Harvest Monday - some season's firsts

One of my courgette plants had a teeny fruit on it, and I was willing it to get bigger (sometimes the first ones tend to just rot). Well, I could wait no longer and picked this little fella (or should that be 'little lady' as it's the female). I chopped it up and sautéed with some chard, yum. Hopefully the first of many (but not too many).

 

Today I lifted two of the early potato plants (variety Colleen). The tubers have a really nice flavour and texture...we had them simply boiled and drizzled with a bit of olive oil. There wasn't a massive yield from these two plants but I found a root from the nearby cherry tree (neighbouring allotment) cutting through the bed, so it might have inhibited the growth a bit. I pulled as much of the cherry root out as I could but they have a habit of popping up everywhere.

I've been continuing to pick strawberries....here's one session's harvest. But this was small in comparison to another day when I picked 1kg.

Yum (although I'm not sure if the flavour is as good this year)

Some of them I've mixed with last year's fruit, from the freezer (blackberries, gooseberries etc) getting ready for the upcoming berry and currant onslaught (the first to come are the red currant sprigs, which are almost fully ripe and I've been munching on a few of the plumper ones, I like the sharpness ). I went to the allotment for a while today but didn't have chance to pick the strawberries - there were so many I'll need to dedicate a bit of time to it!

I cooked up the last bulk of Autumn-sown broad beans. I fancied having a go at broad bean hummus (uses cooked broad beans instead of the usual chickpeas). My beans had got a bit big, so I decided to pop them out of their skins after cooking, to avoid a gritty texture. It takes a while to pop them all out (added to the time of podding them first as well), but it was definitely worth it.....we've been enjoying the hummus for several days.

My spring-sown broad beans have got blackfly on them, darn. I spotted it on Friday but also noticed some ladybirds and waspy-type things which looked like they might keep the blackfly in check. But when I was there today, the blackfly had spread. There were more ladybirds, and I saw a ladybird larvae too, but there were also ants around (which farm the aphids for their honeydew sap). So, being careful not to squash any ladybirds, I reluctantly went along squashing as many of the blackfly as I could...a bit of a grim job and there's no way I'll have got them all. I might try a soapy spray in a couple of days. Ugh.

 

Overall, I'm not having too many pest problems at the moment (a bit of slug / snail / woodlice damage, but nothing major)...famous last words of course. The soil is very dry - although we had lots of rain for a while last week, the continuing strong winds are just drying everything out (and blowing all the pollen around, a bad time for us hayfever sufferers). But it means there aren't too many slugs at least.

 

I still have a few young plants to set out on the allotment but have done the bulk of them now. And I've finally potted-on most of my peppers (and the three aubergines) at home. Just some basil and a couple of hot peppers to pot-up now, phew. (And a bit later there will be the beetroot and lettuce that have just germinated). The tomato plants are looking healthy and there's some cute little fruits forming. The tumbler variety (which I have two plants) should be the first to ripen. Can't wait, eh.

 

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

 

Posted with Blogsy

Harvest Monday, allotment peep, and Eves Hill Veg Co

We've eaten a lot of Broad beans this week - I've picked all of the Autumn-sown super aquadulce. This pic is about 2/3 of the crop, my bag was rather heavy on the way home.

I quite like podding beans, as long as it's not in a rush just before cooking, so I did a whole load at once.

Some of them went into a poached egg dish (added a bit of water, eggs, a few noodles and stuck the lid on)

I also made a couple of curries, this was the first, which I then repeated as an easy meal last night when we had a couple of friends over. It includes my own garlic (which I had to lift because of white rot), and a big bunch of chard from the plot too. I harvested the rest of the broad beans so that I could plant out a couple of winter squashes in their place. This means I have another big bag to use up somehow...I feel maybe a humus is on the cards.

I've been harvesting lettuce leaves from a tray I have growing in the lean-to at home. The baby chard leaves are from the allotment, where loads of self-sown seedlings are popping up all over the place. I've planted out some lettuces into the back garden too but I'm not sure how they'll get on, I have a idea they'll get slugged. I do have some anti-slug wool pellets but as the lettuce plants didn't look that great to begin with, I think I'll save the pellets for another time.

Strawberry season has arrived in earnest, I've been picking loads. I weighed them all last year (total 19kg) but have forgotten to this time round.

Nice with brekkie

Saturday night treat - caramalised strawbs with Stilton, honey and toasted walnuts on sourdough, yum.

The allotment is looking quite good at the moment (I'm surprised!). Jan has helped with cutting the paths recently, which really makes a difference. It also helps reduce hidey places for slugs. Though as I write this, it's raining, which will set the grass off and the slugs n snails will be on the move, darn.

 

Looking down the main path from just inside the entrance (shed to my right, and two dwarf apple trees to the left)

A few maincrop potatoes, and just-planted Nero kale on the left under the mesh (I have also sown some dwarf French beans inbetween the kale as an experiment)

I was weeding the red onion bed next to the sage hedge and kept getting the lovely scent as I accidentally brushed against the bushes. There have been so many bees on the flowers too, and I even saw a painted lady butterfly the other day.

The Spring-sown broad beans (Eleanora express), with radishes intercropped (and parsnips if they ever germinate)

Red onions in the foreground, with some self-sown chard seedlings. The various wigwams are for winter squash, cucumbers and beans. I still have more to put up / plant / sow (I've also been giving squashes and cucumbers away - I sowed loads). The other side of the plot has three beds I need to clear for these and more brassicas. Behind me are mainly all the fruit bushes (red currant, blackcurrant, raspberry, Saskatoon, gooseberries, hazel trees etc). Yesterday I also sowed more beetroot and lettuces in modules at home - an attempt to be organised and have things to plant out once other crops have been harvested, or squeeze into unoccupied spots. Oh I also need to pot up all my peppers and aubergines. Wow, it never ends eh.

Last Wednesday I headed out to Eves Hill Veg Co (not-for profit veg farm on two acres) to volunteer as usual. We had a nice day for it, skylarks and yellowhammers singing away, and a good gang of volunteers and trainees. These two lovelies were planting out the summer squashes. Just think how much food this will make! So much more productive than 'conventional' farming.

I was mainly helping to plant out celery and celeriac - with a good thick layer of mulch on this sandy soil. We went a bit wobbly but nevermind eh. The salad area is looking amazing, as is the big polytunnel, I'll have to take some more pics this week if I get the chance.

One of my gardening jobs has swapped days this week, so if there's a break in the weather I'll hopefully pop down to the plot tomorrow for a bit of slug patrol. I did find a toad the other day but I think he or she needs a bit of support.

 

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

 

Posted with Blogsy

Harvest Monday and Eves Hill Veg Co

I've been growing peas in some tubs in my lean to at home (using last year's tomato compost). We had a few harvests of pea shoots from them, before I left them to grow on to produce some pods....

I had planned on letting the pods fatten up a bit more before picking them, but a couple of days after these pics I picked the lot - it was so hot in the lean-to that the plants were suffering and also I needed the tubs to plant out the last of my tomatoes (incidentally, I spotted an actual baby tomato today, on one of the two tumbler plants, ooh). So anyway, we enjoyed the fresh young peas raw, eating the crunchy pods n all.

I've also harvested a load more radishes from the allotment. They're starting to get a bit nibbled by something, but on the whole are still pretty good. I haven't spied any parsnips germinated though. There's loads of chickweed and poppies that've germinated in the row which might have affected the parsnips. So we may be a parsnip-free zone this year...still time for them to germinate if they decided to though.

We had a nice salad the other day....with some new season potatoes from the organic veg stall on the market. My early potatoes are just starting to flower so I might have a rootle around for some tubers in the next couple of weeks. (Only the radishes are homegrown in this pic I think, plus the homemade apple cider vinegar in the dressing).

Out at Eves Hill Veg Co community veggie farm (where I volunteer), the new polytunnel we put up in early spring is getting nice and full.

Two nice rows of tomatoes intercropped with lettuce. Kohl rabi in the nearest bed has been harvested on Thursday I think....not sure what's going in their place - maybe cucumbers or more tomatoes?

Outside in the hardening-off area, there are masses of trays looking lovely and healthy. Last week on the volunteer day the gang planted out a whole load of sweetcorn but there's still plenty more. I've been getting a bit anxious about the amount of plants waiting to go out in my garden and the allotment, but this is on an altogether different scale! The monthly open day was at the weekend, so I'm sure they got lots more done (in between rain storms).

Jan and I had an allotment session on Sunday morning (Saturday was very very windy so I hid indoors all day). Jan cut the paths, which was really helpful, and I planted out some of the squashes. I meant to go back down again over the long weekend but it didn't happen....though I did a bit of gardening at home. Ah, I just remembered that I lifted the rest of the garlic and left it there, planning on bringing it back later, oh well. I also noticed that the Autumn-sown broad beans are ready to be picked, so I must get them too. Plus all the other stuff that needs doing (put up bean wigwams, clear more ground for squashes and beans, sow beans, clearing around the overgrown edges of the plot...you get the idea). And there were a few strawberries nearly ripe that I forgot about too. Nevermind, there'll be more to come.

 

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

 

Posted with Blogsy

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.

 

Posted with Blogsy