Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Kitchen Garden Update

Apart from the Apple on the mini tree there are two other crops ripening away.The first two are the Chilli plants in the greenhouse.These are Purple Tiger Chillis,grown from seed this year.I think they are going to be very hot.I ended up with six of these plants so there may be a bumper crop of Chillis once they have finished growing.The Chili Cheyenne are the most impressive.They are a good two inches long,and apparently will ripen to an orange colour.I got this plant from the plant stall.It is producing about eight of the long tapered fruit.I will end up using these in cooking, or slicing them to eat in cheese and ham sandwiches.I love tasting the fire on my tongue!I have a weakness for buying new varieties of Chili seeds and trying to grow them to fruiting.Also being grown but not developed enough for a photo is the Habanero,and Scotch Bonnet plants.They have not done as well as the first two.My Jalapeno seeds did not germinate so I will have to wait for next year to start them off again from new seeds.My other weakness is growing Tomatoes.They are so easy to grow from seed,and once they ripen the fruits are lovely to eat directly off the plant.I have tried two varieties.One in the greenhouse, and one outside in grow bags.The Outdoor Girl are big solid Tomatoes and taste lovely with cheese in a sandwich.I hope they ripen before any frost comes to kill the plants off.Each day a new fruit has a slightly red tinge.Growing well in the greenhouse are the Red Cherry Tomatoes.These are so sweet to eat and very juicy.I will have a glut of these as there were twelve plants growing in grow bags on the greenhouse floor.The plants have grown to nearly six feet tall and are festooned in little cherry tomatoes.
The garden has been quite productive this year.We had Strawberries,Gooseberries, and some lovely Charlotte New Potatoes.There is still one grow bag with main crop Potatoes growing in it yet to be harvested.
We also started growing Herbs from seeds this year.The Chives,Parsley,and Coriander grew really well.The Garden Mint is also thriving in its pot.Its amazing what you can grow in a small urban garden.If you are selective and grow what you like to eat then a kitchen garden can supply you with some of your food.The pleasure you get eating your produce is amazing.

1 comment:

Motormouth said...

Dont forget fried green tomatoes or pickles if they dont ripen! Ive got so many and started so early..but so many green left and it feels like autumn!!! Good luck! I agree..I keep the tomatoes small in this weather...I have no large greenhouse...so I have been fortunate with the tomatoes I have ...eat them like candy!