TOMATOES

The tomatoes are coming on well.  Doug and I garden in different ways and he prefers to plant close together.  We planted 6 tomatoes of three different varieties.  The Russian Red were the first to go in and we have picked a few of them, they are a smaller tomato but very sturdy.  I have had to cover the ripening ones with net curtain as the blackbirds think that the apples they are given are not sufficient and some tomato goes down well with them.  They ate a whole one before I put the net on.

Now they just have to withstand whatever the weather gods throw at them, hopefully, they will go on to flourish and not get blown down or blight or some other problem.  They are looking good at the moment.

They have been sprayed with copper to help prevent blight.

The newer tomatoes that I grew from seed and had to put plastic netting around to stop the blackbirds from digging them up are also doing well.

The lettuce seedlings I planted last weekend next to the tomatoes are also thriving.

TWO YEARS

Today it is two years since I moved in here with Doug - it took us another two and a half months to arrange our wedding so that anniversary is yet to come. 

We have accomplished a lot in that time - well Doug has with my back-up.  Completely forgot about Valentine's Day yesterday until I remembered in the late afternoon as we were driving home from appointments.  

This morning I baked some interesting, and tasty, blueberry muffins made with oats, yoghurt, bananas, eggs, baking powder and baking soda  and, of course.  blueberries.  A friend came around and we enjoyed them with a cup of tea.  She brought Luisa plums with her and left with tomatoes.  27 degrees today.  No sign of rain.

TOMATOES & WEATHER

The wintry weather is continuing with rain most of the day and a temperature which, apparently, reached 23 degrees although it didn't feel like it.  Luckily it was fine early this morning for our weekly visit to the Growers Market, then walking Sophie and doing our weekly supermarket shop.  I did an early wash but no sooner had I put it out than the rain started and eventually I brought it in, put it in the washing machine to spin dry and put it back out under cover.

But to the tomatoes.  We have our fingers crossed and Doug does a regular copper spray and so far they are doing really well.  Last year I froze a lot by just removing the core, cutting them in half and bagging in bags that took roughly the same size as a tin of tomatoes.  I was really pleased with the result which I used in mince and casseroles so I am doing the same again this year.  We have been picking mainly Russian Red but yesterday picked our first Black Krim.

The Russian Red are doing well.  It is like that right along the row.

The Black Krim alongside the Russian Red.  We ate it last night and it was delicious.  I picked another couple today.

In Nelson at the top of the South Island they have major fires.  Apparently it all started with a spark from some farm machinery.

• Pigeon Valley fire continued to "burn actively overnight" as it heads into its fifth day.
• The blaze covers 2100ha with a perimeter of 27km.
• About 100 personnel fought the fire overnight.
• About 1000 houses and 3500 people had been evacuated.
• With 22 helicopters battling the blazes, it is the largest aerial firefight on record.
• It is also the largest forest fire since a blaze in Canterbury in 1955.

With winds of 50km/h forecast in Nelson tomorrow, concerns are the conditions could fan the flames of the massive Pigeon Valley fire and prevent helicopters from flying.

Nelson-Tasman Civil Defence management controller Roger Ball said anything over 20 or 30km/h winds was pushing the fire over the control line.

Helicopters could fly in conditions of up to 50km/h winds, but they had to stop for safety reasons in winds above that, he said.

A declaration of emergency remained in place in Nelson today.

Ball told a press conference this afternoon that the situation remained "dynamic" with a risk to life, animals and property.

He said the focus remained in the area of Wai-iti, close to the township of Wakefield.

Police Acting District Commander Zane Hooper advised Wai-iti residents to prepare to evacuate.

CREPE MYRTLE, TOMATOES AND AN ABUTILON

We have two Crepe Myrtle plants and the first of them is in flower at the moment.

The tomatoes have also started to ripen.  We have several varieties in different beds.  These are the first ones

At the recent Garden trail we went on we purchased several plants.  The last one to be planted is the Abutilon which has only just come into flower.  The lady we bought it from couldn't tell us the colour but we are very pleased with the colour we have got.  The little plant is only about 8 inches high.

The forecast is only 24 degres which is much more pleasant.

Tomatoes

We planted four different tomato plants this spring.  Bloody Butcher which produced quite well until the storms, Sweet n Neat Red which was good, Black cherry which is still going strong and the ever popular Russian Red.

Way back in 2013 I purchased a Yates Seeds 130 year Commerative Tin containing 10 packets of Seeds,  Most were still unopened so this year after planting the other tomatoes we sowed a few seeds of a Tomato called on the packet "Large Red".  These have been growing well and outgrew their posts while we were busy on other projects so that after one storm Doug spent a morning putting in new stakes and chopping the tomatoes back and retying them.

They are just starting  to ripen. .Tonight I picked the first, by no way the largest.  Here it is pictured next to a Black Cherry Tomato.

PESTO and TOMATOES

A storm is forecast and the wind has already got up so today I picked all the basil and used my new Kitchen Aid mini food processor to make a good batch of Pesto.  I made some a few weeks ago which was delicious.  

I also picked any tomatoes that looked vaguely ripe and the pesto will be delicious with them.  We bought several "new to us" tomato plants this year and, so far, the tomatoes are not very large but the last variety we planted just called "Red" are going to be bigger but it will be a while before they ripen.  I hope the storm doesn't finish them off as they have already had a hammering from the last storm.

No photo of the pesto but here are some of the tomatoes we have on the kitchen bench.

The small dark ones are a variety called "Black Cherry"