The zucchini plants had gone nuts and had tumbled onto the lawn and provided me with the biggest zucchinis I have ever seen. I am not sure what to do with these as I understand that the larger they are the less flavour they have. I will probably roast them.
It has been super hot lately and my garden has really suffered because of it. Mainly because it has been too hot for me to do any work in it. I have lost two of my tomato plants but have managed to pick a bucket load of green tomatoes before too much damage was done to them. I think my beans have suffered a bit too.
My zucchinis - the white marks on the leaves are powdery mildew
The zucchinis have some mildew on them and I am going to treat them with a milk spray. I haven’t done this before but you make a mix of 1 part milk to 9 parts water (don’t exceed 30% milk as it will have the reverse effect) and spray the mixture on both sides of the leaves and repeat weekly. Rain has been forecast today so I will wait until there isn’t a chance a rain before spraying them.
See the brown marks on the leaves? I think that is from too much sun.
Also, my strawberries are not doing too well. They are getting flowers but the fruit is not maturing. I think they are getting too much sun and it is burning them. I am thinking of moving them into pots and having them on the steps going to the yard from the back door. At least in pots I can move them if it gets too hot.
And of course the pumpkin (which I think is actually a triffid) is going strong. Mr Berry swore these two just fell off the vine when he walked past.
I am not sure when pumpkins are ripe and I vaguely remember reading about leaving them on the vine to dry out a bit – I will have to read up on it soon. I think I will cut up one of the picked pumpkins and see what it looks like inside.
And if it is ok – pumpkin scones. Yum!
Actually, I haven’t made pumpkin scones in years. They were the very first thing we made in Home Science in year seven (I am not sure what the equivalent of home science is now but it was the cooking/kitchen/household class). My mum is the scone making queen in our family. Her scones are so light and fluffy and wonderful that I haven’t wanted (or needed) to make normal scones for fear of ridicule, but I think pumpkin scones are different.
Right?
6 comments:
Oh yes, I swear my zucchinis grow a foot every time I turn my back on them ;-) I too have lost several tomatoes in the heat, and yep, the heat will stop the strawberries fruiting (like mine have). Bummer, huh? Have fun with your pumpkins though, mmmm scones! Where they are attached on the vine there is a little tendril - when it dries up they are ready to harvest. You can leave them outside to dry out before storage, this will harden the skin and make them last longer. No need if you eating them straight away.
Cheers, Julie
The garden is lookingg wonderful! Perhaps freeze some of that zuchinni for cakes etc?
It is so crazy to read your blog and hear you talk about summer harvesting. It is so cold here right now- I guess it would be the same for you in about six months. sigh- I am enjoying your pictures of summer!
ahh, knew I had it somewhere...
Here's a link to another blogger with too much zucchini and her chocolate cake recipe:)
Hey there,
Your garden is great. How big is your block. If your like me you try to squeeze as much as you can in the small space that you have.
I have plenty of strawberries on my plants however they don't taste very good. Not sweet at all.???
So will have to investige what to do.
Yeah blanch and freeze the zucchinis for over the winter.
Cheers donna
Hi everyone
I have frozen the zucchini's so we can eat them later.
There are even more growing now - I swear picking them just encourages things.
Thanks Julie, I knew there was something about a bit drying for the pumpkins. We ate the pumpkins straight away but we will leave the other ones on the vine for a bit longer - there are about 8 left.
Molly, I can't see the link. Can you email it to me: emma.berrypatch at gmail dot com. Anything with chocolate sounds yummy and I am sure the zucchini would cancel out the calories in the chocolate right?
Donna, we have a standard Sydney block - probably about 700m2 or so and yes I am trying to pack as much fruit and veg into our gardens.
Note to self though - next year only plant one zucchini.
Emma
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