It has been gray and wet the past days, just like a nice summer day in London. A passing storm intensifies the monsoon and the sun has not appeared for awhile. The plants at our family farm do not seem to mind. At least, the ones that were not bowled over by the winds.
The corn seems to be doing well despite some damaged patches . I imagine there will be a harvest in a couple of months. It is nice to see this crop thrive here. We tried to grow them last year on the tiny house plot but the rain decimated them all.
We also have lots of chili, green and red, a promise of delicious things to come, plus the start of cucumbers and green leafy vegetables. Surprisingly, there are still tomatoes, probably the last of the season.
And lemons! This is our first time planting these and the trees we have are so generous. It cannot even support itself from all the fruits! We were told the variety will remain green until they ripen. I honestly don’t know how to tell when they are ready.
Finally, we have cotton fruit. Locally, it is known as santol. Have you ever heard of it? We have several old trees and the ground is carpeted with its yellow, fragrant, and citrusy fruits. We have so much more than we could possibly hope to eat and do not know enough people that can take the crates.
Nature is awesome.
Markus + Micah 
Nature is awesome! I never heard of cotton fruit but I think most citrus fruits are delicious 🙂
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I wonder if cotton fruit is accessible in other countries. It is super nice when it is nice and ripe but I do not enjoy it when it is sour.
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I am not aware of cotton fruit being available here in my part of the United States. I don’t enjoy any fruit when it’s sour only when nice and ripe and sweet 🙂
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I should export cotton fruit and be rich. Hahaha.
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Looks like a scene from LOST.
I can smell the damp greenery… I miss being in places like that… It rained quite heavily in the past days so parks and gardens may have that kind of feel… but it’s not worth risking an asthma attack since it’s also consistently been sandstorming right after…
Nangasim ako sa santol.
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Our coastal areas are flooded from recent heavy rains. So sad. That is the last thing the locals need. And how is your asthma? Is KSA as dusty as Abu Dhabi? Because I honestly do not know how people survive that every day.
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The constant flooding in the Philippines is truly depressing. We are not yet done with Covid but here comes the flood…
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Yes, coastal flooding everywhere seems to be a trend. Scary!
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We’ve had lots of rain here too – probably the same storm systems making its way to both our homes!
Thank you for the peek at your gardens – so much growing!
I’ve never had santol – I read that it’s similar to mangosteen (which I love!).
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Oh, I also enjoy mangosteen but it does not grow in our region. You are lucky if it is more accessible there. How are the rains there? It got really bad here. Floods and all that.
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Wow! Floods are not good. Is your garden ok? The big rains seem to have ceased. We get mostly small showers these days
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Tiny house was flooded actually. Up to my shoulders and I stand 155 cm. Everything is okay now, fortunately.
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Gosh! The rainy season can be so destructive! Hope you are having good weather in Germany.
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It is fall weather now and the locals say it was as if summer did not happen. At least there were no floods or fires here compared to other places in Germany!
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Absolutely! Global warming is wreaking havoc everywhere!
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I’d love to see and taste santol some time. It was fun to read of the things you are growing. Your area is so lush and beautiful.
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Thank you, Anne. I hope I can just show up and bring you a couple of santol fruits!
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Wouldn’t that be lovely???? I’ll let you know when we have a bedroom free.
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Yassssss
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I’ve never heard of santol. My spellcheck won’t even let me write the word. Guess WP hasn’t heard of it either!
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Glad to introduce santol to your devices!
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I miss santol
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No santol in Italy? It cannot grow there?
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It grows in the countless Asian sari-sari stores we have in this multiethnic city
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I have yet to find the ethnic stores here in Germany. Really need dumpling wrappers!
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Come to Italy!
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Will do!
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First of all, London is not always dull and rainy! 🤣 Mind you, the way the climate is going the weather everywhere is becoming more extreme! I don’t live in London anymore but live now in Northern Ireland and almost every day this week we have had a new temperature record broken. In Armagh (the ancient capital of Ireland) yesterday it was 31.4c! Too hot for me; can’t even sit outside in the shade.
Your farm looks lush as it should with all that rain! This year I haven’t been growing much except salad crops (lettuce, radish) and even they are struggling with the recent temperatures.
I also sent a message via your contact page. 💐💐🙋♂️
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Hahahaha. Yes, I agree, extreme climate everywhere. As you melt in Northern Ireland, we have seen really bad floods the past weeks. Sigh. And thank you, will get to your email. I flew the day after this comment and it got busy.
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Looks wonderful! My tomato plants are laden down with fruit and the potatoes are doing well. I just harvested my garlic last week. Disappointed with my peas and beans, though. Gardening can be a challenge at times!
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Wow! I have yet to be successful with potatoes and have not tried to grow garlic. What do you plant to get garlic?
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You can buy seed garlic. It’s basically a garlic bulb that you split into cloves and then plant the individual cloves. It grew okay but the bulbs are very small. I’m letting it cure right now so I have no idea how it will taste – but it smells good!
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Do you know how they taste now? I love roasted garlic.
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Never heard of cotton fruit how does it taste
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It is supposed to be sweet but some are sour, of course. Citrusy. The texture is interesting. Fleshy and it pulls, like cotton. Most of the fun is around the seeds. I have seen it made into jam and some add it to stews.
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