Monday 27 March 2017

Harvest Monday and surprising chilli plants

I've actually harvested a fair bit over the last few days but just haven't got any photos....you'll have to trust me. We had some very tasty purple sprouting broccoli, steamed and eaten along with one of my favourites - simply a poached egg on top. Lots of other 'greens' - chard, shoots from Brussels sprouts plants, and even some red cabbage leaves - the plants hadn't produced hearts, but when they started to bolt, they put out some lovely tender leaves, so better than nothing. The corn salad is starting to bolt as well, so not too many harvests left from that as it becomes bitter. We've also moved onto another tub of strawberries from the freezer, mmm. I did manage a photo of a stir fry that Jan made tonight with some of the greens:
I potted-on my tomato seedlings, pinching-out the weakest looking ones as I went along. They'd got a bit leggy because I'd been away a few days, but I've planted them quite deep in the pots and will plant even deeper when they go in their final pots too. They'll grow roots from the stem, so will get even stronger hopefully. I need to end up with about 20 plants eventually, so if they all do well I'll have a few spares to pass on to friends. My mum was visiting and was upset to see me composting the rejects...unfortunately they'd get squashed on the coach if she tried to take them home! It is a bit sad to see them shrivel up - they probably had the potential to produce reasonable crops.
 
I've put the non-rejects outside in the lean-to greenhouse, with a double layer of bubble wrap against the window and underneath the trays, to protect from the worst of the cold. The bubble wrap also reflects light quite well, so hopefully will help them to grow evenly.
I have two lipstick chilli pepper plants which I grew in the lean-to last year from seed, but brought inside in autumn...mainly to add a bit of colour over the winter months. We don't eat too many chillis, so the fruits have stayed on the plants, drying-out a little but still looking ok. However, the interesting thing is the new growth that both plants put on, on the side facing the window, and which both plants now even have flowers on. It'll be interesting to see if they set fruit....I doubt whether the compost has much oomph left in it. I may top-up the compost to give them a better chance.
We had a nice sunny walk around the city yesterday with my mum, there were loads of magnolia trees in bloom all around the Cathedral Quarter.
The peregrines which nest on a special platform on the cathedral spire have laid 4 eggs as of today. You can just make out the platform about halfway up the right hand side of the spire.

A walk around this part of the city is always a treat and we 'tried out' several benches in the area - they were working fine, you'll be pleased to know.

 

Down on the plot I'm continuing to prepare beds for spring sowings (broad beans, parsnips, potatoes). My red onion sets have started shooting, so I need to get them in quick smart. Plus I still haven't mulched my fruit bushes yet. But this week I'll hopefully be heading out to get some lovely well-rotted horse manure...excellent.

 

Thanks for reading, I'm linking in as usual with Harvest Monday, kindly hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

 

8 comments:

  1. I can't imagine a pepper plant surviving an indoor winter here, but never tested the theory. I would imagine you'll have peppers if you have flowers, or what? Beautiful shot of the magnolia ...

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    1. Hi Susie, yeah I purposefully tried to overwinter a pepper before, which didn't work....so of course when I wasn't trying, it did.
      The compost that the peppers are in is quite worn out, so I wasn't sure if the plants have got enough strength to develop fruit, or if the flowers would just drop off....will see what happens soon

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  2. Peregrines nest on the tower of Wakefield cathedral too. Our magnolia has suddenly burst into flower too.

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    1. Lovely, sue. I've been noticing more magnolias in flower this week too, very pretty.

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  3. Your tomato plants have grown so much! Mine are still sprouting, but I'm hoping to get most of them potted up this weekend into individual containers. Are you going to plant the chili peppers outside when it warms up? They're such pretty plants, and they seem to be very happy in your home.

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    1. Hi phuong. Good luck with your toms. I think I'll move the peppers into the lean-to soon - I'll need their current spot for trays of seedlings :)

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  4. I love that magnolia tree! We planted a second one here this year, though ours has white flowers. One of my overwintered peppers flowered and set fruit last spring, so yours might do the same. I was happy just to keep the plants alive, so any blooms were a bonus!

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    1. Hi Dave, the magnolias are really pretty, a nice springy treat.
      Yes I'll keep an eye on the pepper plants...it's just nice to have some flowers indoors anyway. I brought in some pussy willow trimmings the other week but the yellow pollen went everywhere! X

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