Tomatoes for Christmas.

Well Maybe!

There is tomato seedling in there!

The first tomato seedlings are now in place in the ground. I cheated and bought a couple of Grosse Lisse at Wirrabara Farmer's market this morning. They are now in the ground, where they will get morning sun, and protection from the hot afternoon sun in summer.

To protect them from possible (or is that probable frost in the next month or so, they have a cut down plastic bottle over them. That will have to be upgraded when they grow. A frame is also in place to cater for them climbing and to keep potential fruit of the ground.

 What else was happening in the garden today?

This afternoon's weather was perfect for spending some time in the garden, and there's plenty to do.

• Weed pulling. The ground is so soft from the winter rains that the weeds just fall into your hands when they are given a little tug.
• Ground preparation for some future plantings.
• Plant out some shrubs that have been waiting months for their time in the garden.
• Clearing a path to find a way down to end of the backyard.
• Talk to the neighbour as she was going down the street.
• Enjoy a cup of tea while soaking up some Vitamin D
• And best of all, discovering a lost plant that got covered with weeds, and find that the buds on the almost dead looking twigs are about to burst into leaves.
• That's just some of things that were done today, out of all the possible jobs to do.

I wonder what's in store for tomorrow?

Growing Tomatoes Down Under: Part 1

Time to start Tomatoes Down Under (Australia that is)

After nearly 2 weeks away from home I was really thrilled to see that some tomato seeds that I had planted some time ago had finally germinated.

There were 3 different methods that I tried and amazingly they all have started to germinate at the same time.

Mini Greenhouse, Plastic Cover Removed

One group were started in small pots with seed-raising mix, started in mid-July and placed in my small greenhouse with the hope that enough warmth would be provided to get them started. After several weeks of no action they were moved into the shed near a north-facing window that has several hours of sunshine (when the sun is shining, of course) each day. Still no action, despite making sure that the pots did not dry out. I was about to give up on these so I set up another couple of trials.

Another group were sown in a small wicking bed, and a transparent plastic meat tray placed over top to act like a mini greenhouse. These were sown in mid-August, and nothing appeared to be happening by late September, when I was away from home for about 2 weeks.

The other group were sown like the first group, in small pots and kept in the small greenhouse. They were also sown in mid-August. They also had not germinated by late September.

The results:

Wicking Bed Seedlings
Small, but germinated at last!

When I returned home on 13th September all 3 groups had started to germinate. The group in the Wicking bed had the best rate of germination, the pots left in the shed had dried out a bit, because they could not be watered while I was away, but 1 seed had germinated. The 3rd group had a couple of germinating seeds.

What next:
The seedlings that have already started will be nurtured so that they can be planted out when the weather warms up a little, and after the last frost.

I will keep some of the plants in the wicking bed, because I want to check how they go in there, and also because it can be moved around the yard into the best position to help with growth.

I have been surprised how much the simple act of growing a few vegetables has excited me, and that is the perhaps the prospect of having fresh and nutritious food to eat when they mature.

Progress reports should follow in the next few months. I might even have some extra tomatoes to share.



Small Tomato Seedling