Sunday, December 23, 2012

Tomato and Zucchini success and Summer Garden pics

Since I started growing vegetables I have had very little success with tomatoes and Zucchini (and most other squashes). They would always get terrible powdery mildew which would devastate the entire plant, eventually killing it. Also my squash were not getting pollinated and the babies would just rot. I had almost given up. With the tomatoes, I actually had given up. Ripped out all my infected plants and didn't bother planting more.
For the Zucchini I decided to try planting them in containers, or grow bags in my case. And so far so good. The plants are doing to well! They are fruiting and I hand pollinate every morning, and I can move the bags during the peak of the day when it gets really hot. I Can't wait to start picking them.

Zucchini in grow bags



I was very disappointed about my tomatoes. Everyone grows tomatoes and it just seems like the easiest crop to grow. Hubby got rid of some old tomatoes in the fridge by throwing them into a crevice between our two back walls. The space in about 15 cm wide and I normally grow nasturtiums there. A few weeks later we noticed some tomato plants popping up, but didn't take too much notice as we thought they would eventually get infected and wilt away. But no! One in particular just grew and grew and then started fruiting. After a good few weeks it was laden with green tomatoes!
I am still waiting for them to ripen but any day now we will be picking tomatoes.


  
Needless to say, I have since planted a bunch more tomato plants in the crevice between the two walls. Hoping for the same success.

I have been loving my garden this season, so much is growing and I am enjoying watching as each day the plants get a little bigger.
Here is a few pictures of what I have growing at the moment:

Green peppers are growing all around the garden

 Potatoes in hessian sacks seem to be doing well

Butternut is taking over my pathways

Corn is growing tall and strong with butternut filling the spaces underneath

Brinjal plants are exploding with fruit

Cucumber and loofah vines are taking over the walls

And a self seeded sunflower (from the chicken feed) has overtaken the top of the jungle gym! I am looking forward to seeing it flower!

Hope everyone else here in the southern hemisphere is having success in their gardens.
And as things are getting busy around here and I might not post again this year, I hope you all have a FANTASTIC Christmas, and a very happy New Year!!



1 comment:

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