TINO: It's springtime at The Patch,
and the air is warmer and so is the soil.
So it's well and truly time to think about
what I want to be eating in summer.
I'm not trawling the supermarket aisles,
I'm hitting the greenhouse aisles,
for the produce that is, oh, so much tastier.
Tomatoes. Yeah.
Obviously.
Basil. Yep. Done.
There's more to a summer spread than just a bruschetta.
So today, I'm getting some other summer staples in the ground,
like capsicum, chilli and eggplant.
As seed, these babies need a reliably warm soil temperature,
about 21 degrees for the capsicum and chilli
and about 25 degrees for the eggplant.
Now, because I wanted seedlings in time for spring,
I sowed the seed of these months ago,
because being in Tassie, it's hard to find warmth in late winter
unless you're in the safety of a muggy glasshouse.
These plants are tall enough and strong enough
to go in the ground here at The Patch,
and the springtime Tassie temperatures
are warm enough to support them.
You see, capsicums and chillies in the hotter parts of Australia
are grown as perennials, but they are frost-tender plants,
so to grow them here in Tassie is all about timing.
Capsicum, chilli and eggplant are in the Solanaceae family,
which is the same family as tomatoes,
so the soil preparation is similar.
I prepared this bed about a month ago,
so it's really had a chance to come alive.
As always, you want a rich, well-drained soil
that's jam-packed full of compost.
And you can add a bit of pelletised chicken manure if you like.
It'll add calcium and phosphorus,
which the plant uses to develop good, healthy fruit,
which is why we're here in the first place.
I'm gonna start with my capsicums.
If you're in a warmer area, 40cm-to-50cm spacings is about right,
but in cooler climates like Tassie,
it's a good idea to space them about 70cm apart.
The extra space allows more sunlight in,
which warms the area around the plant,
keeping them nice and warm at night, like a big hot water bottle.
I've got a few mini sweet varieties
in a yellow and also a dark chocolate colour.
Both of these varieties suit small spaces
and can be grown successfully in pots.
This capsicum is called Capsicum Wings
'cause it has small disc-shaped fruit with little wings on them.
This is a good option if you're in a cooler climate,
because it takes about 60 days for the fruit to mature.
But if you're in a windy area or later in the season,
if the plant's very vigorous,
it may need staking, 'cause it can get up to about a metre
or metre and a half.
So I can harvest something from The Patch even sooner,
I'm putting in some fast-maturing chillies.
These are Birdseye, or Thai, chillies,
which are one of the most popular chillies in the world.
Now, I've got a couple of eggplants I'm gonna pop in.
It's important to get the right variety
for your particular climate.
In hot, more humid parts of Australia,
eggplant just rocket along,
but in cooler climates, they have a tendency to be a bit sluggish.
So, I've got a couple of varieties that crop early in the season,
which means I'm still gonna get a crop even down here in Tassie.
This first one is Listada de Gandia.
It's an heirloom variety that has a beautiful purple-striped skin.
You'll get upwards of about 3kg from each plant.
I'm also putting in Fairytale, which is a variety that produces
a slender, pretty, striped fruit
that gets to about 10cm.
It's another early cropper, so I'll get some early fruit.
And as always, finish off by giving them a good water-in.
Now, once this bed starts to really tick over,
I'll have a summer kitchen full of capsicum, chilli and eggplant.
Don't worry.
No-one's telling you NOT to plant tomatoes this spring,
just that once you meet the rest of the Solanaceae family,
you'll find that your capacity to love tasty fruit is limitless.