SoS: Vegetable Review

Unlike the UK we’ve not had any rain other than the odd shower to quench the thirst of the scorched countryside. Unfortunately, this means we are on high alert for fires. Consequently, we try to conserve and reuse every drop of water when feasible.

So far my plants in pots are holding up well as they are watered at night via the irrigation system and the rest of the garden is watered with what we can reuse from the house/pool.

1. Yellow Peppers in Progress

I planted the seed plugs I bought from the market on 26th April. Three plants to a large pot – so far so good. I feed with Tomatorite.

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2. Cucumbers Galore!

I also bought more cucumber plugs in April, which I encouraged to grow up a support rather than trail on the ground. So far so good and we now have a glut of cucumbers. Rather than let these go to waste I am researching various preserving methods. IF you have any tried and tested recipes please post in comments below or send me an email, please.

3. Tomatoes

When I bought these cherry tomato plugs the were meant to be a bush variety. They are growing in self-watering pots which means I only water ever two days. So far so good. The free-standing wigwam trellis was an afterthought.

OH decided he would grow his tomatoes in the Portuguese equivalent of a growmore bag.

This was the F1 hybrid blight resistant Koralik tomatoes I grew from seed. At £3.50 for about six seeds I am NOT impressed by these weedy specimens. They were planted undercover on the 18th April and nearly two months later  I am not impressed.

This Rosa tomato was planted as a seedling at the beginning of April. What causes leaf curl?

4. Nasturtiums for Salad

the above picture was taken on May 4th

I spent months naturing nasturtiums from seed then tending seedlings and potting on, only to be rewarded by these sickly specimens. I feel pig sick as the surplus seedlings I donated to friends are growing well.

so what went wrong?

5. Hungarian Hot Wax Chillie Peppers

 

The seeds were planted last November and potted on several times, so I am surprised they managed to survive for so long!  I am unfamiliar with this variety so have no idea as to to the heat of these peppers. I will probably just freeze or pickle them and wait until by daughter-in-law arrives as she loves these type of peppers.

6. A Minha Horta

The red and green cabbage continue to grow well as does the red onions. The cauliflowers run to seed and the peas succumbed to rust and thrips. Needless to say, the cauliflower was donated to the compost heap and the peas were disposed of.

I’ve just planted the Koralik tomato plants but I don’t hold out much hope.

At our next trip to the market, I will see if I can find some beetroot seedlings as we want to eat more fresh beetroot. However, I am tempted to just let the ground rest for several months before planting the winter crops and revamping the layout.

 

I need to change the design so I can reach all areas of the bed from the edge without climbing onto the bed itself. My mountain goat days are over.

In the foreground is my herb bed. Sheltering under the black crates are leaf celery seedlings, basil, lemon thyme, lemon grass and parsley.

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The container-grown melons. lettuce, radish, spinach, physalis and strawberries are doing well. Salad crops we endeavour to replant every six weeks to ensure continuity of supply. which reminds me: better go and plant more radish seeds so we have organic radish when the family arrive for their annual holiday.

That’s it for this week. To catch up with more Six on Saturday bloggers why not click over to the Propagators Blog?