Harvest Monday - summer bounties and a Norwich stroll

Whew, the harvests are cranking up a gear. I've lifted the first beets....my best for years. These were multi-sown at home (several seeds in one module), then the whole modules planted out, with no thinning. So when the beets start getting sizeable, you harvest the bigger ones and leave the smaller ones to grow on...simple really, I don't know why I've never tried it before. These particular ones are growing under a wigwam of climbing French beans. I've done three sowings of beets, and just planted out the last lot today, so will hopefully have harvests over a long-ish period.

The beet tops are good for eating too, like chard or spinach.

Talking of chard, there's been plenty of that too.

In the back garden, the sugar snap peas had started to get mildewy - we'd already had some but then I decided to clear the lot....not a bad amount.

The cucumbers are really going for it...loads of crystal lemons, marketmore etc. One day I had 17 in the fridge....so plenty of them to snack on. And the courgettes are steadily cropping too. The plant in the back garden doesn't produce many (plus they're quite small fruits, possibly as it's too shady) but on the open allotment they're much more healthy.

Also in the back garden, the runner beans are properly getting going.

And in the lean-to the tomatoes are looking good, and a nice variety of flavours.

I have a few dwarf French bean plants on the plot, uncropping various plants (corn, kale) and some of these are starting to produce too.

...some of those cukes etc. I'm stockpiling the gherkins, to make fermented pickles in a big batch (I'd meant to do it today but didn't get round to it).

Earlier in the week, a vegetable Ood made an appearance (Dr Who).

We enjoyed a nice roast yesterday (and leftovers today). Oh yeah, I lifted the red onions this week too - they're drying in the allotment shed.

I roasted the beets at the same time, and am going to make a hummus with them (slow-cooked a big batch of chickpeas today to add to them), so that's one to make tomorrow too.

The other day we had a more healthier looking meal

On the fruit front, there are masses of blackberries, we've picked tubfuls, and added them to the freezer (I've eaten lots whilst picking too...well, you have to don't you).

I accidentally knocked a couple of apples from one of the dwarf trees (whilst trying to duck under a low branch to get at blackberries!). They're not quite ripe, so I'll probably actually cook them with some blackberries...classic combo.

The apple tree which I moved this winter has had quite a lot of fruit on it (variety Katy maybe?). But the fruit was damaged - not sure if this was because the tree rocked around with all the high winds (despite me staking it). But even the damaged ones have edible bits. I hadn't realised how early these ripened, as the tree was tucked away a bit....this explains why most of the fruit had usually dropped off by the time I noticed it. Now the tree has a lot more space and is more prominent. In fact this year is the best harvest I've had from the tree (there were a few more apples as well as the ones below) despite the damage, so it was worth moving it. Hopefully next year it'll have settled into its new position more as well (I probably shouldn't have even let it fruit this year so it strengthened up).

Nice chopped up with breakfast anyway

The other week I mentioned we were going to an open garden in Norwich, but it rained heavily. Well, this weekend we thought it was open again but when we walked over there it turns out we got the dates mixed up. Whoops again. So instead we had a nice walk around the cathedral area.....past Cow Tower pond with the cathedral in the background. There was a song thrush cracking snails next to the pond - could do with one on my allotment.

There are actually two peregrine falcons in this photo (get your magnifying glass out) - one on a nobble at the top of the tower, and one plucking a dead bird on the nesting platform

And the River Wensum looking lovely in the sun, with canoeists enjoying the still water

Well, this week I need to think about what to sow next, so I've got some veggies to plant out for the Autumn, replacing tomatoes etc in the lean-to. What do you usually sow now?

 

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

 

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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.

 

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