Tomatoes... fighting off the crows...

Was eyeing to harvest the first tomato...
But the crows always seem to know what is on the farmer's mind...
One day before the harvest, they took three of the biggest ones...
Ooh... that was painful...

Immediately put on a protective net...
And luckily, could harvest some of the fruits...

The big one weighed about 450 grams...
Quite a feast, actually...

For the last few months, have been enjoying our breakfast with vegetables freshly picked from the potager...
Here, we had tomatoes, dill, cucumber, and nasturtium flowers...

Success with Cucumbers

Had been trying to grow cucumbers for the last two seasons...
Thought this season would be equally bad...
But luckily, they are growing very well...

Tried the 'two' (rather than three) sisters method wth corn...
The corn is actually now overwhelmed by the climbers...

Was a bit too late in putting up the supports....
So, this one was just sitting on the ground, waiting for the harvest...


See that one leaf sticking out from the body?

A taste of spaghetti pumpkin...

Just for the fun of it...

Bought two spaghetti pumpkin seedlings

Not very productive

Or, is it the farmer that is the issue?

We got to harvest only two fruits
This one weighed about half a kilo
Not big by any pumpkin standards

Sliced into halves, the texture unfolds
As the name implies, the flesh resembles spaghetti
or noodles  if you like

In Korea, was onced served 'pumpkin tea'
And why not try making our own?

Not as sweet as that of the 'normal' pumpkin

Missus made a vinaigrette concoction to go with it
Sprinkled with a bit of sesame
Ummm...the pumpkin by itself is quite tasteless
But with the vinaigrette dressing, tasty enough to warrant a second planting season...

Greens growing well...

Due to the unexpectedly constant rain for the past few weeks

The greens in our potager have been flourishing...

Bayam or amaranth(green pointed leaves)...
red ladies finger, nasturtium...

Parsnip... seeds from Cairns...
trying it for the first time...

Daikon (Japanese radish)...
First time to grow this crop...

Korean perilla amongst komatsu-na...
The perilla self-seeded and they grow faster than the weeds...
Good for us as we love the taste of it...

Komatsu-na... aka mustard greens...
A patch of moroheya...

Am not sure of the name of this vegetable....
Got the seeds from my mum...
in the village, we call it 'mak choy'...
I like its plain taste... excellent as a soup...

Red amaranth...
bought the seeds from Malaysia...
The taste is as good as the green version...

Planted swede for the first time...
also called rutabaga or yellow turnip...
supposedly a cross between cabbage and turnip...
Bought the seeds from Cairns...

Some folks say swedes do not like transplanting...
I did, un-knowingly...
And it is looking surprisingly good...

Plums

Missus bought two plum seedlings two years ago...
Santa Rosa and 'O-ishiwase'...
Like apples and pears, they belong to the rose family...
Flowers are pretty, like sakuras...

This fruit was ripe on the tree...
Birds came by to peck on the skin...

 Another fruit on the O-ishi, with a companion... 

The size was slightly bigger than a ping-pong ball...
Quite small by commercial standards... about 50 grams?

But the taste... ummm...
Absolutely crunchy, juicy, and delicious...