Last week the weather was wet, windy and cold for the time of year. It was nothing like the end of summer and far more like autumn. It seems to have been autumnal for a while and, except for a few lapses when summer had fought back to retake centre stage, it hasn't been a particularly pleasant autumn. At times it has been reminiscent of Aesops fable about the wager between the North Wind and the sun. In our case the sun just hasn't put in enough effort and we have not been encouraged to make many visits to the allotment. Working in the cold is one thing, but battling against the winds and trying to garden when everything is wet and soggy is not enjoyable. We did, however manage some time on the plot. There are things that must be done in spite of the weather so we took opportunity of any breaks in the inclement conditions, mainly to harvest although, Martyn did manage to cut the grass. It's one area that has positively thrived in the conditions, meaning this year it just hasn't had a summer break and has just kept on growing.
I've often complained about the number of ants on our allotment and in the garden. I've suffered from far too many bites, when I have inadvertently stumbled across a colony at work or disturbed a nest. I have to give them credit however, for one bit of good work. Cyclamen pop up all over the allotment and garden, courtesy of the ants efforts in transporting the seeds. The original couple of plants in the garden have produced thousands of progeny, many of which have found homes in the gardens of family and friends.
We're at the stage in the gardening calendar where we are harvesting a wider variety of goodies.
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24 August
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Although we are still picking fruits, it is now our vegetable harvest that is taking centre stage.
Kohlrabi always remind me of a sputnik. We've been grating ours and adding them to our regular batches of coleslaw, but now that the 'globes' are larger we will probably need to start cooking them.
The climbing beans are now cropping in spite of their slow start. They are not as prolific as usual. Maybe, like the courgettes, they are not keen on this year's cool cold summer. Many beans will be frozen to use over winter.
Apples too are being made into a compote and also frozen.
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29 August - Raspberries, Peas, Apricot Dream Tomatoes, Marjorie's Seedling Plums, Sweet Corn |
On Saturday we set off for the allotment expecting a dry afternoon so we had several jobs lined up. I must have had a psychic episode as I decided to pick a few things before doing anything else.
The All Gold raspberries don't like wet and windy conditions and quite a few berries had been battered and spoiled, but I was surprised by the amount of fruits that had held on for us. I've been asked several times whether the yellow fruits taste as good as the red ones. They yellow raspberries may not look as tempting but in a blind taste test you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
I pulled peas are from our third sowing. They have probably proportionally produced the most pods which are also of better quality than the previous pickings. The rows are different lengths so a direct comparison isn't possible. I'm hoping that the pods hang on until they fill out, as I noticed some of the leaves are beginning to be spotted with mildew.
On Saturday, whilst I was picking, Martyn started on lifting one of the rows of our main potatoes. The variety Apache yielded about 21kg (about 46lb) of good quality potatoes.
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Apache |
On Sunday Martyn lifted two more of our main varieties of potatoes - Elfe about 5.5kg (12lb) and Osprey about 20kg (44lb). We have several other varieties to lift and will be delighted if any produce a similar crop especially after such a poor potato harvest last year.
On Saturday, I decided to have a break from harvesting in order the lift the onions in our second onion bed. You may remember that the first bed produced a pathetic harvest. Most of the onions from this second bed, however had grown really well. If anything the bulbs were too big, the exception being the red onions which we never seem to grow successfully. We had decided not to plant any red sets this year but, you know how it is when confronted by items in the garden centre. I think it is definitely time to give up on them; we will just have to be more disciplined next year.
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From bed 2
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From bed 1 - both beds are the same size
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As I was lifting the onions the rain started to fall so any plans to do any more harvesting was abandoned, although, Martyn quickly picked some Marjories Seedling plums and an Earlibird sweet corn as we wanted to test whether they were ready to harvest.
It was and so that means another two jobs to be added to the ever growing list - picking and freezing the sweet corn.
On Sunday I pruned the summer fruiting raspberries and tied in the new canes.
We had a gap in the row of raspberries where one variety failed to grow so we moved some Tulameen raspberries from another part of the plot, where they were struggling to compete with some couch grass, and planted them on the gap.
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30 August
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We always have a least three vegetable based meals each week, and at the moment there are plenty of fresh vegetables to use. Although many can be frozen or stored, some need to be used much quicker. The courgettes are in full flow and many have been given away, others can be sneaked into all types of recipes including our coleslaw, however sometimes they form the main vegetable of a dish.
Included in last weeks' menu was a Vegetable Tagine with Chickpeas and Raisins. Whereas many tagines are based around squash, this one uses courgettes. I use a ras el hanout mix of spices rather than the spices specified in the recipe. I served it with giant wholemeal couscous.
Another of last week's dishes was a Vegetable Stew roughly based on this recipe with a variation in the vegetables used. A stew seemed very appropriate given how cold it was. Apologies for the colouration of the photos but they were taken under artificial light and needed to be taken quickly.
Our third vegetable dish was stir fry, which didn't make it to the photo gallery as I forgot. I find stir fries really useful - as well as tasty - when there are lots of odds and ends of vegetables that need using up.
Sweetcorn? Can't have been that bad a summer after all! I'm waiting for you to report on your Rooster potatoes (even though I know you are not that keen on dry varieties). Ras al hanoot is a boon to any vegetable stew.
ReplyDeleteWE didn't plant Rooster this year, Mal. I think the sweetcorn liked the amount of rain that we had combined with the odd hot and sunny days. Also the wind probably made for good pollination.
DeleteI must have a different variety of golden raspberries because the flavor is much milder than the reds.
ReplyDeleteI guess it could also depend on the location tpals.
DeleteI agree that windy, wet and soggy conditions make for less enjoyable gardening. We've had a bit of autumnal weather here too, which was a welcome break from the heat. I love our kohlrabi roasted, which I think brings out the sweetness in it.
ReplyDeleteThe heat has been lacking here Dave except for a few odd days. We've been gardening in jumpers rather than tee shirts.
DeleteFor all your foul weather you harvests are both lovely and abundant. I just went to your weather blog and now see where you garden. It does seem you have a temperate climate for growing a wide variety of edibles.
ReplyDeleteMartyn keeps the weather blog, Sue and yes we do have a temperate climate courtesy of being surrounded by sea and also the Gulf stream flowing to the west. We are also to the east of the Pennines which gives us some protection from the westerlys. It also mean we are dryer (ha ha this year) than western counties. Being fairly low lying we also get less snow.
DeleteDespite the ongoing battle with the weather, you are still harvesting. Even my lettuces got flattened!
ReplyDeleteAs usual there have been winners and losers, Deborah
DeleteAll of those vegetables for your veggie dishes look fantastic. I sort of giggled at your declaration that you will be more disciplined next year during seed purchasing time. ha... good luck with that. By the time winter gets through with you will be like the rest of us and purchase way to many of things you just dream about during winter. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to choose what to leave out isn't it, Lisa?
DeleteOf all your lovely harvest photos, I found the sweetcorn caused my biggest stab of envy. I shall miss fresh sweetcorn this year. That stew also has me salivating :-)
ReplyDeleteWe had a complete sweet corn failure last year Belinda so this year's good harvest was especially welcome.
DeleteYour harvest looks brilliant as per usual, Sue. I don't remember reading about you being bitten by ants at your allotment before. I love your little garden helpers spreading your cyclamen though. Now that gives me an idea where to plant some myself now.
ReplyDeleteAnts are the bane of my life Shirley. As some protection I tuck my jeans into thick socks as there's nothing worse than an ant running up your trouser leg biting as it ascends. At one time we never saw ants when gardening but now they are everywhere, I'be seen one green woodpecker on our site but we need him or her to gather together an army of their friends,
DeleteEvery year something fails doesn't it? Onwards! The weather has been similar here, certainly not a great summer. Good to know the ants are spreading seed rather than just biting you. Sputnik is looking fabulous as are your beans and potatoes. Wonderful harvests and recipes.xxx
ReplyDeleteYes every year is a mixture of disappointments and pleasures, Dina
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