Firstly some good news: The caterpillar was located. He has been sent to a nice farm in the country where he will happily live out his days*.
Since my last gardening post we have been very busy! Seven huge plastic containers were purchased and lots more plants, so adding to those we had before we bought celery, strawberries, joi choi, rainbow chard, lettuces, spring onions, snow peas, zucchini/courgettes, cucumbers, more coriander, mint, thyme and basil and my favourite was a rainbow selection of carrots .. potted them all, arranged them beautifully in the yard and were very proud of ourselves altogether. The weather was awful that week really stormy and wet, I worried about our little plants but they survived.
Then it got very hot ….. and lots of them died!
What a rookie error on our part not to realise that a 36 degree day would burn the leaves of all but the very toughest. After a quick relocation into the shade some of them came back to life but we had a number of casualties and my dreams of rainbow carrots are fading. Its not just my skin that needs the factor 50!
However there have been some good developments, our chilli plants are weighed down with long green chillies and our courgettes are flying it with flowers bursting out, the capsicums are also doing well and we get about 2 teeny tiny tomatoes each day. The herbs and strawberries also with stood the heat and are thriving. This evening the tomatoes are being relocated as we think the wall behind them is getting too hot and burning their leaves so they too will benefit from a bit more shade. Its the complete opposite to Ireland where we were chasing the sun shine.
I cannot wait to be able to harvest the produce, hopefully neither the caterpillars nor sun will cost us anymore plants .. fingers crossed!
SJ x
*May not be true.
Your tubs are so neat. My veg patch is an overgrown hotch potch of tomatoes, zucchini, lettuce now run to seed, covering up the rest (eggplant, garlic, carrots) none of which is likely to see the light of day or our plates. At least we’ve harvested some lettuce leaves and a few grossly misshapen zucchini, and the tomatoes are looking great for a few weeks’ time. Good luck with it all.
Hi Rose are you in Perth too? Ours are tidy now.. but give it time! My enthusiasm is lasting well .. although another attack from pests may see it waning. Do eggplant grow well in pots? Might get some of them next year. Thanks for reading
Burpless cucumbers? That’s a brilliant concept. Garden looks fantastic and you’re looking rather smashing in your blue dress. xx
I know I smile every time I see them at the market, you’ll have to come over and try them out x