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| finger lime flower bud |
- chives for the poached eggs for breakfast
- basil for lunch
- lemons - they just keep falling off
- savoy cabbage seedlings
- spring onion seedlings
- feed the citrus and eggplants with seasol, chicken manure pellets and iron chelates
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| limes on the way |
While the pickings are quite slim, there is quite a lot going on in the patch.
Firstly, on the citrus... the big news is that 'Collete' the finger lime is flowering! Or rather she has 4 tiny flower buds. They are unbelievably small and a delicate pink and look rather like tiny rose buds. They are quite beautiful.
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| chrysalis of a pink horned grub |
The Tahitian lime too is flowering, unfortunately in amongst leaves that are badly affected by citrus leaf miner. However, my guess is that now the weather is cooler, the stink bugs wont get these babies.
The large grub that I spotted in the lime last week has turned into a chrysalis. Here it is, it looks like a fat leaf. Looking at it live, it occasionally wiggles inside its hardening case. I wonder if it is garden friend or pest? In any case, I am leaving it where it is, it is fascinating to watch. I wonder if it will make a beautiful butterfly?
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| a fist full of lemon |
The lemon tree keeps dropping fruit. I get dirty knees from crawling under the tree in amongst the lawn clipping mulch to collect them. Some of the fruit are enormous. Take a look at this fist full of lemon! It looks a little green on the outside but the inside is full to bursting of really juicy flesh and anyway I think the tree is happy to have dropped these heavy fruit - the limbs are quite weighed down in parts.
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| praying mantis in lemon |
The lime and lemon are regularly visited by these smaller praying mantis. Last week, without camera, I saw one like this (perhaps even this one) sitting near the previously mentioned lime flowers eating a bee which had probably come to do some pollinating. Again terrible citrus leaf miner attack and leaves that needed the feeding I gave them today!
The brown berry tomatoes are still going strong. While all other tomato plants weakened and have been removed, these ones are busy setting fruit. I do wonder if they will ripen, but in the meantime I am leaving them do their thing.
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| brown berry tomatoes setting |
Fennel seeds planted a while a go now are starting to come up. However I fear I have lost many during the heavy rain - possibly washed away or just rotted. Only about 5 of around 15 have come up. I will wait a while to see if any more emerge and then plant some more.
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| snow peas starting to climb |
The snow peas are starting to climb now, reaching for the chicken wire.
It's a lovely time of year, I love watching the new plans emerge and get strong, even if there is little to pick mostly because of my poor planning!
All this talk of lemons simply falling from the trees is making me very jealous indeed you know.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry! But I am jealous of your passionfruit and figs. It's a pretty harmless envy though - and one that inspires the others to grow more things.
DeleteI'm wondering about finger lime varieties. You bought the Collette, but was that for any particular reason? I think I'll put my name down on the finger lime 'waiting list', but not sure which one to request. I've only ever tried the dark skin/pink flesh type, but I'm thinking that the green flesh might be more adaptable. I really need a multigrafted one!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure there was much 'reasoning' behind the choice. In the first instance when I ordered there were limits on what was available. In the second instance I think what sold me was how she was described... "Flavour is highly aromatic and has been rated as osuperloro (whatever that means) by chefs". I must admit, I was also kind of keen on a coloured skin one - just casue I like the idea of a black shiny citrus. So I guess my choice came down to availability, taste (as recomended) and 'fashion'.
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