Pinepig's Virtual Garden

I got out for a short scratch in the dirt today. So much to do, so little time and energy to do it. *Sigh* If you follow my other journal you'll know that I'm hoping to make a change at work which would leave me slightly less stressed, less depressed, more time and more energy to be able to garden. All those factors coupled with Life giving me a few kicks to get the depression in good and a very wet winter & very boggy and poor-condition lawn has meant I haven't done as much as I'd like by now out there. The good thing is that it's not yet spring so I'm not behind per se, just not quite up to date.

Today I transplanted 3 volunteer potatoes along with one of the Urenika I'd been chiting. I think I broke one of the transplants from it's main root so we'll see if it does anything or just dies (suspect the 2nd). The volunteers had come up in the old potato bags I'd planted some cauliflower in.

I'm thinking of transplanting the 2 or 3 caulis from the potato bags into the old tomato tubs because I'm going to need the bags in another month or so & the caulis are still maybe pinky-sized if that. The 4? 5? Snowball caulis from about 2 months ago are doing well, getting bigger but no heads yet.

Citrus season is starting to peeter out. The navel orange gave us one fruit this year, I think being moved around for the fence work didn't help, but this is the first year we had any fruit stay on the tree (it's about 5 years old now). The lime went gang-busters and is down to maybe half a dozen fruit left, but the lemon is starting to pick up the slack with some fruit. I might have to do a prune though, it's gotten big and not as much fruit this year as in years past. I've given it a citrus feed.

The citric-acid free tree is a surprise. I was ready to put it on freecycle but gave one of the fruits a try. I'm glad I did. It wasn't sour and odd tasting like the one last year. This one was juicy and interesting. It's kind of sweet, no tang from the citric acid, and has a unique taste. Definitely not everyone's cup of tea but was really nice with my coconut Greek yoghurt (new Eziyo flavour, yum!) & some fresh pineapple this morning.

I pruned most the roses today. I missed one I forgot to move back to the fence so will do that when the ground is drier (it's a heavy pot) and I haven't pruned the Indian Ruby ones I took cuttings off of a few years ago.

To do still:

1) Dig mustard into potato bags and tubs in next week or 2 so can break down before planting
2) move above rose: move potato bag(s) against the fence and put there, shift bags near citrus
3), finish pruning
4) move cauli's into tubs
5) dig up dirt by apple tree pot and berries for x2 tomatoes & put down compost
6) get chicken wire and create tasteful barrier fence along path for dahlias
7) figure out when/where to plant beans, chard, carrots, spinach, melons, pumpkins, jicama (2 each of last 3 items)
8) start tomatoes and jicama indoors around Sept
9) re-lay irrigation (from fence move), replace sprinklers as necessary (get plugs, more sprinkler attachment thingies)
10) transplant 2 or 3 Broadway rose cuttings that took (no later than Sept)
11) Check berries - trim if necessary
12) general backyard weeding & tidying; mow lawn & reseed when drier

There's more, I know there is. Just can't think of what it is right now.

I took pictures today of the garden as it is right now but am going to go rest so may be awhile still. I got several fungii, one kind of cool one growing on a piece of deadwood. I also got a couple of the camelia flowering right now. We've got a really nice formal double red one called Takanini and a simple pink-white single with a beautiful scent called Sugar and Spice (I think of it as the fairy tree because the flowers look like little fairy bell-lights).

Koanga Institute provides a vital service here. They collect, grow and sell heirloom plants. They offer educational workshops and put out a newsletter. I've been to their physical shop up North a couple of times and have bought their seed packets at our local garden shops several times.

I feel it is important to protect heirloom plant varieties. Agriculture has become a factory, which might be good to feed a lot of people, but isn't good for biodiversity. And when we start tampering with plants so far as to put animal genes into them or make it so they can't be grown at all by the average person I start to worry.

I like what Koanga say on their "About Us" section: "In the process of 'saving the seeds', all those involved have come to the wider realisation that not just the ecology of our 'food evolution' has been compromised by industrialisation, but many other aspects of our 'human ecology' have likewise been compromised, and we can't address the one issue (eg seed saving) in isolation. Seed Saving is one aspect of the broader need to address our 'human ecology'. Thus, while an immediate priority for the Institute is seed protection and conservation, it is also committed to contributing practical holistic solutions in the wider field of sustainable living, and the development of our Education programs to facilitate the passing on of what we learn."

I have a lot of thoughts on this subject but the lateness of the hour is keeping me from expressing myself. I started this post because I wandered over to their site to see what heirloom potatoes they had. I got my Urenika potatoes last year from Trade Me but had been outbid the first time. I paid $10 NZ for 500g (?10-15 potatoes maybe??). The buy it now included shipping so I paid $3 for shipping & $7 for the taters. Koanga has them for $10NZ, I don't know if that includes postage or not and don't know how many you get but that's not bad & I don't have to wait for them to come up on Trademe and wonder what quality I'd get.

But to get them and some of the seeds I've had my eyes on previously I have to become a member. It's only $30NZ per year for an online membership. I get my catalogues on line and can order from their online and "backorder" catalogues as well as get a discount on their workshops. They have several types of membership, including international membership.

Under the cut, some stuff I'm considering getting if I do become a member (there are picts at each of the links).

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The weather has been fine, maybe making up for the constant rain we had over winter? The tomatoes are still thinking about what they want to do, although I've had more volunteers in the tubs that held toms last year, as well as some of the other plants! I think those ones are from feeding tomatoes to the worms and using some of the solid fertiliser stuff around the garden.

Most of the roses have started to bloom. We've had Deep Secret, Fresia, Broadway, Apricot Scentasia, Lasting Love, Scent to Remember and Grus An Teplitz all put out blossoms so far.

The potatoes are going crazy. They've put out a lot of green and are all starting to flower. Potatoes by Christmas looks like a definite possibility! One of the bonuses of growing in the bags is that I can probably cram my arm down into the soil to feel if there are any/what size the potatoes are.

The mushrooms however, aren't doing well. I thought they were doing ok but when the top flew out ages ago and I dumped some of the mix back in I think I buggered it. The people at the company were nice enough to send new spawn so I'll give it another week or two and then innoculate the 2nd bag. If the first doesn't do anything then I'll have the 2nd to give a shot with.

The spinach is coming up and we had some the other night for dinner. I haven't had luck with carrots or any lettuce yet this year. I need to replant some more spinach so might give it one last go for the lettuce, as well as replanting some carrots. I had carrots last year, and since the seeds aren't that old I don't think that's the problem. I need to look at how dep I'm planting these things. Am I planting too deep? Not deep enough? Or are the snails and birds getting them more often before I realise I have them??

The scarlet runners have shot up. There's one plant in particular that has to be at least 6 feet high. It's grown well beyond the bamboo teepee and is trying to grow along the top of the fence. I saw a couple of the flower buds that give the plant it's name.

I'll have to get some pictures for y'all to see, maybe next weekend.

And in non-garden news, I'm watching Prince Caspian. I never got a chance to see it when it came out and we hadn't rented it yet, glad to see it on tv. And I'm falling in love with the NZ landscape all over again. I've been fortunate to have been to some of these places, there are others that I would really like to visit.

First day of my vacation, yay! I have been hanging out for this for awhile and am so glad we got some sun today. I've been busy, only sitting down for more than a few minutes for the first time since I got had breakfast and started my day around 8. I've done stuff in the garden, I've done household chores and I've baked. I've also fallen hard and broke an energy efficient compact flourescent bulb as well as spilled all manner of liquids today. To top it off I dropped the lap top. Fortunately it was only from a sitting position (slipped off my lap) and kind-of fortunately but painfully it landed on my feet. It's still working, that's the important thing.

Glad I wasn't at work today with all that going on.

There's a lot of picts so I'm going to break the post up. And use cuts because y'all would really not like me to flood your f-lists with these. I've got some resources/links I want to post but might do that in another post too.

Here are the urenika potatoes. One of the links I read said something about their other Maori name (which I can't remember) means dog poo. I don't know if this is true or not but they do kinda look like it. I planted out 7 of them today in that section of the grow bag I've talked about.

Oh! Before that, here's the grow bag I've been promising a pict of how I set it up. I know, exciting stuff I'm sure (or not). I have now planted 7 of the urenikas and have 7 spinach seeds popped in there too. I only have to add the jicama (on sprouted, one to sprout still--planted today and in the hot water cupboard).



Urenika in egg tray


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I found a website for that place that does the "boxed mushroom" kit I've been looking at and thinking of growing, Mushroom Gourmet. I'd probably go for the button, or field, mushroom. If you let them grow large enough they become the Portabellos. Yummm, we both do like Portabellos, especially during bbq season, brushed with some butter and fresh herbs. They all come at once, which is a down side since we'd have to eat them all up quickly or I could share them with friends. According to the FAQs, the flushes come between 7 and 28 days and you usually get 3 to 6 flushes per set. So at $40NZ per box, if I even just get 3 flushes that feed us for a week or two each flush then that's not a bad price.

Check out this clever idea for growing in limited space. These are cool! If you're the handy-person type you could make something like this yourself.

I stumbled across Bristol's Seeds. They don't ship outside NZ but have a great selection of heritage tomatoes. Check them out to get a sense of the diversity of tomatoes, but I suggest you set the "display #" to 50 because they have a lot! A tomato is more than just a round red globe!

I haven't gotten my seed order yet from the other day. I think I put the PO Box down, I hope they deliver to PO Boxes (I ordered some tea a few days ago and they don't deliver to PO Boxes because they use a courier service).

Weather was ok today but we did get a few rain drops off and on and it was breezy so I didn't get to spray to knock back the scale like I wanted to. I did harvest some of the worm castings (kind of hard when you try to not harvest the worms too!) and put them in a big ziplock bag. I also prepped another tomato pot like I did the ones last weekend, with some blood & bone, dried leaves, sheep pellets, coffee grounds and a bit of worm castings. That will give me 5 tubs and I've ordered 6 different seeds. One of the tubs is pretty large so I'll maybe do 3 plants in that one. I'm thinking of doing only one of the Great Whites and I'll put 2 of the White Cherry in with it. The other 4 pots I'll put 2 of each plant in. If I can be patient I'll try to start one set of seeds and when they are big enough to transplant then start the 2nd ones. That way I'll be able to have staggered fruit instead of all at once.

The garden book on tomatoes I have says they take about 10 days to germinate and the best way to do it is to put your seeds on a moist paper towel that you fold in half, put into a zip lock bag & put on the top of your hot water heater. Keep an eye on it, moisten as necessary and when the seed sprouts and has about a 5mm long white root carefully pluck it off the towel and plant it. I want to start the jicama too but want to do that in soil so am not sure if I'll try this method this year for my tomatoes or not. The book does say it's ok to start them indoors in Aug/Sept but not to plant outside until at least Labour Day Weekend. I've got a friend who also has a garden and I offered some seeds to him. I'll start them for him & he's going to be doing a swan plant or two for me (yay monarch butterflies!) so it will be a nice trade.

All the tomato seeds I picked up are for "indeterminate" toms. Indeterminates basically grow & fruit until the first frosts. Determinates are more busy and will produce one main flush.

Ah, and I picked up one of the usual NZ Gardener magazines. I stopped getting it because I have a lot from when I had a subscription and they tend to do a lot of similar articles year in and year out. I picked up this one though because it had some info on potatoes & I figured it would be handy to have. I'm glad I did, I thought I had to chite (sprout) the potatoes in semi-darkness so I had a couple tea towels over them (they are on top of the mini ice cooler, which is on top of the dehydrator, which is on top of the refrigerator). I pulled the towels off. :)

When I was out and about in the garden today, I also opened up one of the garden bags I bought to grow tomatoes in. I'll never get used to these darned metrics! I thought it was 1/2 the size it is. Instead I'd be able to cram all 4 of the darned cats into the bag easily! It's bigger than I thought! I'm debating using only one bag or 2. I will easily fit 5 potatoes per bag. I don't think I'll have room for 2 bags, but might try. I'll need to use bamboo to keep the bags more stable, it kept wanting to fall in on itself. I'm also thinking of getting slightly smaller bags and using them for the jicama. Or I might get the same sized bags and hope I can grow a huge root! :)

And here's the Red Rascals chiting. You might be able to just see the new sprouts.


I have a lot to do out there still, I do want to get one more fungus spray and one Nature's Way pyrethrum spray to knock back the scale on the roses. And the roses are starting to bud from the warm weather I think. The fruit trees and berries have little buds. The trillium has little bits of green thinking of popping up. Spring is around the corner I think, despite the still-cool weather!

Right now the garden is my saving grace, my sanity. It's frustrating that I can't get out there more often.

It's still too early to plant them but I picked some seeds up today. We went to another garden centre today. They didn't have the Purple Passion potatoes either. Either they haven't reached the shops yet or they aren't going to this season. I did decide that in another month or so I'll pick up some of the Rua variety. They are a main crop variety like the Red Rascals I got yesterday. Their info says "Pleasant flavour, firm texture. Suitable for boiling, french fries, roasting mashing. Stores well".

Also, the good news is that we can grow potatoes year round in Auckland. I'll need to rotate crops to prevent disease and nematodes building up, but I like the idea of growing them all year. We don't grow much in the winter and I want to change that, potatoes are a good way of doing it.

The seeds I picked up are from Koanga Gardens (now Kaiwaka Organics but the Kaiwaka page doesn't give any info on varieties so I was stoked to find a link to the Koanga veggie seeds. Looks like you need to be a member to buy some of them though :( There's a Green Chestnut pumpkin that sounded interesting but I didn't see it at the shop today so I settled for the Red Kuri.

I picked up some Red Kuri pumpkin to plant a bit later in the season. I really only want 1 plant since I don't have room to grow more than one plant, especially since these are supposed to be heavy croppers. The packet has 20 seeds so I might share some with a friend and save some for next season.

I picked up 2 lettuces, some some Winter Lettuce that I can plant around May and with about 100 seeds in a pack that is good by 2012 that will give us plenty! I picked up Odell's Lettuce too that I can plant all year except mid-summer and mid-winter according to the packet. I get 50 seeds in this packet so these will go quicker if I'm planting more often.

I also picked up some Perpetual Spinach too that I can plant Spring and early Autumn. It's a heritage of course, "grown for it's sweet taste and super hardy characteristics. It has mid-green chard type leaves and insignificant stems compared to other chards. I currently have been planting Bloomsdale Spinach.

I wanted to get a second spinach, and pick up fresher lettuce seeds. I have been mono-cropping the spinach but really don't like doing that. It's not good for the soil and is more likely to build up pests and diseases. I do try to switch out the carrots with the lettuce and then the spinach, but still don't like the idea of monocropping.

They have the same kind of Mushroom growing kit that the other stores have. C wasn't thrilled today when we read that you have to send off a voucher to get your spores. I think that is better, you're guaranteed fresh spores. She also thinks they are very expensive, but you can get 2 or 3 flushes and the buttons you can grow into portabellos, which are pretty pricey themselves. And even when you've completely grown the mushrooms out of them you can use it for compost, so still gives back to your garden. I'm still debating it.

PS-- here are a couple links from bluemeridian:
A post on someone growing Shitakes in white oak logs and How big they got!

And An interesting blog about someone who noticed that bean seeds grow where they fall so why not use a sunny section of the lawn to grow some beans

Quick post. For those of you who don't know: we had problems with our internet about 3 1/2 weeks ago, then went on holiday for 2 weeks. We've been back almost a week and I'm sick. I haven't had much chance to get into the garden and do my autumn tidy-ups but did take a peek when we got back. I pulled a few small tomatoes off the dying plants (although a couple are making a comeback possibly due to the milder weather and no frosts yet). I've also pulled a few of the blood oranges off, a few mandarins and had a regular orange fall off the tree.

The blood orange wasn't completely blood red inside, I'm wondering if it's cross-pollinated with the other oranges & the lemons.

And the lemon tree is pretty full-on. I pulled a few off and it's good for me since I"m sick now. Fresh lemon & honey drink for me, although I'm not drinking as much as I should.

To do next few months or sooner:

-Some of the lettuce I planted a few weeks ago are starting to come up, I need to put more snail bait down!
-I NEED to mow the darned back lawn!
-I need to start cutting back the brown dahlia bits
-I need to cut back the (manuka/kanuka whichever it is) as it's a bit pokey and about eye-level for our neighbors in the back
-I need to spray for scale on the roses, I think I have some Neem for this or Nature's Way stuff
-I need to spray copper on the roses, apple, peaches and nectarine
-I need to prune the roses (and good news: the one I thought was dying has come back!!)

I want to do some more terrariums. Mine are doing well & want to do a couple for gifts, do a couple native plant themed ones for myself.

I also need to do an orchid picture post. The dendrobium is flowering again (we have a few but only 1 has been big enough to flower & it does usually) but the bonus is the zygopetalum is flowering. It flowered once before about a year ago or longer. I have a few of the same that I've divided but they haven't gotten big enough to flower, only this one. I repotted it about 4 months ago. It seems to like that.

And now, off to lie down and rest. Good growing!

As the Northern Hemisphere is heading into autumn we in the South are gearing up for summer. Summer means TOMATOES in the garden of course! And every year I do the same thing. It's like a ritual for me that starts in spring, one I don't do intentionally. I start scouring the pots that last year's tomatoes were in for babies.

You see, I'm something of a tomato snob. I only grow heirloom varieties. The bonus of an heirloom plant is not only the sense of keeping in touch with the past and keeping a variety alive, but you let a few toms drop in the pot and presto! Instant plants the next year. Come spring time I'm checking out the pots to see how many and what kinds of plants I'll have this year. I usually break down and buy a couple of plants as well, regardless of how many are coming up, just for more variety.

This year is no different in that respect. I've got some self-seeded toms coming up. I planted a couple seeds as well: a few heirlooms a friend from work gave me and 1 seed each from 2 heirloom varieties I picked up for variety. And I bought a few plants as well.

So Pinepig's 2009 tomato menu is looking about like this:

4 Big Rainbow (bought the plants)
2 Tiger (from coworker)
1 Black Russian (self seed)
1 Black Krim (self seed)
1 J Walsh (bought seed, still have a pack of seeds)
1 Watermouth (bought seed, still have a pack of seeds)
1 Brandywine (bought plant)
1 Mortgage Lifter (bought plant)

12 plants all up. That's probably a bit more than we will eat really, and we don't have much room in the freezer for storage so I'll be sharing with neighbors and coworkers. I like the variety and the fact that they are different sized plants, so I should get a nice long season for that. I've also got a pack of seeds from last year that I haven't planted, an heirloom variety mix from Koanga Gardens. I don't know what's in it and I didn't do it any justice last year when I put several in a small pot off on their own so they got less water than the rest of them. They didn't do too well of course. Maybe I'll plant them next year.

"But Pinepig" I hear you ask "What is an heirloom plant and what other types are there??"

Well, that's a good question. And not really an easy one but I'll answer as best as I can with my handy Internet and with my really cool New Zealand Gardener's "From Planting to Presevering Homegrown Tomatoes" special edition (only about $18NZ at your local garden centre, Whitcoulls or mag shop).

Heirloom plants don't have a universally agreed-on definition. They are older varieties, ones that usually have been grown before about the 1940's or pre-WW2 (Wikipedia & NZ Gardener). They are plants that pre-date the spread of the industrial approach to agriculture. One of the benefits of heirlooms is the different colours, sizes and tastes you can find. It isn't the stereotypical red, round tomato with some taste. These puppies are green, yellow, orange, pruple, red. They are striped, round, egg shaped, pear shapped, oval and a bizarre shape I can't really describe other than wrinkly. Another benefit is that you can save the seeds to plant the next year or to gift to friends and family and you'll get the same exact type of plant as what you had the previous year.

They are plants that are created by being "open-pollinated", where insects and birds provide the pollination and create plants this way (or in the case of fruit trees, grafts and cuttings) as opposed to being hybridised or created by people. Usually the different varieties have been kept alive by seeds (or cuttings) being gifted from one family to another, one generation to another. Some people only consider those plants and seeds that have been handed down from family to family as true heirlooms, as some 'heirloom' varieties are actually from early commercial seed companies that went out of business and the plants/seeds later discovered and grown and on-sold.

Other options for tomatoes are the hybrids and the grafted plants.

The hybrid plants are ones that have been bred with other related varieties to better their production and resistance to diseases (Wiki & NZ Gardener). The gardener or breeder becomes the polinator and selects the best plants for the traits they want. They might take 2 or 3 types of tomato, grow a dozen of each and select the best 2 or 3 of each. They would then use a brush or cotton bud to polinate each of these and grow the fruit until seeds were produced. They would pick these crossed tomatoes, plant them, grow them and repeat the process until they had a plant & fruit with whatever qualities they were going for. Some people prefer growing hybrid toms. They are easier, require less care, give you more uniform results and you are almost completely assured of a good crop because they are created to crop well.

Many hybrids are now shaking off the "tasteless" label they were painted with. Let's be honest, the pinkish fleshed things you get in the supermarket just aren't as good as something fresh off your own plant. But hybrid breeders have recognised this and, probably being gardeners and tomato eaters themselves, have started to breed for taste again. You can find good hybrid plants in your garden centre.

The controversial side to hybrids is genetic manipulation. I honestly don't know how much, if any, of the hybrids in the garden shops would be genetically manipulated, or if these plants are exclusively the domain of large scale agriculture.

The down side to hybrids though is that you can't save their seed. Once the season is over, don't expect to have the same things sprouting up next year if you do. Hybrid seeds don't breed true to their parents and you can get seeds that are sterile and no amount of trying will get you a plant.

Grafted plants are often seen in the shops at this time of year. Grafting is taking the top of one plant and growing it on the root stalk of another. Apple trees are one example of a plant that can only be propagated by grafting as modern apples won't breed true if grown from seed. You can usually get the hybrid varieties grafted onto a stronger stem and root. You can also sometimes get heirloom plants that have been grafted onto a different rootstock. You get the benefits of the variety you've chosen and will grow stronger and crop better than the original plant they came from.

Grafted tomatoes are often a little more pricey than heirloom or hybrids and are susceptible to the graft join being damaged, especially when they are first taken home and re-planted. Also, you may want to increase your feeding and watering as these vigorous plants will want more food and water than non-grafted varieties.

If you really want to go budget in your tomato growing and you don't have any self-seeders in your garden you can pick up a pack of tomato seeds. Split a pack with a neighbour or 2 and you'll have more than enough seeds for a good crop at a very low price. You can start them indoors in little pots, a great place is in your hot water cupboard or on the refrigerator or microwave (be sure to keep a saucer under them for water overflow!). Once the danger of frost is past you can then transplant them into your garden.

There are a lot more topics I can go on about for tomatoes but let me cut this short for now and leave you with these reminders.

* Regardless of the type or variety, don't forget to stake your plant. This can be as simple as using branches or bamboo in a teepee or can be as expensive as specially-made tomato cones/baskets. If you do use branches or bamboo tie some old pantyhose or twine or garden rope around the stakes at different heights so the branches will be able to rest on these and it will take some weight off the plant. Loosely tie the plant to a stake so the main stem has support during windy conditions.

* Water. This is my biggest downfall every year. Every year I promise I'll do better the next year and I don't. Tomatoes love water and need enough to produce tasty and healthy fruit.

* Food. Tomatoes LOVE to suck up nutrients. You want big, strong, healthy plants producing big, strong and tasty toms? Feed them. I'll be discussing fertilisers for the garden in a future post.

* Sun. They need a sunny place to grow and ripen. This will also keep mildew and other nasties at a minimum.

* Pinch or cut the laterals. These are the little plants that start growing from between the big leaf and the main stem. You want the plant to concentrate on a more bushy and prolific growth instead of wandering around, this also opens the plant up more for sun and air to circulate for a healthier plant. You can repot the laterals and gift them to friends and family. If you don't repot them (let's face it, sometimes friends and family are struggling with a prolific enough group of toms themselves) make sure you throw them away. You don't want them sitting under the plants creating a haven for pests and mildew to attack your plants.

Tomatoes are easy and a very rewarding plant to grow. It is perfect for the beginner and is great for getting kids interested in gardening and learning where their food comes from. The huge variety available can be overwhelming so stick with a few hybrid plants if you are beginner: something like Sweet 100 (cherry tomatoes), Big Beef (large 'beefsteak' style fruit with high cropping) or Money Maker (medium sized fruit). If you are a novice or expert who grows their own heirlooms consider holding tastings for friends/family. How many people around you have never tasted a purple tomato or a yellow one? Putting together an inexpensive cheese-cracker-tomato party is simple.

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere and coming to the end of your season, save out some of your heirloom seeds, put them in a nice envelope from a craft store and give them as gifts to gardening friends. This is an inexpensive gift and is a nice way to share the bounty of your garden. A little hand-written explanation of the variety, fruit and your name and the date would be well-received. Seed saving from tomatoes will also be a future post. For those of you needing to know this now, Google it since time is short for you! Or if you're struggling with what to do with your bounty, freeze or can them, make pasta sauce and ketchup and chutneys and gift them at Christmas.

Until next time, happy growing.