Harvest

 

I have picked two butternut pumpkins and a canteloupe.  I was hoping the canteloupe would grow bigger in the heat we have been having but found it detached from the stalk, yesterday.  The skin touching the ground was rotting.  It had a sweet ripe smell, however so I sliced away at the rotten bit and found the rest of the fruit fine for eating.  It was juicy and sweet.  The vine had come up from the compost I had piled on a butternut seedling.  Out of that pile of compost sprouted a few tomato plants as well and I pulled most of them out, leaving behind three strong ones.  They have been supplying me with sun ripened tomatoes as they compete for space in between the pumpkin and the canteloupe.  I suppose it is all about nutrients, water and position.  The patch gets the full blast of the mid and afternoon sun  As this is on my outside garden watering it twice weekly is not the easiest job.  I have to stand on a step ladder propped against the fence and spray the garden patch for about half an hour.  It's not the best way of watering and some plants need extra watering from the rain water tank.  When I installed a barrel to collect rain water from the car porch it occured to me that digging a channel underneath the fence would help with the watering.  The channel was dug alongside the pumpkin patch.  Being on a slope helps.  When the barrel is full I would turn on the tap for the water to run along the channel and down the slope.  It did not take long before the pumpkin vine sprouted fruits which seemed to grow inches before my eyes.  There is still time for the rest of the crop to ripen.  The vine is still sending out shoots which I pick and stir fry or cook gently in coconut cream, with some sliced onions for flavouring.  I am not short of green leafy vegetables as the rainbow chard and the ordinary silver beets are doing well.  The bok choi that survived the possums need to be picked soon.  The purple beans have rejuvenated after the heat of early February and the potash I applied around the plants must be working as I am harvesting a second crop.  I prefer to pick the beans when they are still tender.  The forgotten ones I leave on the vine until the pods grow fat and eventually dried up by the sun.  The seeds go into soups.  The eggplants look too pretty to be picked but they are at their best while still young and tender.  The harvesting will continue over the coming weeks but in the meantime I am preparing garden beds for the broad beans and snow peas.  Some carrot seeds have been sown.  They are of the little finger variety and supposed to be ready for harvest in 60 days.  That will give some vegetables for the early winter weeks.