What's going on in your garden (2023)?

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I raided the veg plot and the tomato cage. Most of my tomatoes have not yet ripened. These are the 2nd handful that have ripened. The cucumbers are the first of the season. The 2 beans are the last off those plants.

Raided the veg plot

Raided the veg plot

Cucumber, heirloom tomatoes and 2 purple beans

Whilst i was hanging the washing on Friday, I spotted this massive butterfly (wingspan is about 4-5 inches out 10-12½cm) visiting all my nectar producing flowers. The tree you see it on here is a lemon tree and those leaves are large. It's an old lemon tree (about 60 years or so)

An Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly

An Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly


We also have a massive number (last year it was in excess of 200 flower spikes) of this old variety of what in the UK we know as Amaryllis. This is just 1 clump that needs digging up in a dormant period and dividing. 1 of 20 or so such clumps. Elsewhere they have already been divided and are thriving.

Amaryllis or Belladonna Lillies/Naked Ladies

Amaryllis or Belladonna Lillies/Naked Ladies

I took these 2 photos for my mother.

Early morning

Early morning


And the same day the butterfly visited me (I've not seen it before), we also had a 360° sunhalo or parhelia. With my new phone, I can now get much more of the sky in around the halo, get the colours correct and general take a better shot of one. This was my first attempt with the side angle lens on the new smartphone.

360° Sunhalo

360° Sunhalo

 
This is very definitely a from the garden.
Yesterday I spotted a small bird trapped inside the fruit netting on the apple tree. I went out to free it and spotted that the apple tree needed a prune. Did that and spotted that it was very definitely time to remove the small and damaged skins apples off the tree. Half a bucket later off very dry unripe apples, I say they're looking at them thinking it was a shame to put them into the compost heap as was, so to them inside and put them through the grater of the food processor. We have a profession fruit press, so that was the next step, followed by a filtration this morning.

It hasn't had much time to stand and clear completely yet but I now have 2 Litres of homemade apple juice which I can use to make the next couple of batches of our sweet and sour red cabbage soup which uses apple juice. We prefer a tart apple juice but you can't buy "dry" apple juice in Australia (or dry cider, or bramleys cooking apples :( ) so I'm freeze this in 3 containers the size for those cold soups.

20230228_123544.jpg


It tastes heavenly. Such a complex taste, not just sweet sugar that shop bought apple juice often tastes of. I can see a use for these apples.
 
I
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
This is very definitely a from the garden.
Yesterday I spotted a small bird trapped inside the fruit netting on the apple tree. I went out to free it and spotted that the apple tree needed a prune. Did that and spotted that it was very definitely time to remove the small and damaged skins apples off the tree. Half a bucket later off very dry unripe apples, I say they're looking at them thinking it was a shame to put them into the compost heap as was, so to them inside and put them through the grater of the food processor. We have a profession fruit press, so that was the next step, followed by a filtration this morning.

It hasn't had much time to stand and clear completely yet but I now have 2 Litres of homemade apple juice which I can use to make the next couple of batches of our sweet and sour red cabbage soup which uses apple juice. We prefer a tart apple juice but you can't buy "dry" apple juice in Australia (or dry cider, or bramleys cooking apples :( ) so I'm freeze this in 3 containers the size for those cold soups.

View attachment 96772

It tastes heavenly. Such a complex taste, not just sweet sugar that shop bought apple juice often tastes of. I can see a use for these apples.
Click to expand...
I Always buy fresh apple juice from Nelson when we are up there. I love it. My son buys it when he's up there.

Russ
 
Went out to the veg plot to see if the seedlings needed water and struck

Raspberries

Raspberries


My favourite. And these have so much flavour in them. I'm going to have a reasonable crop from them as well. This is their second flowering and fruiting this season. ❤️
 
N
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Went out to the veg plot to see if the seedlings needed water and struck

Raspberries

Raspberries


My favourite. And these have so much flavour in them. I'm going to have a reasonable crop from them as well. This is their second flowering and fruiting this season. ❤️
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None of ours second fruit. I checked yesterday. Nuts.

Russ
 
rascal said:
N

None of ours second fruit. I checked yesterday. Nuts.

Russ
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Raspberries are not meant to go around for a second time in the same season and in the UK mine never did. I think it is something to do with the seasons here because part way through the summer season, it gets too hot and too dry. Everything dies back and I cut the old stems off and the new growth continues. Then oddly it will flower and fruit and then die back as another lot of new growth happens in time for late winter.

It did exactly the same last year. I effectively get two years of growth in 1 year. But everything is like that here. There's a dead spot in the summer where nothing can grow. I've got a whole load of seeds coming up now (beans, peas, carrots, all the usual) that will harvest before mid winter when it gets too cold.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Raspberries are not meant to go around for a second time in the same season and in the UK mine never did. I think it is something to do with the seasons here because part way through the summer season, it gets too hot and too dry. Everything dies back and I cut the old stems off and the new growth continues. Then oddly it will flower and fruit and then die back as another lot of new growth happens in time for late winter.

It did exactly the same last year. I effectively get two years of growth in 1 year. But everything is like that here. There's a dead spot in the summer where nothing can grow. I've got a whole load of seeds coming up now (beans, peas, carrots, all the usual) that will harvest before mid winter when it gets too cold.
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We got about 6 new canes this year to increase production as wife said they fruited twice but so far nada, zero. Should we cut them back??

Russ
 
rascal said:
We got about 6 new canes this year to increase production as wife said they fruited twice but so far nada, zero. Should we cut them back??

Russ
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It depends on the variety.
Autumn and some late summer fruiting varieties will blossom and fruit on new growth only. So they get cut back completely each year. (Or you can leave it to the spring and cut back what doesn't grow). I've just planted some of these (Tulameen variety which is my favourite).

Early summer fruiting varieties do the opposite. You have to leave last year's growth in place because they will flower off the existing growth, fruit, and new growth grows around the fruiting wood. Once they have finished fruiting, the old growth dies back and can be taken out, but if you take out the new growth you'll (normally) not get fruit the following year. Most of mine are this variety but they appear to be confused by the hot dry summer, which they are counting as "a time of hardship" (usually a winter), before a better growing period arrives. A lot of stuff that I'd plant in the UK in April, I can plant here in April and in October.

The best bet will be to leave it alone and watch what happens in the spring. If you get new growth from the ground and the old stuff is very definitely dead, you're on a late fruiting variety and can happily cut back to the ground each year. This is the less likely option.

If the canes grow new growth off the existing canes in the spring, you've got really fruiting raspberries and you'll need to cut the old growth back in summer after it has flowered, fried and died back.

But if you know the variety, we can just look it up!
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
It depends on the variety.
Autumn and some late summer fruiting varieties will blossom and fruit on new growth only. So they get cut back completely each year. (Or you can leave it to the spring and cut back what doesn't grow). I've just planted some of these (Tulameen variety which is my favourite).

Early summer fruiting varieties do the opposite. You have to leave last year's growth in place because they will flower off the existing growth, fruit, and new growth grows around the fruiting wood. Once they have finished fruiting, the old growth dies back and can be taken out, but if you take out the new growth you'll (normally) not get fruit the following year. Most of mine are this variety but they appear to be confused by the hot dry summer, which they are counting as "a time of hardship" (usually a winter), before a better growing period arrives. A lot of stuff that I'd plant in the UK in April, I can plant here in April and in October.

The best bet will be to leave it alone and watch what happens in the spring. If you get new growth from the ground and the old stuff is very definitely dead, you're on a late fruiting variety and can happily cut back to the ground each year. This is the less likely option.

If the canes grow new growth off the existing canes in the spring, you've got really fruiting raspberries and you'll need to cut the old growth back in summer after it has flowered, fried and died back.

But if you know the variety, we can just look it up!
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We are pretty new to canes. I'll ask her later. Dont think she knows types??

Russ
 
rascal said:
We are pretty new to canes. I'll ask her later. Dont think she knows types??

Russ
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Raspberry canes take a year or two to settle in depending on if they are early summer or autumnal fruiting. Autumnal will actually fruit sooner because of the way they grow (fruits on same year's growth). Early summer varieties will take a year longer because they have to grow the canes, have a dormant period, then flower, fruit and put up new canes again. My guess from the description (and possible fruiting twice in a season the same as mine are) that you have an early summer fruiting variety (unless you actually have say 3 canes of 2 varieties which would give 2 fruiting periods as well).

I've grown my own raspberries since 1998... Every rental property we've lived in had raspberry canes growing there when we left! :whistling:
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Raspberry canes take a year or two to settle in depending on if they are early summer or autumnal fruiting. Autumnal will actually fruit sooner because of the way they grow (fruits on same year's growth). Early summer varieties will take a year longer because they have to grow the canes, have a dormant period, then flower, fruit and put up new canes again. My guess from the description (and possible fruiting twice in a season the same as mine are) that you have an early summer fruiting variety (unless you actually have say 3 canes of 2 varieties which would give 2 fruiting periods as well).

I've grown my own raspberries since 1998... Every rental property we've lived in had raspberry canes growing there when we left! :whistling:
Click to expand...

We asked my wife about canes originally about 4 ? Years ago. Shes bought 4 lots since then. We were both unaware of different types. In late winter she reports and splits some. They are half in pots half wild along concrete boundaries. They all fruit over 4 weeks in December. Nothing this year. Shes splitting some for daughter this year. Theres about 3 different types. Going by the leaves.
I'm happy I made 4 batches of jam.
Thanks for input. :)

Russ
 
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