Another quick one from me this week - I've picked the last of the gooseberries and first of the blackberries. Unfortunately I've missed most of the blackcurrants, which is a shame as there were masses of juicy ones. But it looks like a good blackberry year, so I'm not going to be short of fruit over the winter.
More runner beans are coming along on the allotment and there's a load nearly ready at home too.
The courgettes are getting going. I've been freezing some by dicing them up, freezing flat and then bagging up. I got the idea from Mrs Thrift at Not Just Green Fingers blog, who always has good tips. She says you don't need to blanch them this way so I'm happy to give it a go - much less hassle.
I've had another white scallop marrow too, though the plant seems to have slowed a bit
The cucumbers and gherkins are rather prolific. I don't have time to make pickles at the moment so we're just eating them all as cukes.
They're nice to snack on
The greens are doing well, here's some chard
Nero kale
Curly kale. The plants of these and the Nero are quite small but as I've got quite a few they're producing lots of leaves between them.
More (self sown) chard
Greens are always a nice side dish to accompany a pie
I've blanched the majority of them though, packing into tubs for the freezer....the first year I've done this I think. I'll probably just add them into stews and curries throughout the winter.
The different tomato varieties are ripening now
A welcome summer addition to the good old sarnie (with purple basil again). If I get round to it I'll sow some more basil and lettuce to keep us in supply into the autumn.
That's me again for the week, thanks for reading. I'm linking in with Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres
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What a beautiful selection of goodies you have! Seeing your gooseberries makes me wish I have netted mine so I would have had at least a few. I grate a lot of my zucchini and I don't blanch it before freezing either. Your purple basil is so pretty on those tomato sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave, there's always next year for your gooseberries. I might give grating the courgettes a go too, it seems like there'll still be a fair few more to come (though the freezer is getting a bit full as I only have four compartments).
DeleteThat's a really nice variety of fruits and veggies you get to enjoy now! I wish I could grow berries like that, but bad soil and worse pests makes it too difficult to grow more than just a few in pots.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle. I seem to be quite lucky on the plot, berries and currants generally do well and the birds don't make much of a dent even if they do eat a few. I try and give all the plants a mulch of homemade compost or leafmould each spring which helps i think.
DeleteA few berries in pots can be a tasty treat, I'm sure they're delicious.
What a phenomenal variety you have coming in from the garden! Congratulations on such bounty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa, nice to hear from you. I've just taken a look round your blog, wow! I liked what you did with your urban area and am very impressed you're now managing 11 acres. I'd like a bit more land (I think my allotment is about 1/8 acre?) but am not sure about 11 acres, phew :)
DeleteThose berries look delicious! It looks like you are getting a nice variety of harvests. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThanks Julie, it's a good time of year for harvests :)
DeleteSo many greens, that's fantastic! And a beautiful bowl of tomatoes (I haven't got any ripe ones other than a handful of cherry tomatoes). I grate my zucchini, squeeze out the juices then freeze them in 1-cup size baggies. Perfect for throwing into soups or pastas later on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susie, the self sown chard is doing really well this year, especially some individual plants I moved to give a bit more room. The kale has done better than I expected too, I think this is the most I've ever sown (or that survived anyway), so I'm pleased with them so far. My re-jigged lazy raised beds (no solid edges) might be helping, I seem to have more growing space now.
DeleteNice idea about the courgette, I might give that a go. And good luck with the rest of your tomatoes :)
You are right about the blackberries, it's full time job keeping them picked over at the moment. We have some dark purple gooseberries like yours. They were so small that I wasn't going to bother picking them then I tried one and they were so sweet.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't blanched anything that we freeze for years.
Hi sue, yeh the blackberries are good this year, though I haven't been dressed very well for blackberrying so have just been picking the easy to reach ones...which has still ended up being a big tub each time, plenty for us and the freezer.
DeleteMmm, I can just imagine the gooseberries. I thought mine were tasty then picked my friend Andrew's for him...wow! His plot has a different micro-climate to mine, it's like a sun and heat trap. I bet you were pleased you tried yours after all.
Interesting, it sounds like blanching is not done so much nowadays (I've never had too much surplus to bother trying it apart from sweet corn I think, which worked out ok and wasn't too difficult ) maybe it depends on how quickly your frozen goodies are used up, or maybe some particular types of veg are better blanched than not...or depends on how the veg is going to be used later.
You've done better than most with those cucumbers. Mine have been rubbish so far! And as for that cheese and tomato sandwich with purple Basil - what a stunner! It looks gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark, I have quite a few cucumber plants so just one or two from each a week makes it a big harvest. I was planning on making fermented pickles at some point, I think I might have a bit more time over the next couple of weeks so that might be my chance....and to make chutney, I still have a big marrow waiting to be used.
DeleteI'd recommend growing purple basil, it looks lovely as a plant as well as being tasty.
That's what I typically do with my kale - use some, but freeze most as I do enjoy it in soups/stews in the depths of winter. A great tip on freezing the courgette - I would have thought they would turn mushy once you cooked them up. But it sounds so easy, I think I'll give that a go, just to test it out.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret. Yeh I'll have to see how the courgette turns out. I'll probably just add it to tomato sauce dishes or curry-type things so it won't matter too much if it does go mushy.
DeleteGood luck if you try it too.