I haven't been satisfied with how washed out the sky is in some of my photos so I used the walk to practise with camera settings. What with aperture priority and spot metering my brain tends to fry.
On Friday, having renewed our annual passes, we decided to pay a visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. It was a cold day and many animals were sensibly staying inside. Two things that did surprise me were firstly, there were two school groups walking around and then on the other hand there seemed to be quite a number of school aged children visiting with parents. Is the return to school voluntary?
Again we took a packed lunch rather than venturing into the restaurant, although we did buy a drink from one of the kiosks. We drank it tucking ourselves away at a table situated in a jungle setting surrounded by shrubbery.
As well as catering for more exotic creatures, the park has areas that provide habitats for native wildlife. The tigers are just on the other side of the bridge.
The natives are happy to take a share of the food provided for the residents. Can you count the number of ducks? I couldn't.
On Sunday we actually managed a visit to the allotment. Showers were forecast but we needed to stock up on vegetables. Although the sky threatened, the showers never materialised so we dug over a couple more beds, The soil was just on the right side of being too wet. It was workable but heavy going.
You may remember that we are comparing two methods of growing over wintering onions. The photo above shows four rows of onions planted as plug plants which were grown from seed and one row of onion sets. The row of sets are third from the left or of you prefer third from the right. All were planted at the same time. The sets have now produced shoots.
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11 October
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We gathered together quite a good harvest to say we are heading for mid October.
Tomatoes are still slowly ripening in the plot greenhouse and we have now started digging two other varieties of carrots - Autumn King and Flakee. Having been in the ground longer, there is more damage caused by various nibbling creatures but this is easily trimmed off leaving a good amount of usable root for us.
We cut a couple of cabbages - one white cabbage and a savoy .
Despite the cold conditions the late planting of Safari, dwarf French beans are producing a good crop.
The pods have finally started to swell on the last sowing of peas. I don't think we have picked peas so late in the year before. They have been happy in the cooler conditions.
We also had a mini harvest from the Conference pear growing in the garden. I think that it and the garden apple trees are having a rest this year.
I often use up odds and ends of vegetables in a stir fry. Last week I added some pieces of chicken to home grown cabbage, courgette, carrot and sweet corn. I'd love to say all the vegetable were home grown but I also used some shop bought red and yellow peppers. The stir fry was based on this recipe although I use sweet chilli sauce rather than soy sauce which is something we don't use. Our onions, potatoes, carrots, courgettes and tomatoes joined shop bought sweet pepper and celery in a vegetable casserole. We had enough for two days so one day it was served with rice and on the other it was served with couscous. It was based on this recipe. Finally, I'm still managing to gather together enough cut flowers to fill a vase. The dahlias are hanging on well.
As always Stay safe and well
I'm linking to Harvest Monday on Dave's blog
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.
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Well, you are still getting a good harvest for now. Your day out looks relaxing, with not many others about, but I don't blame you for taking a packed lunch.
ReplyDeleteforgot to say, my neighbour's hairdresser has you put your coat in a black bin bag which you then take with you after use to dispose of at home yourself.
DeleteThe wildlife park was much quieter than last vi, Deborah probably because schools are back. Only locals visit the country park so it’s rarely busy. You almost feel unclean when they put your coat in a box.
Deleteit has been interesting to note Martyn has been using his iphone recently with some excellent results however I share your thoughts on camera settings which cam be tricky at times having said that these results show your usual flair for a 'nice photo' PS i use live view a lot to get accurate results
ReplyDeleteWhen I use spot metering I get a live view, David. It’s tricky though balancing the effect of the sky with the rest of the subject. Tricky deciding which area to meter on to get the right balance. I just prefer to hold something sturdier than a phone but I have used the phone when haven’t my camera or the battery is flat. I see it as challenge to move out of auto,
DeleteA wonderful harvest, my tomatoes finished early this year. I do enjoy your recipes, so easy to veganise. Your dahlias are looking good, mine are still flowering too. I'm glad you got a couple of days out, we always take a packed lunch too and try to avoid using indoor toilets. It's all so weird isn't it. I loved those skies and the animals, especially the big cats. That huddle of ducks had me smiling.xxx
ReplyDeleteAnimals always make gooc subjects, Dina. Just a case of being in the right place at the right time. I collect recipes and store them in a database so I can easily find a suitable one.
DeleteIt's so nice that you have a great place to visit so close to you. I would probably be there at least once a week in these confining times. One visit to the allotment and it looks like your set for more than a week! Lovely harvests.
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky, Michelle there are a few nice places to walk fairly close by.
DeleteBeautiful photos of Walton Country Park and your amazing harvests! Your vegetable casserole looks delicious. Hope your dental visits are done for now, otherwise next visit they'll be stripping you off at the door 😀
ReplyDeleteThat was hopefully my last dental visit for a while, Belinda so I hope to have my blushes spared 😳
DeleteYour outing looks like it was fun. How nice that you can pop over to your allotment to collect veggies. So healthy in every way. I believe we will be in lock down again soon. I know that many politicians want to ignore the surge of CV here until after the election but it will be coming. They are finding more people get CV for the second time too, which is very scary.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to have our own supply of fresh vegetables, Lisa so we were lucky that we were still able to go to the allotment during the lockdown.
DeleteI think the photos look great Sue! It's always a challenge to capture with the camera what we see with our eyes. That's a good looking haul of beans too.
ReplyDeleteThe beans have been a success story, Dave
DeleteI still haven't made it to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park yet but Eleanor went recently with Jacob and his family and she really enjoyed it, she took loads of photos.
ReplyDeleteOften you need a repeat visit, Jo as the animals are sometimes in hiding. We see different activity each time that we visit.
DeleteI am envious of your garden. We had 4 hard frosts in a row here. Just like that, the gardening was done and dusted for the year. I will miss tomatoes on my toast in the morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and commenting Debby. Luckily we haven’t had any hard frosts yet
DeleteThe coat business at the dentist is an interesting development Sue. I wonder if all clothes will be banned at some point in the future 😱 I have a dental appointment coming up in December which I'm not looking forward to. We are sadly in tier 1 😢 Your chicken stir fry looks delicious. Your beautiful dahlias are lasting longer than you initially thought. They are still going here too.
ReplyDeleteI hope that they don't ban clothes in winter, Anna. I can, however see them giving you plastic throw away coveralls. Good luck with your dental appointment
DeleteIt's good to hear that safety protocols are continuing and improving. I hope you felt safe. We have avoided dentist for now. I get the coat thing, I was at hairdresser today and took mine in, in a carrier bag with my handbag inside that too.
ReplyDeleteWalton looks an interesting park for a visit and I'm delighted to hear you've been out and about in ways that you feel comfortable with. Haha I tried to count the ducks but nope, not possible. You're doing good with your camera settings (I don't stray to far there). I think your skies look great 😊👍
It’s a worry that the Wildlife Park is having to shut again, Shirley as they need the revenue to cover the cost of feeding the animals,
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