We returned home from France to damp and humid weather. When I woke up the following day, this is the view I was greeted with. I initially cheered because I thought it was raining. Nope, we were enveloped in a cloud! Sea mist. We often experience this in July and August as we live so close to the coast.



2. Black Tula Beefsteak Tomato Update
The Black Tula (beefsteak) tomatoes are still trying to decide if they want to grow. A fellow gardener in France (The Simple Life) kindly sent me these seeds as part of a seed share project, and I was excited to see how they would develop. I planted the seeds on March 24th. However, they have not progressed much in 3.5 months, and I’m now wondering if it’s time to cut my losses as water is in short supply.

3. Black Tomatoes
I am finally harvesting the black tomatoes planted from the seeds I saved last year. Notice the tomatoes have a red tinge.

4. Yellow Peppers
I was delighted to return home from vacation to discover the yellow peppers I bought as seed plugs back in February and planted in the raised bed in March were now yielding delicious, sweet yellow peppers. Yellow peppers are really expensive to buy, so a win!


5. Orange Tree
The Christmas orange tree (although it looks more like a bush) continues to thrive … looking at the oranges, I think we will be harvesting long before Christmas.


6. Vegetable Plot Overview
Currently harvesting: Yellow, mini tomatoes, black tomatoes, lettuce, aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, and physalis.


As you can see, my vegetable area has changed quite a lot since January. It is also untidy as there are not enough walking hours in a day with my decreased mobility.

and March

That’s a wrap for this week, folks.
For more Six on Saturday Gardens, check out our host, Jim’ over at Garden Ruminations

The yellow peppers are amazing – they must have tasted delicious. I hope the black tomatoes have a lovely flavour and I can only imagine the taste of a fresh orange picked straight from the tree!
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You have a lot going on in your garden as well! The black tomatoes looks delicious!
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I never realised how much until I came to take photographs. Your plot is amazing.
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The camera is a great way to be in the moment and notice the details. 🙂 Thank you!
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Those yellow peppers look delicious.
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Yep, nice and sweet!
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Send me rain! Oddly, I don’t have enough of it this summer. It’s not too hot but the ground is very dry. It rained a little (20mm in the gauge) 2 days ago but not enough for the garden.
So for your Six I of course love these yellow peppers and those black tomatoes!
Concerning the new toms, it’s strange that they haven’t grown much since March-April?… the soil in the pot is perhaps the reason. Regardless, they will catch up with the others as the season progresses. I would wait.
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Goodness, Fred. We had so much rain in France …East of Lyon, I thought we would grow webbed toes. The weather is strange at the moment.
Re new toms. I wondered about the soil in the pot so I replanted them into vegetable compost which displays tomatoes on the bag, along with aubergines and peppers and they are still not happy. You beg for their life … I will give them another 4 weeks and then ….
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Great peppers! Sorry about the one tomato plant, but the other is producing well. Thanks for the overview. Happy gardening.
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Thanks, Rebecca. I can’t believe my luck with the peppers. The tomato plants that are struggling are a new variety … so we will see.
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I was going to say, rain in Portugal during July would be a rarity? Humid weather is not good for tomatoes. I grew black cherry tomatoes last year, weren’t very impressed with them.
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It is unusual to have rain in July, but the weather is changing. I am praying that my tomatoes survive. there must be about 100 tomatoes waiting to ripen off. I’ve never tried the black minin toms …but the others are good….so far. You still have time to plant more toms this year.
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Wow, even so, it looks luscious.
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