Monday 20 July 2015

Harvest Monday - berry bonanza featuring raw raspberry tart

Woah, I didn't realise how much I'd picked this week until looking back at the photos, here's a quick run down:
 
The first tomatoes! Earlier in the week my two pots of tumblers started ripening, they turned out to be yellow, cool.
And just today the first red 'uns too (I got all my varieties mixed up, can't remember this one)
Sarnies with my own purple basil
And some more (I'm not very original with the sandwich fillings!)
There were enough yellows to also take some as a snack for lunch on a day out at the weekend too. Although Jan thought they were all for her and I had to rescue some for myself! Hehe. She must have been distracted by the SPOONBILLS (yes!), avocets and marsh harriers we were watching from the hide at NWT Cley Marshes, we'd got the bus there with the wheelchair.
Also the first cucumbers this week (marketmore) from the plot
The courgettes have started to gain apace plus this first patty pan style squash (And another cuke, it will be a little while before there's more cukes though, only just getting more flowers, it's been very dry again and any rain just dries up in the sun or wind)
I love the shape of the patty pans when they're cut up
I went through and picked all of my spring-sown broad beans (Eleanora express), they'd done ok-ish despite the blackfly attack
Yes, I made broad bean and egg stew again...twice! And a pasta thing too. The skins were a little tough, I should really have popped the green innards out but it was too much to faff with at the moment.
Chard...
With quinoa
I had a big bag of pumpkin in the freezer that needed using up. It was from a huge pumpkin that jan's work had carved for an event. The pumpkin itself was a bit flavourless but I made a sort of curry soup with it.
More courgettes, including a round one, first time I've grown these. I've lifted all my onions and have them in the shed on the allotment, but am just bringing a few home every now and then that need using up first.
And yes, the berries through the week have been rather abundant!
Raspberries and saskatoons. The raspberries take ages to pick
And some more. I think I spent an hour and a half just on the raspberries
And some more
And some more (gooseberries) - excuse the bad pic!
And some more
And some more
And for a bit of variety, here's tonight's tea, with courgettes, more pumpkin and my own onions and garlic - we had friends over to pick fruit from the plot beforehand
Quite the haul between us, it's much quicker picking with three people for sure (hi Jen and Phil). I dug up some early potatoes too.
So I thought I'd make Shaheen's raw raspberry mousse tart (I made it last year too) for our pudding. I did make a bit of a boo boo, I wasn't thinking and put the bananas in the freezer with their skins still on. So when I got them out the freezer, of course the skins were frozen on. But I broke them in half (weird experience breaking a frozen banana in half ) and after a little thawing they just popped out the skins, phew.
The finished product! Decorated with redcurrants and blackberries picked tonight, as my raspberries don't look nice enough for a posh topping. Although I think this looks a bit like a spiders face?

And on that note (imagining eating a tasty giant red spider face), I'll link in with Harvest Monday on Daphne's Dandelions. Or alternatively you can imagine me spiking myself in the bottom and ripping my trousers whilst accidentally crouching down on a cane this evening. Ow! Luckily I had a shirt to tie around my waist to hide my modesty!

16 comments:

  1. I love the shape of patty pan and eight ball (what the round ones are called, I think) squash - but then I kind of think they all taste the same - but I still grow all of the different shapes. I am envious of the ripe tomatoes, but ooh, all those berries look so fabulous too!!

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    1. Ah, I like the sound of eight ball Susie. There's yellow patty pans that I think have a nicer / fuller flavour than courgettes, I think I have one on the plot but no fruit yet (another thing I lost track of all the varieties, especially as loads of young plants got eaten by beasties).

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  2. you are not allowed to post pics of food without recipes! that's a rule, right?! The tart and the tea before looked WONDERFUL!

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    1. Haha, thanks Gardening Without. there's a link to the tart recipe above the piccie, it's very easy, just takes a little bit of forward planning. The tea was just onion and garlic softened a bit, fried with curry powder, then courgette added plus leftover pumpkin mush (including bought kale, chopped and some red lentils) a bit of water, tin of chick peas and butter beans plus some coconut block. Sometimes I add a bit of ground almonds into this kind of recipe but I don't have many left, so added some toasted flaked almonds instead once served-up (not in the picture).

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  3. Reading this is making me hungry, everything looks so good!

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    1. Thanks Michelle, I'm starting to get peckish now too!

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  4. Oh yes! Homegrown tomatoes are the best - by a mile. I still haven't had any ripe ones, but it surely won't be long. You certainly manage to get lots of food from your plot, which must be very satisfying. Lack of rain has been a real issue this year. It's not like a "proper" drought though, because the temperatures are low, but the soil is very dry - almost dusty - and the wind never seems to stop.

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    1. Thanks Mark, yes I'm sure you'll get some toms soon. I have a few more starting to turn now aswell.
      We really need a good downpour or three. our soil is really dusty, especially on the allotment, where it's very sandy soil. And yes this wind, I wonder if it's a sign of things to come, it seems to get worse each year.

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  5. You didn't have to tell me it looked like a spider face did you? Arrrggggg! I was going to admire all those squash, but the berries have stolen the show. My raspberries never take all that long to pick. There are just too few of them.

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    1. Haha, not a fan of spiders Daphne? I can deal with small ones and don't mind them too much outside, but inside the house I could give them a miss!
      Most of the berries have done really well this year, there's a lot of blackberries to come soon too. Last year I didn't get many black currants as I think the plants got affected by agressive White dead nettle but this year I weeded it out and mulched with bramble leafMould / old prunings. The only fruit that failed was the plum tree(zero fruit) but must be its 'off' year ( having only had its first 'on' year last time).

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  6. Spoonbills and tomatoes in the plural - great.

    You sound to be engaged in the same sort if activity as me - never thought to invite help to fruit pick - a clever move

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    1. The spoonbills are regular up on the coast now and even breeding, which is ace. They had their heads tucked in a lot of the time but we got some good views when they moved about and even preening each other, lovely.
      Hehe, well our friends got to keep what they picked, there's too much for just us, even with preserving. I'm happy to share as long as someone else picks! :)

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  7. That is a LOT of berries! I can't wait to see what you do with them all - do you usually freeze most of them? I was at a community garden this past weekend and it was my first time seeing a fully grown red currant bush - I definitely want one now! And congrats on the first ripe tomato - that's always such a special event in the garden.

    The old cane poke sounds like it would have been quite comical - one of those things you laugh about after the fact (and once you have some proper pants on again!)

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    1. I know Margaret, so many berries, phew! Yes I'm mostly freezing them and will combine into mixed-fruit mush when I get chance, to go on our breakfasts through the year. I take a pot of fresh berries to work as an afternoon snack over the summer and jan's been making a smoothie most days, with banana too.
      Tomorrow on my day off I'm going to defrost the freezer before it gets too full. I've borrowed some puffy freezer bags from someone at work. I can think of more fun things to do but it will be good to get it out the way!
      Yes a currant bush can be very prolific, def worth getting one or more. My redcurrant bush is massive, and I have 3 black currants that I cut down each year in succession to refresh the growth. 'they' advise growing redcurrants (and gooseberries etc) from one main stem and manage as a goblet shape for easier picking and good air circulation etc but as I'm not very attentive at that kind of thing they just go all over the place!
      Haha, yes the cane was more funny than painful. I'll need to sew those trousers up though before I can wear them again, luckily they were really old ones anyway!

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  8. Your summer vegetables are coming in strong and look at all your berries. Berry picking is a lot of work but so rewarding. Near the Oregon coast blackberries grow wild across the countryside, one year we froze 21 blackberry pies for the winter.

    It seems like you've been picking berries for months and months, so wonderful!

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    1. Thanks Phoung. Wow, 21 pies, that is amazing!! The blackberries here have just started to ripen this week, but I don't think I'll be making 21 pies, phew.

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