Winter crop yields

Some, but not all, of our winter tomato harvest

This post is an update on the winter veges.  We particularly and enthusiastically mention the impressive yield of tomatoes thus far.  Regular blog readers will remember that we planted particular varieties of tomatoes supposedly suited to growing over winter.  They got in a little late, and we weren't sure how well they would go.  Well!!  Thus far we have 19kg of Giant Tree Tomatoes, 13kg of Stupice and 8kg of Ox Heart with probably as many more to harvest. 

Giant tomatoes, with Stupice in foreground.  Can of coconut milk included to attempt to show scale.

The Giant Tree Tomato variety certainly has lived up to its name:  growing about 2m tall and cropping heavily with giant sized tomatoes, so heavily that Ian has had to cross brace the trellises.  These tomatoes are very tasty (as home grown tomatoes generally are), and you can see from the photo have quite a lot of flesh, whereas some varieties have quite a lot of seeds and pulp.  Michelle has been cooking these into passata.  Only another 20kg or so to go.

The other hugely successful variety has been Stupice.  These are plum size fruit on a bushy mid size plant, and very sweet.  Perfect for salads, or eating like an apple; Michelle has used these for tomato sauce (the kind you put on hot chips) and tomato relish.  The remainder may well end up as passata though, as we are running low on jars.

More tomatoes to harvest; garlic in bottom right corner.

We haven't sprayed the tomatoes at all.  We did dust with tomato dust, probably twice, when they were fairly young and then when the first fruits were beginning to form, as we noticed green caterpillars were present and we feared an infestation.  Both varieties have proven generally disease resistant, with some yellowing of lower leaves only now starting to be evident, no doubt attributable at least in part to growing them in the cooler months.  We always put a handful of potash around each tomato seedling when planting, and have fertilised with home made comfrey tea.  We estimate losses of only about 1 or 2%, due to either grubs or falling / touching the ground and rotting.

Cross braced tomato trellises.

Not expecting quite such a successful crop, there are 35 San Marzano and 40 heirloom mixed variety seedlings ready to plant out for summer.  San Marzano are reputedly the best variety for bottling and sauce making (according to Diggers Club) so will be interested to see how they crop and taste.

Tomato seedlings awaiting planting.

Broad beans and peas are long finished, and we had good harvests, although did not weigh these.  Celery, chard, kale and carrots are still being picked as needed.  Onions are starting to mature.  Garlic still has a couple of months to go - there seems to be mixed results with the different varieties planted, will give a more comprehensive update when it is harvested.

Potatoes are all dug up and in total we harvested about 28kg.  Varieties we planted were Nicola, King Edward, Pink Eye, Kipfler and Dutch Cream.  Unfortunately some of them have hollow heart (a hole in the middle of the potato) which we believe may be caused by inconsistent watering.  A little disappointing, but they are still very tasty.

Spuds

We had to dig them a little earlier than we would have liked to due to a resident bandicoot (at least that's what we think it is) digging up the potatoes.  When we set up the vege gardens we were conscious of keeping out birds and wallabies, but bandicoots were not on our radar at all.  So some remedial works are required or all the spring / summer seedlings will be uprooted.

All in all we are calling our first season in the vege garden a success.  It is certainly very satisfying to put together a quiche or frittata using all your own home grown ingredients.

Almost forgot to mention - I am saving seeds from the Giant Tree Tomato and Stupice varieties, if you would like some for your own garden just let me know and I'll be happy to post you some.