Thanks for the kind comments Bower. I still have some previous generation seeds and will grow a couple of seeds out of the current crop. Things are falling into place slowly but surely, just good timing with the tractor and rotary hoe. Not sure how I will go with getting seed off the SP, time will tell.

Starting to think about next seasons tomato crop already. A number of KarenOs Northern gardener vars will get another run with Midnight Sun becoming a regular, still picking massive hearts around 400g/14oz of the plants and will do until we see frost. KARMA Peach will make a rerun, not sure about KARMA's Purple and Purple MF, both have split terribly even over the last three weeks of March when we had very little rain and I wasn't watering.

A range of saucing vars focusing around Costuloto Genovese and McSee's Duncan's vars.

Shall have to try the smaller of the June Bugs again I think

Several Spanish vars, both repeats and new to me's.

A number of new cherries and currents from Carolyn's last offer via FS on TV.

A number of Dwarves will probably get a run, should go back and see if I can refind Goodoo

Some GWR's and no doubt others will crop up once I start going through the seed stash

With all the problems that I had with potting mix this season, I was wondering what I was going to pot up my seedlings into for next season. Then I happened to need some of the compost that I had turned out of the bin into the 1/2 bulkies for the next batch of compost to start in. walk over there and tomato seedlings are up all through the fat hen and other weeds, obviously my pile did not get hot enough to kill seeds after at least one addition. Was back over there yesterday and seedlings are 18 inches tall and flowering!! All in about 5 or 6 weeks! Now what I am potting into next season now and wont have to go off site to get it.

In amongst the rain (3/4 inch) that we got today, I picked the last of the cucumbers. Actually quite impressed with the performance of the two Sikkim plants, having kept a family of 4 in cucumbers (we eat them daily) for two and a half months plus an 8 lb batch of relish as well. They tend to go soft quickly at the stage I pick them, but find that they get a touch bitter as they mature properly, so an extra batch of relish has been cut up tonight. Recon we got between 40 and 45 per plant, which considering the late start to the season is quite acceptable.

The ramallet tomatoes must be picked very soon I think as they are colouring up nicely.

@Nico, any suggestions as to the best way to treat them. Thinking that I will cut stems and lay on shadecolth inside wire baskets, shadecolth will stop them falling through the mesh. They will go in the shed in an open ended room that will allow air flow through it but is not heated or cooled. Garlic hanging in room now with no worries

Photos will have to wait as with scratch on phone camera lens so back to DSLR, just need time to download them.

Garden extender was busy a day or two ago. Starting point was an extension on the extension

Whwoz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:02 am Garden extender was busy a day or two ago. Starting point was an extension on the extension

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has one of those..."

2 out of 3 sides of the extension of the extension have been completed, just need a bit of dry weather so I can move the soil in to fill it. 3rd side needs a concrete spoon drain poured before it gets done and 4th side will be the garden extension. This bit is roughly 16 feet square, it was choice of garden it or mow grass, easy choice.

Another 14 jars cucumber relish done today, plus 7 liters tomato bottled today, then picked last tomatoes that were any good and pulled plants. Will dig over beds tomorrow, weather permitting, and plant garlic that needs to go into the ground.

Whwoz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:02 am In amongst the rain (3/4 inch) that we got today, I picked the last of the cucumbers. Actually quite impressed with the performance of the two Sikkim plants, having kept a family of 4 in cucumbers (we eat them daily) for two and a half months plus an 8 lb batch of relish as well. They tend to go soft quickly at the stage I pick them, but find that they get a touch bitter as they mature properly, so an extra batch of relish has been cut up tonight. Recon we got between 40 and 45 per plant, which considering the late start to the season is quite acceptable.

The ramallet tomatoes must be picked very soon I think as they are colouring up nicely.

@Nico, any suggestions as to the best way to treat them. Thinking that I will cut stems and lay on shadecolth inside wire baskets, shadecolth will stop them falling through the mesh. They will go in the shed in an open ended room that will allow air flow through it but is not heated or cooled. Garlic hanging in room now with no worries

Photos will have to wait as with scratch on phone camera lens so back to DSLR, just need time to download them.

Garden extender was busy a day or two ago. Starting point was an extension on the extension

Hello friend Whoz, the ideal time to pick up the ramallet or storage tomato is when it is taking color, in Spain we call it "pinton", it means that it is half-ripe, if you collect them well ripe nothing happens, simply that It will keep less time, it is also advisable to pick the tomatoes without having watered them for a day or more.
I hope I explained myself well and helped you, however happy to help you when you need it.
Nico

Nico wrote: ↑Sun Apr 12, 2020 7:38 am

Whwoz wrote: ↑Sat Apr 11, 2020 8:02 am In amongst the rain (3/4 inch) that we got today, I picked the last of the cucumbers. Actually quite impressed with the performance of the two Sikkim plants, having kept a family of 4 in cucumbers (we eat them daily) for two and a half months plus an 8 lb batch of relish as well. They tend to go soft quickly at the stage I pick them, but find that they get a touch bitter as they mature properly, so an extra batch of relish has been cut up tonight. Recon we got between 40 and 45 per plant, which considering the late start to the season is quite acceptable.

The ramallet tomatoes must be picked very soon I think as they are colouring up nicely.

@Nico, any suggestions as to the best way to treat them. Thinking that I will cut stems and lay on shadecolth inside wire baskets, shadecolth will stop them falling through the mesh. They will go in the shed in an open ended room that will allow air flow through it but is not heated or cooled. Garlic hanging in room now with no worries

Photos will have to wait as with scratch on phone camera lens so back to DSLR, just need time to download them.

Garden extender was busy a day or two ago. Starting point was an extension on the extension

Hello friend Whoz, the ideal time to pick up the ramallet or storage tomato is when it is taking color, in Spain we call it "pinton", it means that it is half-ripe, if you collect them well ripe nothing happens, simply that It will keep less time, it is also advisable to pick the tomatoes without having watered them for a day or more.
I hope I explained myself well and helped you, however happy to help you when you need it.
Nico

Thank you Nico perfectly clear and easy to understand

Started planting the Garlic where the tomatoes were yesterday, continued today with more still to be planted. 34 varieties in so far, not big numbers of most, generally either 7 or 14. Includes time to clean up beds and prepare them for planting. Hopefully Friday will see them all in, definitely running late with some varieties

Love your photos. That was a great swap. We can’t grow dalias or garlic where I live.

Not being able to grow garlic is not good, we have several "Subtropical" varieties, which are day length neutral available to our Queensland growers, but they are Australian developed ones and would not be available to you. A quick google search found the following, which maybe of interest. Tracking down suitable cultivars will be the biggest hassle. Maybe try the Russian Giant/Elephant garlic

https://www.ranchodelicioso.com/growing ... e-tropics/

The extension on the extension of the garden is only small (relatively anyway) at roughly 16 x 16 feet. Was originally planning on going straight through from the board to the left of the apple tree, but decided that a productive area was better than mowing it all the time Load of sand pictured is one of about 8 that will be needed.

Thanks for link. I looked up elephant garlic. It is a type of leek. Since we can grow short day onions in Zone 10 I am guessing we could grow leeks though I have never tried. I could try the elephant garlic. I think I remember years ago somebody saying they put ice on their outdoor plants.
Can’t remember but maybe they were talking about garlic. I read the trick of refrigerating for a long time. And using soft neck kinds. It is just so incredibly hot here , more so than is used to be.

Your raised bed extension is coming along nicely. Just curious, what is your native soil like where you live?

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Wed Apr 15, 2020 10:47 pm Thanks for link. I looked up elephant garlic. It is a type of leek. Since we can grow short day onions in Zone 10 I am guessing we could grow leeks though I have never tried. I could try the elephant garlic. I think I remember years ago somebody saying they put ice on their outdoor plants.
Can’t remember but maybe they were talking about garlic. I read the trick of refrigerating for a long time. And using soft neck kinds. It is just so incredibly hot here , more so than is used to be.

Glad to be of assistance, but cannot do much about the heat I'm afraid

Your raised bed extension is coming along nicely. Just curious, what is your native soil like where you live?

Yes, with a bit of luck, will get rest of soil delivered tomorrow, ground is starting to fill up, not that it really dried out properly this summer with all the unexpected rain we have had.

We live on a drained swamp, so native soil is around 2 feet of silt with 2 to 3 feet of sub soil - a mix of silt and clay, very sticky, over clay. With less than 2 feet of fall across a block 500 feet wide, drainage is very poor to non-existant, indeed the water table is at, or slightly above, ground level for the winter months , so winter is mud everywhere even through the grass you do not walk in the same spot twice a day if you can avoid it. In summer it sets like concrete, I can barely through a crow bar 2 inches into the soil without wetting it beforehand. Have tried growing in the subsoil before in a raised bed, worked to some extent but only for selected plants - forget potatoes and garlic, they just could not expand and I would need a lot more compost than I can generate to turn it into something useful.

Have gotten jack of the constant mud, so have started collecting the "Rubbish" plastic pallets that we get ingredients in on at work for the establishment of walk ways at home - i will lay them down, join them together with sleepers down each side and fill with sand to give smooth, usable walkways all year round

Saffron:

Had our first flower today

Garlic,

Been busy the last couple of days dinging over the tomato beds and planting them to garlic. Got the last of them in today, after last seasons bomb out due to the rain some of the cloves are much smaller than I would have liked to be planting, but no point in buying more of the same. Might lash out and get some Rocambole types and a couple of the new seedling derived from Tasmanian Gourmet garlic, time will tell as we should have plenty for our use. Most of those that I do not know what group the fit into are from a friend, with very little information available to me. Rose du Var - we have two different cultivars here with the same name, one a turban and one a Silverskin, just cannot recall which one I have.

Garlic planted in the Garden of Woz 2020

Sub Tropical

Italian Red

Turbans

Monaro Purple
Iris
Italian Stripe
Italian White
Master Jack
Ruby Ann = renamed to Wilde Ruby
Turban White Traf
Wilde Oriental
Wilde Pearl
Wilde Silver

Glazed purple Stripe

Vekan

Porcelain

Music

Artichoke

Bulgaria 49
Bulgaria AGIA 52
Dolovosky
French Messidrome
Italian Late
Italian White
Kisswani
late Italian
Printanor
Yabroudi

Creoles

Ali de pays du Gers
Dynamite
Mariposa de la Tierra
Purple Creole
Rojo de Castro
Spanish Rojo from 2 sources
Spanish Solace
Spanish Tierno
Violette D'Agen
Volcanite

Marbled Purple Stripe

Marbled Blush

Standard Purple Stripe

180-4 Mild
Dunganski
Purple Stripe

Silverskin

Fino de Chinko Ajofrin
Lokalen

Unknown

Rose du Var
Angelica farm
I can't remember
Nuggety Senora
Californian
Bendigo Farmers Market

Elephant Garlic

Ashgrove Tasmania
Johnsons Creek

Wow, stunning array of garlic. Impressive!

Yes, it looks good in the garden too, most in low numbers, so lots of sticks across beds dividing between varieties. Just need to mulch now, will aim to photo before and after mulching.

You sure do love your garlic. What a phenomenal list.

(I looked up your latitude position- 38 degrees S. Hope that is correct. Found that Washington DC is about the same 38.9 N. (Zone 6/7) That can get pretty cold. Fort Lauderdale , Florida is 26 N. (Zone 10). I could still give it a go again. Maybe try the ice trick. Good luck with your garlic.

MsCowpea wrote: ↑Fri Apr 17, 2020 8:29 pm You sure do love your garlic. What a phenomenal list.

(I looked up your latitude position- 38 degrees S. Hope that is correct. Found that Washington DC is about the same 38.9 N. (Zone 6/7) That can get pretty cold. Fort Lauderdale , Florida is 26 N. (Zone 10). I could still give it a go again. Maybe try the ice trick. Good luck with your garlic.

Our latitude is correct at 38S. Out of curiosity I have looked up the Australian Garlic Industry Association website, the most northerly grower on there is at Bundaberg Qld, which is 24 South. They Grow Italian Pink, one of our subtropical vars and the Russian or Elephant garlic, so it may not be totally out of the question, might need to vernalise though.

A couple of sites that I found that you probably want to check out are Grey Duck Garlic farm, they have a page on growing garlic in the Southern USA, having been based at Houston previously, it would be a worthwhile starting point. One other that may be worth checking out is the Elephant Garlic Farm, who grow the Russian/Elephant garlic that does so well in our more tropical reaches