Veggies Update!

Its been about 6 weeks since we finished planting our veggie patch. All the veggies have survived the record breaking temperatures we experienced in January (I think I faired far worse than the plants did). And with the help of a little chill garlic spray we seem to be beating the grubs and bugs who try to devour our plants. A friend with a bumper veggie patch had mentioned using the chilli garlic spray for her tomatoes, and when my aunt mentioned her huge tomato crop was ruined by caterpillars inside the fruit, I decided this was something we needed to investigate further for our one little tomato.

The Ingredients:
12 large cloves of garlic (about 1 whole bulb)
6 hot chilies (dried or fresh - I used fresh as we had a surplus from the Margarita & Taco Fiesta)
2 cups of water
1 tablespoon liquid soap (I used dishwashing detergent - just ensure it doesn't contain de-greaser and isn't anti-bacterial)

The Recipe:
Combine the garlic, chillies, and water in a blender and puree until it forms a frothy-orangey-pinkey concoction.
Let the blender ingredients stand overnight to gain potency and so that the solids settle to the bottom of container.
Pour the mixture through a strainer lined with cheesecloth to get rid of all the particles, as these will clog up your garden sprayer.
Pour this concentrate into a jar with a plastic lid (a metal lid will react with the liquid).
Stir in the liquid soap.
Label the jar (your don't want to add this to a recipe by mistake!)
When ready to use, mix 1 tablespoon of concentrate with 470mL of water in a garden sprayer.
Spray plants during the afternoon so that the hot sun mixed with the spray does not burn your plants.
You can respray every second or third day if needed.

So far so good for our little tomato, who is growing fast and looking healthy. And we are the proud parents of 3 more little tomatoes growing alongside it.

I have been using the spray close to every other day, on not only the tomatoes but on all the veggies and herbs. My basil was getting destroyed by a little green grub, but with a healthy spray of the chilli garlic spray every couple of days it is once again flourishing and it is definately time for some pesto making.

During my chilli garlic spray research there were a few other tips I came across which would have been helpful to have known before we chose our vegetables and planted them.
1. Apparently, corn and tomatoes are not good companion plants as the corn attracts the pests which destroy the tomatoes. Whoops! We have rows of corn surrounding both our tomatoes plants!
2. Marigolds are great companion plants for tomatoes as they deter these same pests. So I bought a couple of punnets of marigolds which are currently sitting between our tomato plants waiting to be planted.

We also have corn heads and jalapeños growing which the boys and my hubby are very excited about.

And just today I have spotted some delicious looking beans hanging from a couple of our bean plants - I am surprised that the beans are almost as tall as the tiny little plants they are growing from. Clearly the wet weather of the last 2 weeks has spurred everything in the veggie patch to grow at a rapid rate!

We have bought a passionfruit vine to plant down the back as at our last house there was a terribly neglected passionfruit vine that produced amazing quantities of delicious passionfruit. We figure a plant that thrives on neglect is a good bet! We are still harvesting a few blackberries every couple of days from our little bush and besides the possums pulling out the dill plant all the herbs are doing well. We are also watching impatiently as our avocado tree comes into fruit and hope the fruit grows faster than the possums can eat it!

All up we are loving our little garden down the side! And the boys love picking and eating the produce from it!