We had the weekend away again and so at the beginning of the week we harvested just what we would use.
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| Monday's harvest |
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| Sunday's harvest |
We started picking raspberries on 1 July and have been picking one variety or another every week since. The autumn varieties are still covered in buds and flowers which, along with the annuals, are being much enjoyed by the bees.
No doubt before long the weather will bring an end to their fruiting.
The first blackberries were picked on 3 August and again we have been picking weekly and the same canes still have fruit ripening.
The savoy cabbages are huge and we picked our first last week. This was a trial variety - Serpentine - sent from Marshalls and has certainly done well for us despite the dry conditions.
The plot greenhouse like the one in the garden has now been cleared of tomato plants but the plants in the ground outside have been left. They still have plenty of green tomatoes that may soon succumb to cold conditions. It will be interesting to see how long they survive.
We picked one or two Conference pears from the tree in the garden.
One of the pear trees on the plot - Invincible has decided to try for a late harvest despite being reluctant to produce fruit at the appropriate time but I don't expect the small pears to reach maturity.
We stripped the apples from our small apple trees, Fiesta is about 1.3 m (4') and Egremont Russet is about 1.5 (5') tall.
Both were loaded with apples even after the June drop. The apples are small as we just can't bring ourselves to thin them out.
Both are really tasty and we can always eat two of them instead of just one.
It's a pity that the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" isn't accurate or we would be well set up.
It's a pity that the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away" isn't accurate or we would be well set up.
Our complete October harvest will be listed here
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Beautiful photos! You have a lovely blog. Warm greetings from Montreal, Canada. :)
ReplyDeleteHello, Linda thank you and welcome
DeleteAnother wonderful harvest. I'm sure there'll be some things which won't take too kindly to the weather that's blown in today, my tomato plants are still in situ, I don't know how much longer they'll go on producing for now.
ReplyDeleteI think some plants are now living on borrowed time, Jo.
DeleteYou always have such a lovely variety in your harvests. And those apples could put the doctor out of business!
ReplyDeleteIf only the apples worked that well at keeping the doctor away, Dave. Regardless of that they taste really delicious.
DeleteI love those Egremont Russets. They have a very distinctive taste. Jane hates the texture of the skins - even though I keep telling her you can always peel it off. Russets go particularly well with good Cheddar cheese!
ReplyDeleteBoth varieties of apple are really sweet and juicy, Mark but each have their own distinctive flavour. Egrement Russet are one of Martyn's favourites too. I understand what Jane means about the skins but I really don't mind them.
DeleteThat is a magnificent apple harvest Sue, no hardship at all, eating more than one apple a day, even if it isn't a guarantee of good health too.
ReplyDeleteWe do like our fruit in this house, Janet :-)
DeleteWow, what a fantastic apple harvest. I've got a few Egremont Russets here, not masses, but they're huge, almost the size of Bramleys. The new Christmas Pippin has a little crop on it as well so I'm looking forward to trying them.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Christmas Pippin, CJ presumably it's a good keeping apple. Is it a sport from Coxes Orange Pippin?
DeleteThe savoy cabbage look fantastic!! I've tried them and had some challenges but maybe I should give them another try. They are just so much more diverse in recipes than regular cabbage. Lovely flowers in the first pic.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you just need to find a variety that suits your area and your soil, Susie.
DeleteSo very envious of those apples! I know what you mean about thinning apples. We just planted 3 apple trees this past spring and one of them did produce a couple of apple clusters that we removed so that the trees energy went to root development - boy was that ever a difficult thing to do!
ReplyDeleteWe can never convince ourselves that the ones we leave on won't just fall off, Margaret and leave us with nothing.
DeleteThat's really bountiful harvest, Sue! Especially your fruits, make me so jealous. I have ever seen a local nursery that sell so many various berries, that originated from subtropical area. It may have adapted into our climate. Actually I was really interested to buy and grow them in my own garden. But I'm not sure, will they grow well on my hot heat humid weather.
ReplyDeleteThere's never any harm in trying, Endah some plans surprise you and grow where they really shouldn't.
DeleteWonderful harvest. I too cleared our greenhouse tomatoes out but have left the outside ones as they still have lots of green toms on. Have picked the ripe chillies, still more to come hopefully and plan to make some chilli jam..
ReplyDeleteChilies are the one thing we don't grow, Julie. I had a bad experience preparing them once and ended up with glowing hands for days. It put me off completely. If they do that with hands what do they do inside.
DeleteNice small apples trees, Sue. I have two as well and decided to grow them on trellis, attached their branches. I think small apples ripen faster than big ones, and sometimes they are juicer. I see you grow savoy cabbage under a net, why?
ReplyDeleteWe have to grow all our brassicas under nets, Nadrzda. If we don't either the caterpillars or the wood pigeons devastate them.
DeleteLooks like you are having a great harvest, I am at this moment in time very grateful for my fruit trees and bushes...at least I am getting some harvest this year!!
ReplyDeleteNot bad at all considering the hopeless summer, Tanya
DeleteThat's very good harvest of apple! They look so juicy! WHat you do with them?
ReplyDeleteThose are all eating apples, Malar so most of them are just eaten raw but we do sometimes use some in cooking.
DeletePhew, your harvests are breathtaking!!!xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dina
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