Monday, September 29

Harvest - All things great and small

We were away again for a couple of days last week and so again we only harvested what either we or my sister could use.

The crops gathered in seem to have fallen into a similar pattern to last week.
22 September
I'm not expecting the sweet peas to carry on producing flowers for much longer but they have been great this year and the house has rarely been without a couple of vases stuffed with flowers.
Following some comments from last week, I thought that I should clarify the size of our kiwi berry - Issai. As you can see from the photo they are nothing like the size of the more commonly seen kiwis. What they lack in size they make up for when tasting which is a more concentrated kiwi flavour.  We haven't had many fruits this year and need to try and increase production next year.
At the other end of the size scale this week is this Kings of Colour  tomato. Whilst this one isn't the biggest tomato we have ever grown (if you are interested in viewing our current record holder we have a video here taken back in 2009), but it was fairly large and not our only decent sized specimen.
The home greenhouse grapes are still being harvested.  
Some of our carrots may be a strange shape but who cares when they taste so good?
24 September
Now that the large central heads of the calabrese plants have been cut the plants are sending out side shoots - I guess it is the vegetable equivalent of dead heading. 
25 September
Finally we picked a fairly large sweet pepper and some mini aubergines. The aubergines may be smaller than we would hope for but were perfectly formed.

30 comments:

  1. You have such a lovely harvest and also so colourful together with the sweet peas. I´ve never heard before of the kiwi berry but the taste sounds good, I think better then the usual kiwi and that huge Kings of Colour tomatoe. Gardening is so exciting!

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    1. The kiwi berry dies taste good Janneke - just a pity that they are not bigger,

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  2. Lovely harvest Sue. The first time I grew sweet peas I was still picking them towards the end of October. I've struggled with them ever since. The weather must have been good of course. The baby kiwi berries are on my list for next year.

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    1. Picked ,pre sweet peas today. Jo. This years has been a good year for them for us,

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  3. My Sweet Peas had a rather short productive season. Nice while they lasted though. You do get some pretty comprehensive harvests, Sue. Do you eat everything yourselves, or do you supply your extended family too? This year I have had practically nothing to give away, but the veg has been coming in at just the right pace to keep Jane and me supplied.

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    1. I don't have an extended family . Mark just my sister . We do sometimes give stuff to friends and neighbours but we get through most of the produce as we store/freeze lots to use when harvests are sparse. We rarely buy vegetables - just the fruit-veg such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers etc.

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  4. Your sweet peas have done you proud. That tomato is a whopper, I've just picked another bowl full from my plants and taken them for my mum and dad, there's perhaps one or two more pickings on the plants and then they'll be done for this year.

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    1. Our plot greenhouse tomatoes are just about ready for pulling out, Jo. It;s been the opposite of last year with the garden greenhouse being best.

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  5. I could love to grow kiwi berries if only I had a place for them. I've been eying the top of my back fence. Though I've heard Issai doesn't need a pollinator, I've also heard it isn't the best choice. How has it grown for you?

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    1. Issai is self fertile, Daphne but it;s also the only one I have seen around here. Ours is in a tub so is restricted a bit. The plant itself grows well but it isn't exactly prolific. We have only recently found out that it needs pruning like a grapevine so maybe oin future years it will bear more fruits.

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  6. The sweet peas look lovely and the veggies wonderful!

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  7. Your harvests look wonderful. After all the sweet pea talk this year I must remember to get them into the garden next year. And that corn looks so beautifully fresh - I bet it was sweet as candy.

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    1. The corn was very sweet, Margaret, I can't imagine not growing sweet peas.

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  8. Another fantastic harvest....the aubergines do look good. That tomato had me laughing....That's the size of some of our hogs!!! Wow!xxx

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  9. great harvest! Your grapes and mini aubergine look so appetizing!

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  10. Lovely harvests, the calabrese looks wonderful. We eat loads, I really must try and grow some next year.

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    1. We had a couple of years when ours failed and we missed having it CJ

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  11. Wow! Nice looking raspberries and grapes. What variety are they?

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    1. The red raspberries are Joan J, FF and the yellow are All Gold (Sometimes known as Fall Gold).

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  12. We have the same kiwiberry! I'm hoping for some fruit this year, too. Beautiful bounty, again! :)

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  13. Great harvest... your sweet peas are beautiful.. I'm going to be growing some next year :o)

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    1. We grow sweet peas every year Julie - this year has been a good one for them.

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  14. Yes, it's still in a big container, and it has now quite a lot of flower buds on it. So I'm quietly optimistic that we'll get to taste some. :)

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  15. It all looks delicious Sue, that tomato looks like it could feed an entire family!

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    1. It's all gone now Janet but more to pick

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  16. That's a huge tomato!
    http://LivingItUpAlternatively.blogspot.com

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