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 a walk around the Cathedral Quarter

Well, I'm just back in from the allotment, dealing with slugs until it was too dark to see. We've had a few days of rain (very welcome as the soil had become dry as a bone) but it's brought the slugs out again, so I've been out most evenings with my little pair of scissors (yuk). I don't think there would be much left of my veggies if the slugs were left to their own devices.

 

Anyway, on to more pleasant things again....I'm carrying on with pinching-out my basils in the lean-to (to encourage bushing out of the plants). Here's a few purple basil leaves, with some lettuce from the back garden.

I've picked my second lot of broad beans from the autumn sowing, which went into a cauliflower and bean curry-thing. That's about it from the autumn beans but the spring-sown ones (Eleanora express) have just started producing teeny pods.

I've also picked a few lots of baby chard from the plants self-seeded in my onion bed. Now we've had lots of rain, I think I'll try and transplant some of them to a spot with a bit of space. They should survive the move better now the soil's moist.

I get hayfever and although it's not been as bad the last couple of years, it's still quite rough at times. I'd read that drinking nettle tea is meant to help (anti-histamine properties I think) but hadn't got round to trying it out before this week (you're meant to drink it everyday, starting before your hayfever kicks in). But it's worth a whirl anyway, so I've been snipping off young tips, giving them a quick rinse to get rid of bugs, and then steeping for a few minutes.

It doesn't taste too bad actually!

Last week I picked the first strawberry from the plot. Well, now they're really coming fast, with more every day. This was the second picking...

Third picking

Fourth...and I could've picked a big haul tonight if the light hadn't got too bad to see (I decided it was better to get the most slugs that I could, and try and head down to pick strawbs tomorrow, in between the rain)

Back at home, the first tomatoes are forming, ooh, won't be too long now

I still have a load of brassicas to plant out

Plus some recently sown squashes (to replace some of the ones destroyed by slugs) and some gherkins that really need to get planted out. I'd hoped to do that this afternoon but it rained the whole time

Last week was quite a contrast...it was actually too sunny and hot to go on the plot during the day, so I had a few evenings there instead. One afternoon I had a stroll around the cathedral quarter of the city, it's just so pretty (and much quieter than on a weekend). In my art course last week (one morning a week for 12 weeks), we sat outside and drew the courtyard, which was good fun. I'm too embarrassed to actually draw in public so thought I'd get a few pics for inspiration instead.

 

Pull's Ferry

Elm Hill

Off Elm Hill

Anglican Cathedral (we have a Roman Catholic one too)

As I was out and about, I went to meet Jan after work and we had a walk through Rosary Cemetery, up on the hill

Lots of lovely sweet chestnut trees.

And despite all the pollen flying around I managed to avoid setting my hayfever off too badly, hurray.

 

Ok, 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 Norwich riverside walk (in the rain)

On Wednesday (my day off) I fitted in a couple of hours on the plot, working on redoing the old raised beds. I'm nearly there on one set and will hopefully start on the next ones soon. Unfortunately the weather was a bit rubbish this weekend so I didn't get down again - rainy on Saturday and REALLY windy on Sunday (so I hunkered down and read 'This book will save your life' by A.M. Homes - a very good fiction book if you're after a good read.)

 

On Wednesday I also sowed my tomato and pepper seeds, ooh.

Because they like a warm temperature to germinate there's a few things you can do easily to help them on their way, including....Bringing some compost into the house a few days before using to get it to room temperature, moistening the compost with room temperature water rather than straight from the tap. I also cover my tray of seeds with bubble wrap.

I tried to be organised by first filling all the modules with compost (using a teaspoon so as not to be too messy in the lounge), then compressed the compost down a bit using a spare set of modules to push on them. Next I could just go through all the seed packets one by one sowing what I wanted without having to stop-start with filling with compost.

Here they are after popping all the seeds in but before sprinkling a thin layer of compost on top. I prefer to sow them in modules rather than a tray so they don't need pricking out (and instead just pinch-out the weaker seedlings). I use cut-up margarine tubs as labels.

It's better to water from below to avoid spoiling the compost structure, so I fill the tray with room temp water, leave it for 10-15 minutes for the compost to absorb the water and next, instead of tipping out the water (and accidentally tipping over your seed modules, which I've done before, ahem) I move the modules into a fresh tray, then put near the window, wrapped in bubble-wrap. It doesn't look very pretty but does the job! Grow little seeds, grow.

 

Harvests this week have included more cress and bean sprouts on the windowsill, lots of corn salad and some rough greens (chard and kale) from the plot. We used the greens for a quick meal, steamed with poached eggs on sourdough toast, yummy.

I also made some lovely roast potatoes, parsnip and beetroot with Rosemary, (the last of the parsnips, ah). But I will be sowing this year's parsnips soon, inbetween the rows of autumn broad beans (which are looking rather sorry for themselves after the windy weather).

 

A quick report on my latest batches of apple cider vinegar, simply made from water, apple cores / peel and a bit of honey. The one on the left is two weeks old and on the right is just-made. Quite a colour difference.

A good ferment on the older one, (which I've since removed all the peel/cores from and which will take a few more weeks to mature. It still tastes nice, just not vinegary). I had to keep an eye on it in the first few days as actual mould was appearing on top and needed removing.

Norwich Riverside Walk

And finally, it was raining on Saturday but we had to pop into the city centre to pick up some groceries. We both felt like we needed to stretch our legs a bit so went the long way in, via the riverside walk....(Photos by Jan)

Pull's Ferry, a medieval gatehouse (now the girl guides' HQ) where a side channel from the river used to lead up to the cathedral for deliveries. The channel has since been filled in and is called Ferry Lane, lined with lovely flint buildings

Norwich (Anglican) Cathedral, viewed from Pull's Ferry. (We have a Roman Catholic cathedral too). Peregrines nest on a platform on the spire, put in by the Hawk and Owl Trust.

Egyptian geese breed in a nearby tree. They're lovely looking birds but apparently are a bit of an invasive species.

Medieval 'Cow Tower', on a big meander in the river. There wasn't a wall needed in this part of the city as the river formed the barrier, but the tower meant that the area could be overseen easily. We've got more medieval heritage than you can shake a stick at in Norwich!

I could go on rambling but will stop there for now.

This week I'll be checking exactly when to plant out my onion sets and when did I sow my parsnips last year? (I didn't write down either in my notebook so will have to look through blog posts, it will be a nice reminder anyway).

 

Thanks for reading....linking in with Harvest Monday hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres.

 

 

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