Homecoming harvest 2

Home is full of so many good things. Your favourite people, your veggies, letters with surprises and home cooked food.

I flew into Sydney this morning after a nightmare overnight-er from Hong Kong. After greeting  my two favorite people  - the Lad and Harriet -  it was to the patch for a Homecoming garden stroll and harvest.

Nothing heals like a veggie garden stroll and two weeks in the patch is a long time. The truss tomatoes are looking amazing  -  don't you love them when they all look perfect  -  before the spots  and fruit fly stings? All that fuzziness that tomatoes have and that distinct green smell?

But danger is imminent -  fruit fly. Have the Sydney readers spotted fruit fly yet?

And, some of the tomatoes are coloring up already - the photo below are my tommies.

I also have my first flowers on my eggplants.

The rocket has gone to flower but I love rocket flowers, don't you?  They are just so pretty.

And then there was plenty to pick. I picked three fennel bulbs.  They are probably too far gone - they had started to develop flower spikes.  I figured I'd cut them any way and see if they were still ok to eat.  They seem to have a stronger anise smell than usual but that could because it was such a hot dry day in Sydney. Will they be too tough?  Or will I just have to cook in a different way - longer and slower.

I picked a big pile of beetroot.  I could have let some of them go on a bit, but to be honest, I like beetroot smaller and sweeter and besides, it's hotting up here and that makes them tough pretty quick.

I picked a small bunch of radish and some are a little wonky. Someone has had a nibble -  I wonder who/what?

And the first of my second crop of savoy cabbages - I think there are few prettier things.

And there was another surprise.  Sometime ago I entered  Diana's giveaway for onion seed.  I arrived home to a bright green envelope with not just onion seed, but also spring onion, larkspur and Chinese celery! Yay!  Thanks Diana! Love larkspur, grow spring onions all the time and Chinese celery is my preferred form.


Everything was topped off by the Lad's homemade pizza topped with homegrown parsley and basil and a green salad straight from the patch - rocket, parsley, basil, lettuce.

Stomach filled and the evening cooling, the frogs are plonking away in the evening  atmosphere and all is well with the world.

I am looking forward to looking at all your posts that I have missed while being behind the Great Firewall of China.  I can't wait to see what's happening in your patch.