Weekender September 21, 22 2024

[Man From Ironbark]

It is the weekend for me and it seems that postings are not everyday. So here we are.
I'll show some of the natural world that I've helped happen. Yes, I planted all the trees and shrubs that were grown from seeds and cuttings.

[Dave]

Lovely scenes from Down Under. I assume these were taken quite near your home.

My gardening efforts this year yielded disappointing results.

None of the larger tomatoes (I had 4 or 5 Black Krim plants), survived the critters.

Small tomatoes fared better. This one is called Yellow Pear, and it's quite sweet, slightly earthy, and only mildly acidic. The photo was taken a month ago, and some of these plants are still producing.

   

This one (taken 09-05-24) is called Black Cherry Hybrid; it's slightly sweet, has a ricer earthy taste, and it's low in acidity.

   

Dragon Cayenne : tastes much like other Cayennes, I like to oven dry them and grind them into flakes or a fine powder. (Photo taken 2 weeks ago.)

   

A variety of jalapeno, also photographed 2 weeks ago...

   

I've harvested some Blazing Banana Hybrid peppers that are quite hot, some Poblanos, and some bell peppers.

Yesterday afternoon I made some salsa. I used the broiler to char store-bought "ripened-on-the-vine" tomatoes. one of the Banana Peppers, and a Poblano. Diced these roughly and added one finely sliced Cayenne plus the juice from the dicing. Seasoned with a bit of salt. This was just a small (volume about the size of a baby food jar) test. It turned out pretty good so I'll make a larger batch, this time adding a couple of garlic cloves charred in their papery skins then minced through a garlic press.

[Rich]

WoW! Some mighty fine green thumbs here! Good for you!
Peter, an amazing landscape you have produced! Very well done!

Dave, would love to try some of thoes tomatoes. Too bad you are not my neighbor. I have a friend that would like to be your neighbor for your peppers! His must have condiment for ALL meals is some form of hot sauce. We had a spicy (hot) pizza eating contest when I was a youngster home on leave from the Navy....he won!

Oktoberfest today. Here is about 3/4 of the cars for the show. both sides and the middle, lined up. Some amazing cars from a tristate area showed up. One In particular was a 1953 Pontiac Chieftain convertible. Just gorgeous! I have lots of photos and a video of the parade. More to come.

[Man From Ironbark]

Thanks for the comments. Yes Dave, I have a large area of crown land on two sides of my yard. In all about 4 acres and I've planted it all with native trees.
Totally illegal probably because it isn't "My" land. However, nobody has openly criticised it and I caught the Shire Council Manager standing there looking at it one day.
I asked if I was getting into trouble and he said, "No, I wish all the people did this. It would save the shire having to mow and spray weeds and as well beautify the site and provide habitat".

My tomatoes are mostly like this. Though I have planted out some bigger ones, the chance of frosts still exists.
   

There's a lot of big gas guzzlers there, Rich.

[Dave]

Thanks Rich.

Looks like a fine & fun event. Looking forward to more photos.

MFI, your tomatoes look a lot healthier than mine did.

[Man From Ironbark]

Because I grow my tomatoes in the elements, meaning they have to cope with whatever the season throws up, it is always a gamble. It is worth the effort though because the flavour can be excellent if all the conditions are suitable. We get more than 300 sunny days per year here. Add water and the magic may happen.