AKgardener wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 1:09 pm How are those early wounders? Any good might try those as well

The Early Wonder's are rather nice thanks @AKgardener . Definitely steps up on supermarket tomatoes and reasonably early, well before most beefsteaks and only a couple of weeks behind 42 days, the earliest variety that I have. Have already picked 10 or a dozen off the two plants that are in the ground. Doing better than EM Champion in production stakes, but not quite there taste wise

Thanks I’ve got a lot to trial this year and it’s on my list

Had the folks drop in today, they left behind a few beans and a few zucchini, 4.6 kg/10.1 lbs worth actually
Fritter fiend was happy, sister not so much. Will give me something to do tomorrow making zucchini fritters when it's up around 37C/100F

Speaking of the folks, they have grown MS aka Malachite Box for the first time this year and have not long picked their first ripe one. I think it's now on the grow every year for them list, seeing that I now grow all their tomato seedlings.

Got those zucchini grated on this hot windy day, spring onions and dill added when the wind (around 30 mph) took out the power supply.
Zucchini fritters ready for finishing touches and cooking once power comes back on.

Fire risk is moderate around here because of the rain, which really only stopped about one month ago. Hills locally just starting to dry out.

Other side of Melbourne it is a different story, pucker factor not far off brown, with campers told to get out of several National Parks that are known for burning badly. First wiff of smoke in some areas and pucker factor will be brown for sure.

Would love to hear your recipe for the fritters @Whwoz . Stay safe!

Will put the recipe in the relevant section @bower. At work at the moment having not long gotten the internet back to some extent. All good in our little pocket of Oz thanks. yesterday was hot 37C/100F or thereabouts for a lot of the day with winds around 35Kph/20mph until the change came through around 4pm, when they exceed 80Kph/50mph for 10 or 15 minutes, during which time we received 24mm of rain. One local town looks like it has been hit by a tornado by all accounts. we lost power about 11:15am, still out as of 2pm the following day. Talk of some areas being out for a week...................

Unfortunately that batch of fritters had to be thrown into the compost, but no doubt plenty more to come.

Power back on this morning

The rhubarb patch has been a bit neglected the last couple of years, however I cleaned up the bulk of the rubbish off the patch a couple of weeks ago and found that the plants were in better shape than I had hoped. Tonight I pulled the majority of the long stems from them with plenty of new growth occurring.
Mum passed one of the MS onto a friend who loved it, has saved some of the seeds and intends to grow it next year. Another GWR convert.

First carrot harvest of the season has occurred, and could have been a few weeks ago by the looks of the biggest ones. Cannot remember which varieties were planted, big ones were single plants, the small ones are from a cluster.
Biggest one weighed 325g/11.65 oz

Have also found another big Cylindra beetroot, this time before I pulled it, it will also be left for seed.

Whwoz wrote: ↑Sun Feb 18, 2024 3:46 am The rhubarb patch has been a bit neglected the last couple of years, however I cleaned up the bulk of the rubbish off the patch a couple of weeks ago and found that the plants were in better shape than I had hoped. Tonight I pulled the majority of the long stems from them with plenty of new growth occurring.

IMG_20240218_203432_972.jpg

Mum passed one of the MS onto a friend who loved it, has saved some of the seeds and intends to grow it next year. Another GWR convert.

Time for a rhubarb pie - I always liked eating those as a kid.

Too bad it doesn't grow in the deep south.

Cucumbers have been a bit slower maturing lately, however I still managed a good pick today, with the biggest green one going 924grams/33 oz on the scales.

Bowerbirds Yellow is a tomato that I came upon by chance, saved seed out of a n indeterminate that through a dwarf, with slightly ribbed to round fruit that are about twice the size of the original.
this one went 240grams/8.5oz on the scales
and ate very nicely for dinner tonight at work

Elbonian Hip Deep is an @Tormato selection that I have been growing for several years now. Looks and tastes delicious, here are two, the cut one was used to save seed from. The only other Elbonian cultivar I am growing is Elbonian Mudslinger and there are marked differences between the two. Hip Deep would have to be classified as a potato leaf dwarf, just over half the height of Mudslinger and indeterminate potato leaf plant that is around shoulder high on me (I stand around 5'8" tall), meaning that Hip deep would be lucky to be 2.5 feet tall at the moment. This difference has been notable every time I have grown it and before it came my way. Hip deep has been supplying us with tomatoes for several weeks now, while I am yet to pick one off Mudslinger. Mudslinger appears to have slightly larger tomatoes overall on it also (3 plants of each var growing on opposite sides of the same bed, so as close to the same conditions as one can get), think 150 - 200g for Hipdeep, and I expect 250g or thereabouts for a lot of the Mudslingers.

Midnight Sun, One of @KarenO breeding, absolutely delicious and does well here inspite of breed in Canada. Sons favourite tomato and finally got a few grub free ones ripe, this one topping the scales at 446g/15.73 oz, only 8 grams off the pound mark, maybe if I had of been able to pick at blush............

Call it Malakhitovaya Shkatulka, Malachite Box or simply MS, it is another delicious tomato. Doesn't matter who eats it, they like it here. Two were given away today then I decided to pick this one
Plants have struggled this year, but we will get enough off them. 343 grams or 12.1 oz.

EM Champion, well known to a lot of members here from what I understand, his one from a double flower
307g/10.8 oz

John's Giant, one I purchased from a local seed company because it sounded good enough to get @Tormato excited about its possibilities as a good, big pink. Lets just say that while not a spitter by any means, it has room to improve in a better season.
this one was cut for seed, then compared for taste against the Elbonian Hip Deep shown above and a Amish Paste. It came third.

USDA 97L97 is a small plum shaped orange. Determinate plant around the 750mm/2.5 feet mark capable of producing lots of small fruit. One plant had 50 ripe ones on it today, and from what had been picked previously and what was still on it, may well top out at around 100 fruit this season. Have not weighed any yet, but would expect most to be around the 30-45g/1-1.5oz mark with a few larger ones topping 60g/2oz. 7 plants in this year for orange passata or sauce. Another one that may be of interest to @bower

I actually have a few seeds of that in my stash @Whwoz . I thought it was indeterminate though. Did not realize that it had genetics for high yield as well as the Beta enhancer genes. Very nice haul!!

There was 18 lb of tomatoes in that crate of 97L97, now cut up and bottled as passata. Made 14 by 375ml bottles after only half an hour of boiling time, they are that dry that one can feel the knife grabbing as you cut them.
In the boiler, and
Finished passata.