs in the raised beds-must be Sparaxis[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Ixia with Lupins[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Birdies love the birdbath[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Grasses are still attractive[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Fairylights in the Leopard tree[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Black pod of the Leopard Tree[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Powis Castle Artemesia in the rose bed[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Rosemary & fennel in the veggie patch[/one_half_last]

Lots still happening in my garden and as I can see, there is still a basketful of goodies I can collect from the veggie patch!

Have a Happy Gardening week xxxxxx

Tags bulbs, lemon tree, Leopard Tree, tomato, vegetables, veggie garden

Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

Green November

I love my early morning ritual with getting up – open up for the chickens – kisses and hugs, fresh seeds, greens and water – put the coffee on – empty the trash – pack the dishes from the night before – pour the coffee and my morning begins……

[one_half]My favourite morning spot on the back deck[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Everything is so green![/one_half_last]

I love sitting out on my deck in summer.The sun is way up there early in the morning and the birds and bees are busy gathering. Everything is so GREEN!! I love this! I take a walk between the veggies and fruit and see that all is good. The small damage from my little nasties are not punishable by death so they are allowed to stay. I see so many ladybirds that I won’t spray for aphids either. I will be gentle this season and share in my spoils!

[one_half]My Tea Tree Bush and Irises in the background[/one_half]

[one_half_last]My sunflowers are growing tall![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Rosemary as tall as me![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Festuca looking glam![/one_half_last]

[one_half]A stray tomato plant outside of the raised bed![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Delicious spinach…yum![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Ok, you can stay![/one_half]

[one_half_last]The local watering hole[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Taking a stop over on the local blommie![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Is this a hover fly?[/one_half_last]

Well, that was my morning today! I have plans to do absolutely nothing………

Happy gardening xxxx

Tags gardening, organic garden, rosemary, spinach, tomato

30 Day Challenge Christine's garden Gardening

The 30 Day Challenge – Day 16

Post author By Christine
Post date November 18, 2011
2 Comments on The 30 Day Challenge – Day 16

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to grow my own herbs and vegetables. I love being able to pop out into the back garden to grab a handful of coriander or sweet basil, to harvest a few fresh lettuce leaves or to pluck a lovely red chilli off a plant to spice up whatever is cooking on the stove. Freshly picked parsley is tastier than store bought, Thai basil is delicious and mint is great for garnishing cocktails or desserts in summer. It gives me immense satisfaction to watch my herbs and veggies grow – right now I’m getting ready to harvest my first batch of cherry tomatoes – and they are looking hmm hmm goood – for this I am grateful!

Photo – Flowers on the Cherry Tomato plant. I get just as excited about flowers on my veggie plants as I do about ornamental flowers. I think they are beautiful and they are a sign of the harvest to come. The flowers on the Cherry Tomato and the Chilli plants in particular are my favourite “veggie flowers”.

Cherry Tomatoes: A cherry tomato is a small variety of tomato that has been cultivated since at least the early 1800s and thought to have originated in Peru and Northern Chile. Cherry tomatoes range in size from a thumbtip up to the size of a golf ball, and can range from being spherical to slightly oblong in shape. The more oblong ones often share characteristics with plum tomatoes, and are known as grape tomatoes. The cherry tomato is regarded as a botanical variety of the cultivated berry, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme.

About the 30 Day Challenge

Cat of The Whimsical Gardener, has invited Garden Bloggers the world over to join her in the 30 day challenge of posting a photograph and sentiment that you are thankful for – every day for 30 days. Find something you are thankful for every day, for 30 days, can’t be too difficult, can it? See all Barbie’s and my posts filed under “30 Day Challenge“.

Tags 30 day challenge, tomato

Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels Trees

Guavas and all

I think the garden is all about growth and life and new beginnings and nourishment for the body and soul. There should always be time to take a walk in the garden. To look at it through the eyes of a fellow garden plant. To see how all plants work together to give each other shade or nutrients or help ward off pesky pests or bring the welcomed insects. I look at my new lemons on my tree and I think of the pleasure and pain to see these ripened beauties. I look at the lemons on the grocery store shelf and I can see and feel the energy that went into making one simple lemon. I delight in my new guavas – even though I was not a great fan of them, I have learnt to enjoy them fresh off the tree. So I appreciate all my trees and plants that bring me joy and sweet treats!!

Here are some new photos of my garden walk about!

Enjoy! x

[one_half]New Lemons[/one_half]

[one_half_last]New Guavas[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The end of my Fig season[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Onion forrest[/one_half_last]

[one_half]New tomato plant[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Rosemary blossom[/one_half_last]

Tags fruit trees, guava, lemon, onion, tomato

Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Recipes

Tons of Tomatoes

Wow – have a look at my harvest of tomatoes! And there are still lots more on the vine. Hannes and I had some fun this afternoon just taking these photo’s. He is such a great creative director! Just makes a boring tomato photo shoot a total fun event!

I hope you enjoyed the tomatoes, Chris. I also gave some to Kristen, and she was so amazed and said, “Wow, and this is how a real tomato should taste!” It makes the growing and nurturing a real joy when this is the resulting feedback!! I love my GARDEN!!!

[one_half][/one_half]

[one_half_last][/one_half_last]

A quick and simple tomato sauce recipe: Great for pasta and meatballs or just as a condiment instead of chutney.

2 -4 large roma tomatoes (cut up in slices or blocks) – depends how many people you are having for dinnner – just add more tomatoes (and freeze the rest)
chopped parsley
chopped fresh coriander
chopped fresh origanum
chopped fresh margoram
chopped fresh sweet basil
chopped fresh spring onions
chopped fresh thyme

And this can all come from your own herb garden.

Simmer all these ingredients in a small sauce pan with a blob of butter. Just don’t add any water. This will spoil it, as the beautiful juices from the tomato will be suficient. Add salt & ground black pepper and a tsp of sugar. And Voila! A simple and super quick sauce! You don’t have to boil, just give it 10 minutes or so and you are done. You have just enough time to make a bowl of pasta! Keep a sprig or two of sweet basil for garnish. It always completes the dish!

Enjoy!

Tags roma tomato, tomato

Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features

Picked from the Garden

I just wanted to share with you the herbs and veggies I picked from the garden for supper tonight. It was such a treat to wander in the garden and pick supper! I can’t wait for my garden to be producing masses of different kinds of vegetables and herbs – oh, like sweet potatos, carrots, spinach, cauliflower, broccolli……. real health giving food! But I am having difficulty with the actual styling of my back garden, so this will take some time. I also need the weather to cool down before I tackle a huge project like this! I’ll keep you posted. I know you gave me a great idea about putting together a story board – get a huge piece of cardboard and draw on it my garden layout – place on it cut-outs from magazines that I see and fancy, like water features, different styles that could work, etc! This will be my project for the week!! Thanks for that tip!

Tags organic herbs, organic vegetables, parsley, spring onion, sweet basil, tomato

Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features

Did gardening in this heat!

Post author By Barbara
Post date February 27, 2011
2 Comments on Did gardening in this heat!

Hi my friend, I am finished! I spent the weekend cleaning my veggie patch – a host of weeds to clear out! Oh my word! It was hot out here and my veggie patch is not a small one – 2m x 10m. I had to bring some order to what was growing in it. I had a butternut squash plant growing like a monster, but is was covered in powdery mildew and all the small squashes were stung by some kind of insect. It was so sad to pull it out. I need to read up on what to plant together with squash to prevent this from happening in the next planting season. Any way, I have to say that my tomotoes are growing fantastically – I have sweet basil, onions, lemon thyme around the one section of tomatoes and these are growing out of control. The other patch it still small and has nothing planted nearby, so I have to say that companion planting is the way to go. Thank you Margaret Roberts – I love the book on Companion Planting and it has become my new gardening bible! This has been such a valuable gift – thank you Chris!

I also have to admit that I can now go Nursery shopping with you – I have an excuse to fill all the extra space I have in the Veggie Patch!

Hope you had a Happy Gardening weekend!

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Tags roma tomato, tomato

Christine's garden Gardening Home page features

Tomato and Basil

Thought I’d give you an update on the little Tomato plant you gave me! Here it is and you can see the little Sweet Basil plant I bought on Sunday planted next to it! I am amazed at how quickly the tomato has grown. It must be three times the size it was when you gave it to me. (wish all my plants grew that quickly!).

They are both living in a little 1m² patch which is the only full sun patch in the whole garden. So I am hoping they thrive. So far so good. The tomato has been there for about two weeks and looks much happier than when she was in the pot and the basil plant has been there since Sunday.

Tags basil, sweet basil, tomato, veggies

Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features

Roma Tomatoes

My tomato plants are looking fantastic! I took the last photograph a week ago and look how they have grown. I can’t wait for them to mature. I bought a few Italian tomatoes from the grocer today, but they are not as tasty as the ones you pick from your own garden. I water them almost every day and I use the Worm Tea from my worm farm as a pest repellant and it is also great for improving growth! How organic is that!!?!

Tags roma tomato, tomato