Last week we spent much of the time feeling as though we were living in a cloud. When it wasn’t raining, the air seemed to be full of tiny water droplets and the temperature felt nothing like summery. Our poor plants must be totally confused. On Sunday, strong winds must have realised that it was time for them to batter everything to a pulp. No doubt our cardoons will look nothing like as stately as they did earlier in the week. This year the winds haven't even waited for the cardoon flowers to open.
Other than to cut the grass and do a bit of general tidying, most of our plot visits have been to do some harvesting however, one job that I steeled myself into doing was a bit of thinning of one of our 'trees' in the apple hedge. The particular tree was loaded with fruit. Lots had been discarded during the June drop but there was still an abundance of small apples. Usually we have left them and been happy to eat two small apples rather than one of a normal size.
Other than to cut the grass and do a bit of general tidying, most of our plot visits have been to do some harvesting however, one job that I steeled myself into doing was a bit of thinning of one of our 'trees' in the apple hedge. The particular tree was loaded with fruit. Lots had been discarded during the June drop but there was still an abundance of small apples. Usually we have left them and been happy to eat two small apples rather than one of a normal size.
This year I decided to carry out a little thinning. To be honest removing the small fruits was a difficult decision but I decided to see whether it made a difference. I don’t think Martyn was keen for me to do it at all. The photo above was taken after thinning and I am sure I'll be told that I haven't removed enough but a bucketful of immature fruits seemed like more than enough.
Last week we picked what was left of our calabrese. There was just enough to make a turkey and broccoli quiche.
The cabbage was used in a batch of coleslaw.
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| 29 June |
We are continuing to harvest our overwintered onions as we need them.
The early cauliflowers are now forming heads so, at the moment, these are providing most of our vegetables. One went into a cauliflower and potato curry.
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Our blueberries are now ripening. We have four bushes that produce fruit in succession. The earliest variety had lots of ripe berries. The berries on a single bush ripen in batches and there are usually more ripe berries each time we visit the plot.
I sometimes think more are ripening as I am picking.
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| 4 July |
I made the first pulling of the earliest row of Onward peas. To be honest they maybe needed another few days for the peas to swell. I always seem to be over eager when it comes to the first pea harvest of the season.
As well as our reliable Onward variety, we sowed some Oregon Sugar Pod and some Terrain peas. Both of these varieties were devastated by pigeons almost as soon as they emerged. Strangely the Onward peas sown at the same time haven't been touched.
It's that time of year when lots of different berries are ripening and picking them is quite a time consuming task but well worth it. Some berries are just eaten fresh as a mixed fruit dessert with maybe a dollop of natural yoghurt and the rest is cooked and made into a compote for freezing or topping our morning porridge.
Our Mini Munch cucumbers are now producing small juicy fruits. We’re hoping that there will be lots more to come.
The annual flowers that I sowed earlier in the year haven't really done very well, but I did manage a small posy containing sweet Williams, calendulas and lavender.
I know some of you like to see how Ruby is getting on, Martyn has posted a short video taken of her having her lunch which you may like to take a look at.
I know some of you like to see how Ruby is getting on, Martyn has posted a short video taken of her having her lunch which you may like to take a look at.
Hope everyone is staying well and safe
This week I am linking to harvest Monday hosted on
Dave's blog Our Happy Acres
You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started.
PS: It's not just our gardens that suffer from blight. Martyn and I are currently suffering from an influx of blog blight. It seems that it is the season of the spammer. One in particular is persistently targeting our and what appears to be lots of other people's blogs. Most are sent to the spam or moderation folders as we moderate comments on posts over five days old. These spam comments are deleted and never see the light of day but unfortunately some do sneak through. I apologise for any that sneak through and end up being emailed to those who subscribe to comments, Please do not click on any links in spam comments which gives these nuisances satisfaction and encouragement. They can track where click throughs originate from and will target a blog even more if they think that this is causing more people to visit their site.
You don't have to have your own blog in order to join in conversations. It may seem that everyone who comments knows one another but bloggers always welcome new commenters, after all that is how we all started.
Posts
It will be interesting to see if the thinning makes a difference. I look forward to hearing the results in a couple of months.
ReplyDeleteI’m guessing that I didn’t go far enough, Julieanne
DeleteI have experienced that "ripening while picking" suspicion too. I figure that once you have picked all the dark fruit the half ripe fruit then looks darker than it did before (compared to the completely under-ripe fruits).
ReplyDeleteI thought that was likely to be the case too, Mal
DeleteWe've so far been unable to have a succession of blueberries, but the varieties we have planted do bear a fairly long time. Mini Munch cucumber is doing well for me here, it is my new favorite! Even though smaller in size it has been prolific.
ReplyDeleteWe do like Mini Munch, Dave
DeleteMy goodness! You have been berry busy indeed. In the next week, I will be sharing my thoughts on my apples which I did not thin this year. It's a cautionary tale indeed.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your tale, Deborah
DeleteYour berry production doesn't seem to be affected by the cool windy weather. It all looks good. It will be interesting to see how the apples grow since you thinned them.
ReplyDeleteSo will I, Lisa. I don’t think the strawberries are happy to be so wet.
DeleteSuch berry difficult problems! We find thinning the apples helps; we leave no more than three of the best prospects.
ReplyDeleteIs that just a total of three, Sue?
DeleteOh delicious looking berries Sue. I didn't know that there were black and purple raspberries too. I had presumed that they were all red 😄 Interesting to read that the pigeons turned their beaks up at the 'Onward' peas - there really in no accounting for taste. Hoping that the weather improves soon. It's raining yet again here and earlier in the day than predicted which makes it more annoying.
ReplyDeleteWe have yellow autumn raspberries too, Anna. It’s raining again Wednesday night too.
DeleteI can't bring myself to thin the fruit....the weather is crazy isn't it? We've had rain and strong winds too. I don't mind the rain but loathe the wind. Oh my, your blueberries look delicious, you are way ahead of me. Love all the soft fruit and that cauliflower and potato curry sounds delicious.xxx
ReplyDeleteSo lovely! Love that fresh fruits
ReplyDelete