Tomato feast!

The end of daylight savings officially heralds the end of summer and the shift into winter. For my beloved tomato plants the shift came a little earlier. After watching them struggle to ripen I took my Mum's advice and picked them and placed them on the windowsill. 

After a few weeks they had magically changed colour!

Arriving home from work one night, hungry and tired, I threw the newly-ripened tomatoes into a hastily-invented dish: potato, chorizo, tomato and rocket on toast - with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and sprinkling of shaved parmesan cheese. Delicious, satisfying - and the tomatoes were divine!

Have a Happy Easter! I hope the Easter Bunny hides lots of chocolates around your own garden.

Toma(y)to, Toma(h)to

There's no denying that home-grown tomatoes easily kick the arse of supermarket ones. Once your taste buds become spoilt by the burst of flavour, the plastic-tasting supermarket varieties don't really hit the spot (for an extreme analogy, I imagine it is like heroin addicts switching to methadone - still okay, but not quite what you're after). 

The last time I wrote the wind was whipping my plants into a frenzy and my flatmate had dragged some inside to protect them. My tomato plants spent a few days looking drained from the ordeal and I worried that they wouldn't recover. Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw some fruit appear! 

 

At last count I had a dozen of these babies. Now I just need to be patient and wait for them to ripen.

In other tomato news, my Dad has grown the Costoluto Genovese variety this year. Perhaps I have been a bit sheltered in my exposure to tomatoes, but I have never seen these before. Looking more like a capsicum than your traditional tomato, this bright red baby has a nicely balanced flavour. 

Finally, why did the tomato blush? Because he saw the salad dressing! (I will forgive you if you decide to throw some tomatoes at me for that - just make sure they're home-grown.)

Celebrity Garden - My Parents

We've had some proper hot summer weather of late and the plants seem to be loving it. The herbs are plentiful, the tomatoes have flowers and will hopefully fruit soon and the mexican cucumber plant has almost outgrown its pot. All was on course to upload some pics of fabulous-looking plants. But yesterday was wild and windy and the plants took a bit of a beating. The flatmate brought a few pots inside as the sight of them being blown around upset her a little. Unfortunately the Violas are attached to the railing so couldn't be moved and today they look a little tired and sad. Hopefully the sunshine over the next few days helps them to perk up a little.

So in the absence of healthy plants of my own I've decided to dedicate this post to my parent's garden (perhaps not the celebrities promised in the heading, but they are very well-known in my family). This is what can happen when a backyard is in the equation. Corn, tomatoes, zucchini, strawberries and more grow here. My parents and grandparents have always had something growing in the garden, I guess it's just been continuing our Ukrainian farming heritage (spuds are the family specialty). It's taken some time for the gardening gene to kick in with me, but I seem to be getting there. 

Practically enough corn to run through or at least hide a small child in. 

Tomatoes are 1000 times more tasty when eaten seconds after being picked - like nature's candy. 

Crack open the corn and be rewarded with a taste sensation. This little beauty came from the garden, was steamed and eaten as part of my dinner. No butter or salt needed, was delicious enough on it's own. 

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some tomatoes of my own to show, but until then I'll keep raiding my parent's garden. 

Some flowers for fun

When I started on this gardening caper I had no idea that I would be giving people present ideas. With another gardening-related present received for my Birthday it seems that people are paying attention to my new hobby. Thanks!

My lovely desk-neighbour at work and fellow Green Thumb surprised me with a vertical planter that attaches to a wall - a perfect solution to the lack of ground space on the balcony. It also has the snazzy name of 'polanter' which I quite like.  

I decided to plant some flowers to add colour to the balcony and attract bees to help pollinate plants. Besides, what girl doesn't like flowers? I chose Violas simply because I thought they looked pretty. 

The next task was to assemble the integrated watering system and install it in the polanter. I am grateful for the many flatpack furniture items that I have had to assemble in my time, as the experience gained in deciphering vague instructions was invaluable to putting the damn thing together. 


Then it came time to actually plant my flowers. I was told to begin with a bit of gravel in the bottom to help with drainage. It may surprise you to know that I don't have any gravel lying around. I considered skipping this step, then spied the gravel in the laneway behind my place that had spilled over from a building site. I think this is the first time that I have been grateful for all the building and renovation happening in my neighbourhood. I went down and nonchalantly collected some gravel while the neighbours peered at me through their curtains. 

With the gravel nestled in the bottom of the polanter I proceeded to fill it up with soil and plants. Then I attached it to my railing and now get to look at this pretty sight on my balcony!