This week we have only been to the plot twice. The plants are being battered by strong winds and whenever we are there we have one eye on the gathering dark clouds that can decide to suddenly empty their contents at any time. At other times the sun will shine giving a false sense of security. Harvesting has to be done quickly punctuated by dashes to the shed to take cover.
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| 12 August |
Martyn is gradually lifting potatoes, those below are Nadine weighing in at 21.8kg ( just over 48lb). These never succumbed to the blight and the tubers were in good condition with only minor wireworm damage.
We picked our first lot of greengages - Mannings that so far have been bug free. We planted greengages, some years ago, when we had all our plums stolen just as they had ripened. We had tasted greengages and knew that they were sweet and delicious in spite of looking unripe and thought maybe any would-be thieves would be fooled by the appearance. This year's pickings may be blemished but they still taste good. We have also picked a few Victoria plums, but not all of these have escaped the plum moths attentions. Maybe they are fooled by the greengages too.
The apples are from our inherited apple hedge so we are only guessing that they are Discovery. Technically they are not fully ripe. Some are quite small and have bits that need chopping away where something has had a little nibble. They are still tastier than those offered by the supermarket.
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| 12 August |
We picked this Red Williams pear from under the tree. Where there were three pears there now are just two. The fruit is still rock hard so we will have to give it time to ripen. After this weekend's gales the other two are probably also now under the tree rather than hanging from it.
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| Red Williams |
Although we are now beginning to harvest other tomato varieties, Sungold is the star of the season. What the fruits lack in size they certainly make up for it in taste. Another revelation, thanks to Jo who sent us the packet of seeds, are the Mini Munch cucumbers. At just under £4 for six seeds we wouldn't have tried them without Jo's giveaway last year, after all we thought, "A cucumber is just a cucumber isn't it?" We were wrong Mini Munch is crisp and the flavour knocks the spots off the larger ones.
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| 16 August |
The beans just kept on coming but I wonder for how much longer as after Sunday's gales they are likely to have been flattened, I don't think the flower beds will have fared too well either.
The second lot of potatoes lifted this week were Charlotte, a dependable variety that didn't fail; 7.67kg (just over 17lb) of medium sized, undamaged tubers were collected.
A surprise harvest came from the ever bearing Flamenco strawberries. Not only were we surprised to see that the plants had produced berries but these hadn't been beaten to a soggy pulp courtesy of the heavy downpours. The gathering of alpine strawberries was no surprise as the plants usually produce fruit up to the beginning of November.
The autumn raspberries have set fruit, now we need to wait and see if these will ripen or be spoiled by the sudden deterioration of the weather conditions. So far we have picked only a sprinkling of ripe berries.
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| 16 August |
Once again I am linking to Harvest Monday over at Daphne's Dandelions.
Posts
Fantastic haul Sue. Greengage are my favourite 'plum' our old tree hasn't produced any fruit this year and the new tree only has a handful - they are a little fickle to say the least - but worth it if you manage to beat the wasps to it.
ReplyDeleteYes the wasps do love them don't they, Elaine? Special car is needed when picking. Our plums and gages usually crop every other year and this year should have been their year off so any fruit is a bonus.
DeleteYour harvests are getting better every week. I made a late sowing of runner and French beans just before we went on holiday and they're absolutely covered in flowers now even though I'm still picking loads from the first sowing, there should be loads in the freezer to last us in to winter. What a lovely surprise having strawberries to pick at this time of year, such a bonus. Thanks for the mention. I raved about Mini Munch after trying them for the first time last year, they've performed just as well for me again this year. I buy the seeds from The Garden Centre Group at Poppleton when they reduce all their seeds to 50p per packet, it usually happens around the August bank holiday so we'll be having a trip there soon. Would you like me to pick you up a packet if they have them?
ReplyDeleteWe already are sticking up the freezer, Jo and rely in the frozen beans as our fall back veg throughout the year. Yes please to the Mini Munch offer.
DeleteWow! Such an abundance of deliciousness. How do you decide what to eat when the season is so fruitful?
ReplyDeleteAbundance if deliciousness - I like that tpals :)
DeleteWhat a wonderful collection of fruit and veggies you have! Such a great variety and i'm sure it all taste so much better home grown. Love those gorgeous flowers.
ReplyDeleteIt does Jenny although it's a while since we actually bought vegetables so I've forgotten what they taste like. I did complain to a waiter once on a meal out that their peas and carrots had no taste and suggested they change their supplier. The waiter looked shocked but he shouldn't have asked if everything was OK? :)
DeleteGracious! What a splendid and varied harvest!
ReplyDeleteWe grow Asian plums (and their hybrids) primarily in Northern California. I do love European plums.
I don't think I've tasted Asian plums Lisa or Robb. The trouble is that in shops here they tend to sell fruit under-ripe and it rarely has developed the taste we expect.
DeleteMy goodness, considering all your hide and seek with the weather, you have done exceptionally well. Your harvests look amazing - such variety (and quantity) of produce!
ReplyDeleteWe've definitely been playing more hide than anything with the weather these last few days, Margaret. Now is our bumper time for harvesting.
DeleteAwesome haul thank you for sharing hopeful next season will be better for me have a blessed week
ReplyDeleteSue
I hope so too Linda
DeleteLovely harvests, the plums look delicious. Lots of courgettes I can see there! I planted rather too many cucumbers this year - the first ones looked quite sickly so I put in more. Now they're all producing at the same time. About sixteen in the past five days, too many even for us. I'll definitely give mini munch a try next year though. It always surprises me how expensive cucumber seeds can be.
ReplyDeleteMini Munch is a good choice CJ
DeleteThat's an impressive amount of potatoes. I can't believe some low life stole your plums, thank goodness they didn't return for an encore performance this year. What unbelievable weather you are having, I certainly hope it improves.
ReplyDeleteStill quite a lot of potatoes to dig up Michelle but they do have to last us a long time. It was quite a few years ago now that the plums were stolen but other people have had crops stolen since or just pulled up and left.
DeleteSue your harvest looks plentiful and amazing :) I think I may have to try growing some Mini munch Cucumbers - mine are growing well but I don't like the prickly hard skins they have.
ReplyDeleteI see you have a good crop of Discovery too, do you feed the tree regular? I have one in a pot but despite promises from Ideal world that it would produce a healthy crop, it really doesn't.
I feel for you on the weather front - we have battering winds and rain here too and while the PT crops are safe the garden is really taking a pounding :(
The apple that we think is a discovery is ancient and was on the plot when we took it. The trees are riddled with canker but whilst it crops we keep it. This year the apples are small but probably would grow bigger if we removed some fruit, We don't feed it or do anything special except 'prune' it. Originally the trees were planted as cordons but now it is more of a hedge I'm not sure whether I prune it correctly or not I just go with instinct and cut all the new long shoots back to a couple of leaves,
DeleteWow what wonderful harvests. Even with the bad weather you got a decent haul. We are feeling a bit fall like here this week, which I'm loving. No rain, but lovely days in the 70s (21-26C). I know my garden would prefer a bit hotter, but it is making me happy.
ReplyDeleteIt's really turned cold here not good for August
DeleteAmazing! Very jealous! I am now even more desperate to reinstate our veggie patch!!
ReplyDeleteGo for it Rosie
DeleteThat's excellent harvest! Your hard works have pay off! ;)
ReplyDeleteHopefully more to come, Malar
DeleteQuite an amazing and diverse harvest this week. I can't believe that someone would steal your plums. I didn't know what a greengage was and had to look it up Surprisingly, a local nursery popped up and it does grow in my area. ~ Rachel @ Grow a Good Life
ReplyDeleteSomeone has had a row of potatoes stolen, Rachel. I really recommend greengages.
DeleteWhat treasures Sue. The weather has certainly been rather challenging for outdoor activities for a few days. I've been going to the allotment with some trepidation. So far the bean wigwams are still standing but quite a few apples have fallen. My pear tally still stands at four but something has had a nibble of one of them. Hope that whatever creature it was does not decide to pay a return visit.
ReplyDeleteSo far everything is still standing Anna except one cardoon that falls over most years, Pears do seem to be a challenge although the Conference pear in the garden has a few fruits,
DeleteWhat a great haul Sue! So jealous of your apples, I've only got 7 this year ;-( .
ReplyDeleteI hope that you have more next year, Paula
DeleteWhat a wondrous variety! You must have some marvelous meals!xxx
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat home grown veg can you, Snowbird?
DeleteOoh grapes! I've planted out a couple of vines this year. Not much more than sticks yet but I'll try and remember to look after them next year....any tips?
ReplyDeleteAre they outdoors Lou. Ours on the plot still have immature grapes - they were doing well until the weather turned,
DeleteYes they're out on the plot. I read-up before I planted them out but have forgotten most of it, though I've been using the leaves for the gherkins, which is meant to keep them crisp 'cause of the tannin. I'll have to have another read-up on grapes over winter I think :)
DeleteI can smell the sweetpeas:) lovely grapes! Are they as sweet as they look?
ReplyDeleteThey smell lovely Aga
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