Harvest Monday..and where did November go?

Well, we're at the end of November....that month has just whizzed past. I've been away at a couple of different places the last two weeks so missed out on the most recent Harvest Monday. BUT I do have a few things to mention this time round

 

At the weekend I snipped-off most of the peppers remaining in the lean-to....a couple had started to get soft spots so I didn't want to risk losing them all. Some were quite a decent size and it was nice to get a bit of red too.

I also wanted to use up a Crown Prince squash (actually my only Crown Prince squash) as the skin colour had started to fade so I was a bit concerned it might begin to rot. Inside it was fine though, so I removed the skin and cubed the flesh for roasting. It was so sweet...really tasty. The place I normally get my seeds from doesn't seem to have Crown Prince for sale this year so I've ordered Blue Kuri instead.

At the same time as the squash, I roasted some foraged chestnuts too, slicing down the middle so they don't burst. This is a pic before roasting. Ooh, we roasted some of the peppers as well, they were very nice too.

Today I managed to get a few hours in on the allotment, mainly weeding so I could plant out some garlic cloves. I also weeded around the base of two dwarf apple trees so the birds can get at any unwanted beasties in the soil. On the whole I'll try and keep my sandy soil covered over winter though, so the rains don't leach out the nutrients. I'll keep it covered with weeds! I did also harvest a decent amount of Nero kale and self-sown chard. It almost felt like spring out there today because the sun was so warm and the sparrows were chirping away. A little robin came to say hello too. But tonight it's meant to get down to minus 3 or 4, so that's a reminder of things to come this winter.

I used up some of the kale plus a couple of peppers in a scrambled egg dish tonight. Adding the kale right at the end of cooking just lightly wilts it and keeps the lovely dark green colour.

So, it was my birthday recently....the big Four-Oh (something's not right there...I'm sure I'm still late 20s). As you know, I enjoy a nice walk and a bit of nature so we spent the day over at Great Yarmouth, a seaside resort normally heaving with people in summer. At this time of year it's perfect for long walks on the beach, with hardly anyone around...apart from a flock of ringed plovers that were just up on the beach here...

Lovely sandy beach

Nelson's Monument...I hadn't seen it up close before.

Looking towards the harbour

And we fancied a bit more coastal action so spent a few days on the opposite side of Norfolk, at Hunstanton, another seaside resort, which actually faces west, into The Wash. It looks like open sea but Lincolnshire is on the other side, which you can even see on a clear day, and the lights at night. This is the view from our apartment...the beach here is full of tasty morsels for wading birds and we could see oystercatchers, curlews and turnstones without even stepping outside. I miss it! I have lots of photos from lovely walks but they're on my camera so I'll hopefully share some another time. I can definitely recommend an out-of-season trip to the coast though...lovely and quiet, and you don't risk leaving your veggies unattended.

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

 

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