Today's harvest

Despite all the heat and not much really going on in the garden except survival, we are still harvesting.  Here is a glimpse of what we've got going on

When I was down doing a water this morning, I filled up my T-shirt front (which is what you do when you forget your basket, and you can flash a pale belly to the neighbours - very attractive) with the ripe green zebras.  For whatever reason, the rats have been leaving them alone of late and so a number are now growing large and ripening on the vine.  Yesterday, this dish was full to overflowing with tomatoes from the last week or so, so I decided to make passata. Its a bit weird, being green and all, but I'll let you know how it tastes in pasta after tonight

If you have a more standard colour palate, here are the cherry tomatoes which are reassuringly red (and delicious)

We mostly eat these with salads each night.  There are so many at the moment that the chickens are getting half and the rest comes up to the house.  They are the poison of choice for the girls at the moment.  I pick them and hoik them over the fence and they race around like I'm dolling out crack cocaine. I saw one little girl swallow seven of these treasures whole - that can't be good.  The reason she got so many was that the other girls were feasting on a bowl of soldier fly lava that I'd just deposited in the shade for them.  Pure protein hits and very good for the girls and their eggs but its a testimony to my farming commitment that I collect them and pass them on.  Writhing maggots are not normally something I'd want to get my hands into.

In this heat, its the aquaponics system that is really coming into its own.  Of course, with all the rich water flushing through the system, they can handle anything climate change throws at them and even the lettuce is looking tasty and crisp.  I picked a bowl full for tonights salad but just didn't take a pic (I'm sure you've seen salad leaves before).  But what I did take a picture of is the gorgeous purple capsicums.  You probably saw them in situ a few posts ago, but they are good to go and we didn't feel like sharing them, so they were picked today

And lastly, this is really a "post-pick" photo, but the blueberries are in full swing and every other morning, I pop out and gather a handful to go with my breakfast.  The end of the season for us isn't too far away though but in the meantime, I'm loving them

These will be good in a couple of days.  In between, I've been topping my muesli with the first of the mangoes that have come off the tree, so I'm not suffering.

What's being produced in your garden in this very hot summer?