The tomatoes are steadily turning red or yellow but not to the extent that we need to freeze or use then in bulk. Not only haven't we grown as many tomato plants this year but those in the plot greenhouse have been disappointing with some plants failing to produce any fruit at all. I think a couple of poor quality grow-bags were in part if not wholly to blame.
Whilst the thornless blackberry crop is winding down the autumn raspberries are just starting to crop. The yellow All Gold is particularly susceptible to rain and wind damage so the weather needs to improve if we are to benefit from a decent crop.
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| 18 August |
The runner beans just keep on coming. Our freezer is well stocked with frozen beans and so Martyn has tried making runner bean chutney.
We picked one or two Bramley apples that had fallen from the young tree on the plot and also apples that we can't identify from one of out inherited trees. This week's greengages are Reine Claude and Mannings, the plums are Victoria.
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| 20 August |
After picking a couple of punnets of strawberries from the everbearing Flamenco we may have to change our decision not to plant this type of strawberry when we plant up a new strawberry bed next year. It may never produce many berries at a given time but a bowl of freshly picked strawberries at this time of year is a treat.
Posts
How busy you are! Great harvest.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good sort of busy tpals
DeleteIt's interesting to see that you had such mixed results with your potato crop, but it does demonstrate that even if blight strikes you can still get some useful tubers. In what way was Rocket such a failure? Was it the blight that got them, or the slugs? My Runner Bean harvest this year has been "modest", so (unusually) we have not frozen any. We are just keeping pace with them. This week Jane found a few tubs of last year's tomato sauce at the bottom of our freezer, which was a nice surprise. We thought it had all gone. No new tomato sauce for us this year though; the majority of my crop has already been made in to ketchup.
ReplyDeleteRocket just generally was a poor performer whether touched by blight or not, Mark. Very low yield and lots of slug and wireworm damage, Of all the potato varieties grown it was the worst. Maybe our plot conditions and soil don't suit it.
DeleteHow wonderful to see all these lovely fruits!
ReplyDeleteAnd even better to eat them Vesna
DeleteYour comment about Flamenco is spot-on and it is why I am so fond of perpetual fruiting varieties. When I had a greenhouse, I would keep a few under glass in addition to the ones outside and nibble on them between April and autumn. They never had me running for the jam pan, but they provided an on-going treat. Your comments about blight are very interesting. Lovely to see those sweet peas!
ReplyDeleteWhich varieties if strawberry did you grow Sarah? St the moment we have decided to plant a few everbearing, We may have to consider some in the greenhouse too.
DeleteYou did get a lot of potatoes this year didn't you. Too bad about the tomatoes though. They must be really hard to grow in your climate. I got rid of my everbearing strawberry. It was too hard to keep the squirrels out of it all year long. But you are right. A bowl of strawberries this time of year would be so good.
ReplyDeleteWe usually grow plenty of potatoes, Daphne - tomatoes aren't a problem to grow if the compost is sound but they do seem to take longer to ripen these days for some reason. We used to grow them outdoors but blight became a problem.
DeleteWow! What a harvest. Lovely
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara
DeleteGreat harvest Sue. We have loads of potatoes which should keep us going for quite some time!
ReplyDeleteWe usually have enough to see is through, Damo and only need to buy a few when the ones in store start to shoot.
DeleteBeautiful harvests - those apples look delicious! Completely agree with you on the berries. I specifically planted an everbearing variety for that very reason but sadly, it looks like that trickle of berries in the 2nd half of the season isn't going to come.
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame about your strawberries Margaret - fingers crossed for next year.
DeleteVery good harvest. I am impressed with the strawberries you are still getting. Our ever-bearing are not producing much this year compared to last. Perhaps they are resting!
ReplyDeleteFruit production can be fickle, Alain are they old plants?
DeleteI love your beans, long yellow specie. I have ones like yours but they are still growing and will ripen 2 weeks later. The apples are great and sure tasty! What will you do with them? Jam, juice or pie, Sue?
ReplyDeleteMost of the apples are eating apples that we eat raw Nadezda - we store them for quite a while in an old fridge. We do cook with some and freeze that for use later, we make pies and crumbles, use them un oirk dishes and side salads
DeleteHow lovely to be harvesting strawberries at this time of year. We've still got lots of potatoes to lift, the ones on the plot seem to have done ok, no slug damage in the ones we've lifted so far so it looks as though we'll be able to grow lots there in future instead of so many containers.
ReplyDeleteWe still have a couple of beds to lift, Jo. One hardly grew any tops though so we don't expect much from them/
DeleteHi great harvest! How do you store potatoes once dug and how long would be reasonable to expect them to last?We usually only grow enough to eat as we go but this year we need to dig and store for awhile at least.
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hi Peggy and welcome. We store potatoes in the long flat cardboard trays that supermarkets get rid of - the sort things like lettuces are delivered in. The potatoes are covered with newspaper to stop light and then the boxes are stacked - off the floor in the garage - they need to be kept cool. They usually store 'til somewhere around the end of April when they begin to shoot. You are supposed to be able to freeze potatoes too but we never have - there are lots of links online about this.
DeleteMy freezer is chock full now so anything I pick will have to be eaten fresh or bottled. The runner bean chutney I made last week (see my revived blog at A Woman of the Soil if you are interested in the recipe) it turned out really well and even though I know you are meant to leave it a few weeks I had some yesterday and it is spot on). The runners have practically finished now but I will definitely make the chutney again next year.
ReplyDeleteWe have several freezers, Elaine. I'll definitely look at your recipe.
DeleteGreat harvest, Sue! Your bean collections are so interesting!. I've failed on growing yellow and purple beans at the last season. I want to try it again, and again. Hope next I will be success.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you do too, Endah
DeleteThat's a lot of potatoes! good harvest of vegetables and fruits!
ReplyDeleteThe potatoes do have to last a while, Malar
DeleteAlso my tomato plants are dissapointing. I haven't harvested any yet, and last year I was making tomato chutney at this time of year:(
ReplyDeleteThe beans look very delicious!
I don't think modern composts suit tomatoes as much as the older mixes, Aga
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