Monday 17 August 2015

Harvest Monday - red and green

One of the many good things about Harvest Monday is it makes you look back at everything you've picked. At this time of year it's always surprising the amount that gets harvested in just one week....
The tomatoes have finally started to get going
Yesterday I removed a lot of the lower leaves to improve air circulation around the plants and to let more light in, which should speed up the ripening more as well
And I picked a few peppers too - they're on the top shelf in the lean-to. I'd been hoping they'd ripen but noticed they'd started going a bit funny so didn't want to risk losing them completely
I'm not a fan of raw green peppers so as I was heating up something in the oven i decided to cook these up too, with a splash of olive oil and crunch of black pepper
Yum
The blackberries have been going mad this week again, I have a long bramble hedge down one side of the allotment
And the runner beans from the back garden, weird shaped cukes (which I gather is when they're under stress - it's been very dry), and lookee....a few apples! They're just windfalls but are quite tasty
And some more
Excitingly, the first sweetcorn! I meant to pick some more this weekend but haven't had chance.
My plum tree didn't have any fruits this year so I was pleased to pick a few greengages - one of the allotments has a couple of large trees that overhang the adjacent lane and I noticed a load were on the floor (squashed by cars), so I found a few ripe ones on a low branch - the guy is happy for anyone to help themselves plus they're growing over a public lane anyway.
And aha! Some more plums.....we caught the bus out to the countryside on Saturday for a lovely riverside walk, (though it was a bit too long for Jan, she's been quite tired since then, recovering from the thyroid problem) and, always looking out for free foraging I found a few plum trees, small but quite sweet, nice to just snack on. I could've picked loads more but left them in case anyone else wanted them too (didn't look like any were getting picked though)
Some of the simple meals this week have included - Oven potatoes with veggies softened in goats butter
Noodle soup
Curry with cuke & mint raita and quinoa
Mixed veg with basil and Spelt pasta
And the corn....mmm
The rhubarb in the back garden was getting in the way again
So I mixed it with some of the blackberries to make a flapjack (I was considering making a blackberry cake but went for the flapjack in the end), based on the recipe I used recently (but increased the quantities a bit and used mainly date syrup instead of honey, cause I didn't want to use up all my local honey). The rest of the blackberries are in the freezer, to be made into mixed fruit later.
Some of the buttery muesli oat mix gets put in first, in the base and up the edges
So you can fill in with the fruit mix
Then top with the rest of the muesli mix
The morning after
I took most of it into work (and saved some for us too of course), it was easiest to cut it all up first rather than faff on in the office. A good way to make you popular with your work colleagues.
 

That's it for the week, linking in with all the folk for Harvest Monday on Daphne's Dandelions

 

14 comments:

  1. It all looks so good! The tomatoes look perfect, and still so many blackberries! The raita sounds perfect, especially this time of year.

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    1. Thanks Susie! I have had some toms with blossom end rot but most've been ok. I really need to sort the blackberries out properly in the freezer, they're taking up a lot of space!

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  2. Your blog is such an inspiration. Not only do you grow a wonderful garden but then you cooks first class meals all week. It is interesting how close our two climates are. Its plum season here too as well as wild blackberry time. Enjoy your harvest and have a great week.

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    1. Wow Lexa, that's really kind of you to say so! Yes it's funny isn't it, lots of similarities. I'll have to see if I can get out in the countryside again soon to find more plums. Hope you have a good week too :)

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  3. Your peppers and corn are ahead of ours,
    I love greengages but both our varieties are perfectly round.

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    1. The guy on the next plot to me has been eating his corn for quite a while sue, he's always first on everything and has massive ears (of corn, hehe), with 3 on each plant (I'm lucky to have one). So I was actually feeling a bit behind on that. I keep forgetting to pick more. We've had some nice rain so hopefully plumped them up.
      Another thing I forgot today, to look for more greengages, darn.

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  4. Those blackberries look so good. And loved what you made with them.

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    1. Thanks Daphne,the flapjack had a really nice flavour. Will have to do some more baking soon, I have so many blackberries...picked another big tub today!

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  5. Your tomatoes are looking lovely! I admire the plums too. We don't have any around here. My neighbor has a pear tree, but it hasn't been producing much this year. Your dessert looks yummy! I'm sure you were much appreciated that day.

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    1. Thanks Audrey, I planted a plum tree on the allotment and it produced fruit for the first time last year, so I was a little disappointed not too get any this time (though I know they have off years), so it was nice to find some out and about. I wonder if pear trees have on and off years too? I'd like a pear tree one day.
      Mmm the flapjack was nice, it would go well with custard too :)

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  6. Your tomatoes are gorgeous . Our plums are still very green, good that you got to forage for some, so many people just let them rot

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    1. Thanks shaheen, the toms have a really good flavour this year.
      Yes I hope I find some more plums! Not sure when we'll next be going out into the countryside though. There were already quite a few wasted on the floor, it's such a shame but we did see a blackbird making off with with one which was funny as it was quite big in its beak. Hope yours ripen-up soon.

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  7. Wonderful harvests! My tomatoes and peppers have also started up at a good clip...finally. I didn't realize that weird shaped cucumbers could indicate stress - that must be what is going on in my cucumber patch as I'm getting roughly the same number of odd vs. normal cukes. And those "wild" plums actually look better than my "garden" plums - darn Japanese beetles!

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    1. Thanks Margaret, yay to toms and peppers. I think it was on Daphne's blog I recently read about weird shaped cukes indicating stress, it makes sense. A few have been a bit bitter too but still edible.
      Mmm, I'm nearly out of the plums now, wish I'd picked a few more. Ah, sorry to hear yours have been 'got', there's always something out to eat our goodies too.

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