Looking forward to good summer eating!

[Addy]

CUCUMBERS! My favourite summer crop, and the first spring planting to go into the old tomato bed. The "infrastructure manager" built a fab angled cukie frame which also incorporates a frame for shadecloth:

The cukies are climbing happily up the mesh, and already have baby cukes! I planted 8 "burpless" and 4 "lebanese"! I've also put in some zucchinis with the cukies. Going to be a crowded bed again...

The bed hasn't been totally vacated, as the 3 of the romas just keep fruiting, and I haven't got the heart to pull them out...But as warm weather brings the tomatoe flies, they are now getting picked as soon as there's a tinge of yellow, and left in the sun to ripen.

Selfseeded tomatoes are also doing very well, not sure what variety they are, but very tasty!

My seed sprouting efforts have been quite successful - winged beans and rosellas, which have been put into their beds, and okra - finally! I'll let the okra grow a few more leaves before putting them out in the real world!

The sweetcorn patch is coming along nicely, and I've sowed snake beans at the back of the patch - seedlings have just appeared.

I've got luffa and bittermelon seeds in their little containers, and hoping to see them poke their little heads out soon :) I've stopped buying seed raising mix - make up my own with palm coir and vermiculite, and have found it quite good.
Here's looking forward to lots of summer veges!

[Addy]

Thanks for your encouraging words, Mark - It's a constant job to keep the beds filled and watered! 2 of the beds have black soaker hoses which I can attach to the water hose from the tap, but I really like your system better, and will have to get the infrastructure manager to look more closely at your pics :)

[Mark Thomson]

Another great garden overflowing with home grown goodness.I Ilike the way you fill the beds with vegies and have developed the high shade system to protect them . How do you water your raised beds Addy? I use drip irrigation attached to 30 ltr barells. This seems to hydrate the soil and I can actually callibrate the beds consumption as well. Raised beds work well for me too and I love this compact style of productive gardening .Nice work and top pics to illustrate all your hard work...

[Addy]

We did try this once, but not very successful, the seedlings came up, but didn't grow well... maybe it was position, also didn't wash the seeds like donna said.

[Lyn H]

Another idea for seed saving is to spread the pulp and seeds onto a paper towel. Once dried, you just tear off seeds and plant. Happy sewing.........

[Scarlett Patrick]

looks fantastic. makes me want to get organised with the infrastructure for sure

[Donna]

Thanks Addy, when saving tomato seeds you are supposed to leave them a bit riper than for eating (don't think it matters where they ripen). Squeeze the pulp into a glass of water and let ferment for a day or two, then rub them together (I use a small wire tea strainer) to get the gel off the seeds. I then dry them on greaseproof paper on top of the cupboard for a while, stirring them with my finger when I remember.

With the humidity here it is hard to keep the seeds dry, but I have had success with paper bags/ envelopes rather than using plastic. I have also been keeping the little packets of silica you get in things (like medicine etc) and think they would keep moisture out if put in a jar with seeds...

Can't wait to try to grow Asparagus Pea, have heard a lot of good about them!

[Addy]

If the winged beans (asparagus pea) come up to scratch, I'll save a few pods for you next year. I managed to get about a dozen seeds from my mum's Malaysian friend - shared them with Chris, so between the 2 of us, we should have a few seeds to share next year!

[Addy]

Sure, Donna - I'm not very good at seed saving - although I did ok with last year's rosellas. My saved okra seeds went mouldy! I finally got the some seedlings from a bought packet of seeds. Should I wait till the last tomatoes? or keep one now? maybe should let a few ripen and dry on the vine? These roma plants were bought seedlings. The self seeded ones have come up in the asparagus bed where I put in a couple of bought seedlings last year, which didn't survive (one was a black russian), so am thinking they could be some sort of cross-pollinated ones...

[Donna]

It is looking fantastic as usual Addy! You are so on the ball with your summer seedlings - I will have to get the cucumber and rosella happening asap.

Think that my Infrastructure Manager needs to take lessons from yours... the cucumber frame looks really good.

If you get a chance, can you save a couple of the baby roma tomatoes that are still going strong - think I need something like that. My tomatoes always seem to fail, I think I will give up on big tomatoes and concentrate on small ones - just lost all the fruit from three plants of black russian to some sort of little green caterpillar :( yet the self seeded cherry tomatoes don't get bothered?!

[Addy]

Thanks Florence, I'm lucky to have such an inventive hubby! I'm hoping the cukes will hang down nicely, ready for picking! But more likely they hide behind the mesh!!