Saturday 4 September 2010

End of Month View – August 2010

Slightly delayed… But here’s my end of month view anyway!


Piles of clay can be seen peeking behind the Aster… Hopefully they will be gone soon.

Still little of interest in this area… Once the Asters have bloomed I’ll be landscaping it, so need to get digging the plants up and into pots temporarily.

Cosmos is well behind, I don’t think it will flower before the season is over… With the droughts early on, they just haven’t thrived. Even after sowing them very early on in Jan/Feb… Very disappointed in this ‘right’ border (really ought to name them!) this year, there are large gaps.




Some of the Tomatoes ripening… Can anyone answer why they split after picking?

This Aster has been very impressive, tall indeed but definitely worth it for the amount of insects they attract.


16 comments:

Miranda Bell said...

Sorry it's been so long Liz - a long and busy summer and an even busier Autumn awaits I think but thought I'd pop over and say hello - some beautiful pics as usual - the problem with your tomatoes is most likely to do with either watering or erratic weather ie lots of rain and then nothing http://www.veggiegardener.com/what-causes-a-tomato-to-crack-or-split/ this link is quite good - hope it helps... take care and will visit again soon I hope... Miranda x

Liz said...

Hi Miranda,

The Tomatoes are not split on the vine, but after picking. They are fine but a few minutes or up to 10 they suddenly crack and I don't know how to stop it - it means I then have to eat immediately.

I'm half wondering whether I should pick in the morning, maybe it's the heat????

Helen/patientgardener said...

Hi - thanks for joining in the end of month view post again. I think we have the same aster

ShySongbird said...

Hi Liz, a nice round up here, your garden has been a lot more colourful than mine, hopefully I will be able to rectify that next year.

I believe your tomato splitting problem (on the vine and shortly after picking) is caused by too much watering or possibly slightly erratic watering also some varieties are more prone than others.

Cyndy said...

Those are nice mellow views as the garden approaches fall - jealous of your sweetly weaving verbena!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

Your garden looks lovely Liz. Erratic weather and watering aside, I tend to find that the cherry tomatoes, especially round cherries, will sometimes split on picking. To avoid this I do two things. Always pick cherries early in the morning when the weather is cool. As the tomato warms, the water inside expands, increasing the likelihood of splitting. The other thing is I pick them with the little green caps intact. Don't pull them off the caps. Most cherry tomatoes are easy to pinch off at a little 'joint' above the cap. I don't remove the caps until I'm ready to use them. Hope that helps.

VW said...

Liz, I'm always trying to figure out what makes your photos look so special. Do you shoot in RAW? Your white balance looks very clean and less yellow than most pictures on other garden blogs. Maybe that's the difference? Do you apply any photoshop or lightroom adjustments? Confess if you will, I'd love to hear your secrets!

Liz said...

Hi CV,

Thanks for your help re: Tomatoes, I figured I should probably be picking them in the morning... Just with work I normally end up picking them in the afternoon once I've finished... I'll remember to wait until it's cooler, I didn't have this problems last year though, strange.

Liz said...

Hi VW,

I don't shoot in RAW, no... Well I have occasionally but my computer would whimper and die if I attempted to now.

Most photos are as they are off the camera, so it's either my camera or the lenses changing the light. I will when I feel necessary brighten things in Photoshop, yes. But it's normally only a slight touch and then reduce the saturation. Sometimes I'll also be a little more creative and add actions and such but I don't think I've done that since last summer.

Kala said...

Your tomatoes look delicious and the asters are quite lovely!

ginny said...

your garden is so peaceful and gentle. i want to lie amoungst the willowly flowers and watch them sway against the sky. enjoy the tomatoes you harvested tonight. have left a reply in my comments for you too x

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Liz - gorgeous photos, as ever.
Re the tomato splitting, pick 'em with the green stalk still attached - that should do the biz!

Have you started your MSc yet?
Have a good weekend :)

Liz said...

Hi Kala,

Thanks, I ate some of the Tomatoes last night with some Feta cheese, Balsamic Vinegar, mixed seeds and a little bit of crusty bread. It’s nice to know exactly where they came from :)

Liz said...

Hi Ginny,

You’re welcome to sit and watch the flowers, although at the moment the weather is a little mixed so you might just get rained on! It’s been hot the past couple of days but it looks like the weather has turned again…

I did enjoy the Tomatoes, thanks! :) There weren’t many, but enough for me.

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

I do usually pick them with the stalk attached, but now I know to keep their little hats on! I was removing their hats after and this must’ve been what was causing the problems.

The MSc starts at the end of September, I have an induction week – woo, forced fun getting to know others – and then lectures start the week after,

isabella tier said...

My tomatoes are like that also after harvesting them. In that case I always cook it or freezing it rather than staying them fresh while splitting its whole fruit. All of the varieties of tomatoes in my garden are like that except for my cherry tomatoes. I really don’t know why.