In The Garden

[Dusty]

Inspired by Yildiz's tomato shots, This thread is to show what you've got growing in your garden. (Vegetable or Fruit wise.)

Show us how it's starting off, maturing, even what you've done with it when you've harvested it!

I'll start it off with these:

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Leaf Mustard. Considered a weed in some places. These are volunteers from last year, so the weed nomenclature may not be too far off.

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A direct descendant from my Great Uncle's horseradish farm in Akron, Ohio. Once it's roots hit water, you won't get rid of it without plowing it all up. Hardy stuff!

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Kieffer Pears. I planted this tree 3 or 4 years ago, and it's the second year of bearing fruit. Not many, but so far so good. These pears don't ripen until after the frost, so they're usually the last fresh fruit of the season.

Dusty

[Dusty]

Two more that are just flowering, and hopefully will produce some fruit.

Emma planted Cantaloupe this spring.

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Elizabeth went for the pumpkins - they're always bigger than everything else we grow.

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When I grab a few shots of my Nectarine and Peach trees, I'll post them as well.

Dusty

[aster]

Nice and nutritious thread, Dusty!

Yildiz

[aster]

Hi again Dusty,

My tomato plant that was brave enough to grow in a small flower pot, in the balcony and I would like to honour your thread with some fresh photos from this morning... : ))

Yildiz

The Green Bunch

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A Look from the Vine

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[Greg Beetham]

That sure was an amazing Tomato plant Yildiz, compared too our efforts that is. The only fruit trees that grow well here in our sandy soil are citrus so we have about four different Orange trees, a Grapefruit tree, a Mandarin tree and a Cumquat tree, there is also a Bowen Mango tree, it produces quite well, and a Lychee tree that doesn't do much. Oh and two Avocado trees that do get quite a few fruit on as well, they probably would do better if the flying foxes didn't eat half of the blossoms off every year, they also return to investigate the half formed fruit and snap them off in the process until there are not many left.
Greg

[Birma]

Hi Dusty - great to see all of the good things growing in your garden. I think you need to start a partner-thread to this to show the end results cooked and ready for the table .

Yildiz, that tomato plant is a great subject, beautifully captured. I love the glistening moisture on the plant and fruit.

[aster]

That sure was an amazing Tomato plant Yildiz, compared too our efforts that is. The only fruit trees that grow well here in our sandy soil are citrus so we have about four different Orange trees, a Grapefruit tree, a Mandarin tree and a Cumquat tree, there is also a Bowen Mango tree, it produces quite well, and a Lychee tree that doesn't do much. Oh and two Avocado trees that do get quite a few fruit on as well, they probably would do better if the flying foxes didn't eat half of the blossoms off every year, they also return to investigate the half formed fruit and snap them off in the process until there are not many left.
Greg

Thanks, Greg. I belive we still have some good meals ahead.. For a balcony tomato, it's determined to have a joyful summer of its own making!

Your variety of trees is impressive. Citrus trees have that period when they flower and their fangrance prevail for weeks attracting many bees. I always likened their magical scent to jasmines but in a more enticing manner.
We had a lemon tree in the corner of our garden where I grew up as a toddler and the lemon fruits would be so big that I could hardly hold one both hands combined! : )

If I had your variety in our garden now, I would experiment with them forever, creating masks; cream cakes; jams...Have you ever eaten citrus flower jam? It's wonderful!

Hi Dusty - great to see all of the good things growing in your garden. I think you need to start a partner-thread to this to show the end results cooked and ready for the table .

Yildiz, that tomato plant is a great subject, beautifully captured. I love the glistening moisture on the plant and fruit.

Thanks, Birma. : )

The weather can be rather scorchingly hot and dry during the day hours in the balcony, so I spray the tomato plant with water early in the morning, to keep fresh green tomatoes on the vine and also the leaves in more tolerable conditions...Hence the sparkling little parts and glistening here and there in the photos.

Yildiz

[aster]

Hi, : )

We'll have some nice, juicy pomegranates when these ripen...some patience for these green yet healthy-looking fruits!


Yildiz

From the Pomegranate tree in the garden.

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[Greg Beetham]

I can't remember what Pomegranites (good photo btw) tast like, I'm sure I've tried them but I can't recall, and we don't have a tree either, it looks rather figgish in style, and that's another thing we haven't had much success with...fig trees don't grow well in our yard either. Nope never tried Citrus blossom jam, but lots of jam does get made here though, my favourite is the Cumquat, a very nice mild marmalade, the Grapefruit is a tad too bitter for my taste. I think the nicest homemade jam we ever had was the Rosella jam, but the greeblies like to munch on the Rosella plants too much here and it's a big job to try and keep them off.
Greg
ps I forgot, there is also two Bush Lemon trees as well, a lemon juice sqeeze goes nicely with fish if it happens that that particular fish is a tad dry, like Spanish Mackerel can be a bit dry on occasion.

[aster]

I can't remember what Pomegranites (good photo btw) tast like, I'm sure I've tried them but I can't recall, and we don't have a tree either, it looks rather figgish in style, and that's another thing we haven't had much success with...fig trees don't grow well in our yard either. Nope never tried Citrus blossom jam, but lots of jam does get made here though, my favourite is the Cumquat, a very nice mild marmalade, the Grapefruit is a tad too bitter for my taste. I think the nicest homemade jam we ever had was the Rosella jam, but the greeblies like to munch on the Rosella plants too much here and it's a big job to try and keep them off.
Greg
ps I forgot, there is also two Bush Lemon trees as well, a lemon juice sqeeze goes nicely with fish if it happens that that particular fish is a tad dry, like Spanish Mackerel can be a bit dry on occasion.

Hmm... : ) Pomegranates, under that shell-like hard skin, have thousands of hard seeds that is covered with a juice-bearing outer shell. These seeds can be chewed and the juice tastes sour and sweet. It's extremely nutritious and anti-toxic which is good for the cleansing of the human blood from all sorts of toxic remnants. The whole fruit's nutritions can replace a medical treatment if used regularly and keeps one energetic and content! : ))

It can leave hard to remove stains on garments though! I love this fruit and when I was a child we had pomegranate trees around our house and neighbourhood. All the kids in the neighbourhood would go on a pomegranate eating-spree when the fruits would ripen and we'd get large green to dark brown stains on our nice clothes that our mother's dressed us in! Imagine my mother rolling her eyes and going "Yildiz, not again! How am I going to get these stains off this fine material without spoiling the whole dress. It will never go away!!"

She was right, pomegranate juice stain is the permenant kind... : ) But nothing like eating fresh fruits, picked in the instance... pomegranates, oranges, mandarins, berries, even stealing some honey when our bees were not looking! : )

Yildiz
Here's a photo from the Internet:

[Birma]

You're right Yildiz, nothing tastes so good as when it is freshly picked. I think we get used to eating everything from the refridgerator where the coolness kills the flavours (a bit like beer, but that is another story ). A friend from South Africa always used to say that the only way to eat a whole, fresh mango without making a mess, was to start off in the bath!

[Birma]

We have been given a tomatoe plant by someone who doesn't have room for all of theirs. Inspired by Yildiz's plant, I thought I would try and take some pictures of th fruit. I iwasn't very happy with any of the group shots, but I quite like these close ups. I thoguht tomatoes where just green, but seen closue up there are all sorts of interesting patterns, and even small hairs. The stems of the plant are pretty amazing as well.







All taken with A700, manual 135/3.5 lens with Min CL49-200 CUL, and polariser (it was very bright in the garden this afternoon).

[Greg Beetham]

Sounds like you were almost as naughty as we were as kids Yildiz.
I don't think I've ever seen a tomato up close as that Birma, interesting.
Greg

ps. I forgot there is two Custard apple trees in the yard here as well, none on at the moment though.

Some Avocados from last season, the tree is in flower right now.
A700 I think.

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[aster]

Hi Birma, : )

You're right, it's all about the natural flavour of the fruit while still on the tree. It can be so intense that one feels the fragrance vapour rising towards one's nostrils.. : )

I have to admit, those are some fine tomato closeups. I'm glad there are more tomato plant-friends in our forum! Dr. Harout's tomatoes are next in line to celebrity status!! : )

Sounds like you were almost as naughty as we were as kids Yildiz.
Greg

Naughtiness mixed with right amount of innosence! : )) One can't imagine that there's something called ' permanent stains'
when one is 5+ years old until one's mother hangs the stained garment in the closet among the 'no-good-for-special-occasions-anymore' section. Then the lesson is learned! : ))

Nice avocados! Healthy fruits...and it's easy to go creative around avocados. : )

Yildiz

[Dr. Harout]

My tomatoes are just flowering.