Last week, we made the most of the brief return to summer by having a day out at the National Bird of Prey Centre at Helmsley in North Yorkshire. Three flying displays during the day gave us plenty of photo opportunities. Below is just a selection - more to come on Wednesday.
The garden centre where we bought the suspected weedkiller contaminated grow bags refunded the cost and this was put towards adding to our stock of tulips which will shortly, be planted in the garden and in tubs on patio.
Incidentally, we have not yet had any feedback about the testing done by Corteva and Levington.
Of course we fitted in some visits to the allotment where tidying and harvesting are tasks still keeping us occupied.
One thing, that I did notice, was that the oca flowers were fully open. It's the first time I have seen this. Previously, like the leaves, they had always been folded up. We have never grown oca before so this is a learning experience for us and any tips or insights will be appreciated.
The next phase of brassicas are starting to mature, although last week we found that, in spite of being netted with brand new enviromesh, butterflies had managed to get in and their offspring were feasting on some of our plants.
The caterpillars were picked off and in turn became a feast for the birds.
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| 18 September |
In spring, I sowed seeds of helichrysum and gomphrena in order to bulk up my pot pourri 'ingredients' however germination, especially of the helicrysums, has been poor and I've only picked a few flowers.
We noticed that our outdoor tomatoes were showing signs of the dreaded blight, so harvesting whether red or green was a priority. Hopefully the green tomatoes will continue to ripen off the plants.
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| 21 September |
We were inspired by a YouTube channel - Cumbrian Homestead - to plant a catch crop in the bed that had housed our early potatoes. In anticipation, Martyn started off some dwarf French beans in pots. These were planted as young plants once the bed was vacated and the beans had made good sized plants.
We are now benefiting from a harvest of tender, young beans which we are picking whilst still immature.
Our Crown Prince squash haven't performed well this year. We harvested just six fruits, most of which were undersized. The largest of those pictured above would, in previous years, be just a middle sized fruit.
We decided that it was time to harvest our remaining apples and pears. Each of the boxes of fruit were produced by a small bush type tree. The pear tree was groaning under the weight of 24kg, (53lb) of fruit. Now we just need to find the space to store it all. I'm guessing that the summer house will now need to take up its winter role as a storage area.
On Sunday, we at last have had some 'proper' rain but will it have been enough to moisten the ground so we can start our winter digging? I guess we will soon find out.
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
Posts
I can see you'll be eating apples and pears for the foreseeable future with that lot. What a great harvest.
ReplyDeleteYes I think I'll go pear shaped, Jo
DeleteMore rain on the way I think! The bird of prey centre looks wonderful, I'll look forward to seeing more pictures. It wasn't a particularly good apple year for me this year, but it looks like you've had an amazing harvest. Surprisingly the tomatoes have done well though, particularly I tried some new varieties and I don't often find ones that are happy outside. Green Tiger have been particularly nice. I've got dozens of Indigo Rose, but I think the colour (almost black) is a bit offputting to some! I like the tip of planting the beans after the potatoes were up, very good use of space.
ReplyDeleteMore rain arrive this morning CJ - lots of it! I seem to remember that years ago there was an experiment involving colouring food unnatural colours and it made some participants ill.
DeleteHa, I wondered when you were going to get to the apples and pears. Nice photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa
DeleteYou have more patience than I do to pick all those caterpillars! I can never manage to get them all, but the neem oil spray does. It's too bad about the winter squashes. Ours have done better than expected though I've lost quite a few to rot with wet conditions.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt we will have missed some, Dave and I spotted a butterfly under the net again yesterday!!!
DeleteYou continue to amaze me. I need to take some gardening classes from you guys. I had one little pear on my eight foot tree.
ReplyDeleteOne of our other pear trees had only one fruit, Bonnie. I'm guessing it'a pollination issue as it had lots of blossom. It is the same every year.
DeleteLook at those pears and apples! I'm envious.
ReplyDeleteIf you pop over you can have some. Sue :-)
DeleteYour fruit harvests are incredibly impressive, as usual - wow! While I enjoy large squash for the "Whoa! look at that!" factor, I actually don't mind when they are smaller as we don't eat a lot of squash (I'm the only fan in the family).
ReplyDeleteYou're right about the squash, Margaret they are a more user friendly size.
DeleteInteresting idea of the catch crop beans to follow early potatoes. I usually have leeks but it can mean they are left hanging until all the spuds are up, so this could be something I'll try next year, thank you. Wonderful apple and pear crops you have!
ReplyDeleteThe green beans have worked well, Kathy and picking them small have meant they were very tasty.
DeleteOh ! What a fabulous harvest you,ve gathered there ! Wow ! :) You have reminded me that I must remember to buy some Statice seeds and those everlasting flowers that I spied there in one of you pictures ....they remind me of my mum..she always used to grow those ..so pretty ! :)
ReplyDeleteI'll have another try at the everlasting flowers next year, Debs
DeleteA great harvest Sue. My allotment activity is curtailed at the moment so it's great to visit your plot. We have just had 'Safari' beans with tonight's evening meal. I like the colour of those helichrysums.
ReplyDeleteWe'll definitely grow Safari again, Anna
DeleteI'd be happy with just one Crown Prince, I don't know how I forgot to grow any after raving about them last year!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the smaller Crown Prince will be easier to manage, Belindait's just not what we were expecting.
DeleteMy courgettes have done badly this year. I do love the birds of prey photo's, fantastic. What a marvelous harvest, especially all those apples and pears. xxx
ReplyDeleteWe have apples and pears coming out of our ears.
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