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| 2 August - Blueberries, Raspberries, Courgettes - Ambassador, Boldenice & Black Forest, Broad beans - Masterpiece Green Longpod, Cabbage - Mozart and Peas - Onward, |
We pulled our first lot of peas which are swelling nicely. Thanks to the recent rains, I haven't needed to water which I thought was on the cards earlier.
The last lot of our second batch of broad beans were also pulled. I podded these at the allotment so on arriving home they were popped straight into the freezer. That bed is now ready to be cleared.
The broad beans have done well this year. Last year we had a broad bean crop failure.
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| 5 August - Cauliflower - Zaragosa, Climbing French Beans - Cobra & Golden Gate, Calabrese - Calabrini, Cabbage - Cabbice, Blackberries - Loch Ness - Tomatoes - Sungold, Carrots - Romance, Courgettes - Ambassador, Boldenice & Black Forest, Peas - Onward, Potatoes - Apache and Sweet Peas |
As well as picking tomatoes from the allotment, we are also picking a few from the garden.
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| 2 August - Tomatoes - Tumbler, Watercress from the garden pond and garden Mint |
Years ago, we planted a row of cordon apples and pears along one of the boundaries in our garden. Eventually these grew out of control so we cut them down. Sneakily, hidden behind our greenhouse, a couple of the apples and a Conference pear regrew. Now they have assumed tree-like proportions and provide us, and some of our neighbours, with fruit. We're not sure which variety of apples survived but, Martyn started picking some last week ,which we think are Bramleys, although this variety usually needs two other apple varieties to pollinate it. We do have a couple of crab apple trees. I wonder whether these would act as pollinators?
We picked the first ripe berries from the Loch Ness blackberry. Being thornless, it's a gardener friendly variety.
The climbing French beans are just beginning to crop. They are ahead of the runner beans which are now starting to set pods. We are usually overwhelmed by our bean harvest so have planted fewer plants this year.
Last year, we grew the carrot variety Romance for the first time and were impressed by them so we have grown the variety again this year. So far they haven't disappointed. Despite not having been thinned out the seedlings, the roots are a decent size and not very wonky. What's more important is the taste is very carrotty.
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| 7 August - Potatoes - Apache & Osprey, Raspberries, Blueberries, Climbing French Beans - Cobra & Golden Gate, Courgettes - Ambassador, Boldenice and Black Forest, Cauliflower - Zaragosa, Peas - Onward, Tomatoes - Sungold, Sweet Peas and Dahlias, |
After having lifted a root earlier in the week, Martyn decided to lift a row of our Apache potatoes. He posted a video here. They share a bed with another variety, Osprey and as this bed is earmarked for overwintering onions, it was ready for clearing. A few Osprey tubers had strayed into Apache territory. The colouring on the Apaches is very distinctive so it was easy to spot the intruders. Hopefully when the rows of Osprey are uncovered there will be plenty more.
I usually like to plan our week's menu in advance but, with vegetable readiness being unpredictable, I now have to prepare for a few different options in order to cater for whatever vegetables we have ready to use.
Last week, I included our onions, carrots, courgettes and parsley in a pasta dish based on this recipe. Some of our potatoes, cabbage, onion and garlic went into a spicy cabbage stir fry based on this recipe.
Another meal, that used our cauliflower, garlic, onion, potato, peas, green beans and coriander, was a quinoa biryani based on this recipe. I always use stock in recipes that call for water. I also sneaked a courgette in. The name of the dish is deceptive as you would expect a type of curry but it was much less spicy.
I used some of our blueberries in a batch of blueberry muffins.
I also made some rustic looking tarts using some of our onion and courgette to which I added a few mushrooms before coating with a cheese, egg and yoghurt custard.
Finally, it's not all about the vegetables on our allotment. As well as growing flowers for cutting, we grow flowers for the insects. We enjoy looking at them as well.
We have a bed of annual flowers which is just starting to look pretty, It includes, calendulas, cornflowers, poppies, godetias, scabious, cosmos and nigella.
Elsewhere we have dwarf sunflowers. These manage to keep their heads down when the winds blow so they hang on to their smiley faces.
Along one edge of our plot we have a row of buddleias which are a bit late to flower this year.
At the moment they smell lovely and the bees have homed in on them.
They are usually a magnet to butterflies but, so far, I've only spotted one tortoiseshell butterfly showing any interest and I wasn't quick enough to capture it on camera. Maybe, if the rain and wind ceases they will come flocking in. I hope so - what's the use of calling something a butterfly bush if there are no butterflies to enjoy it.
As always wherever you are keep safe and well.
This week I am once again joining in with Dave’s Harvest Monday collection of posts over at Our Happy Acres.
Posts
Well, it's good to see your larder is better stocked than many shops. It must be one less thing to worry about in our precarious world. Those rustic tarts look absolutely amazing. Would you mind sharing what the yogurt custard is?
ReplyDeleteThe yoghurt custard is basically the custard that you put over a quiche, Deborah but instead of using cream I use yoghurt. For these four small tarts I used two eggs a couple of tablespoons of low fat Greek yoghurt thinned out with a little milk and some grated cheese. It worked quite well
DeleteWonderful!
ReplyDeleteGreat harvest of vegetables and pretty flowers, too!
And oh! the blueberry muffins - I can almost taste them!
Thanks for commenting Lea. We certainly enjoyed the blueberry muffins.
DeleteThose are some lovely and straight beans! Our climbing beans are just now starting to set on. Our fruits are done. I miss them but we had a good year. Thornless blackberries are surely the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThornless blackberry certainly makes picking blackberries a much more pleasant experience, Dave. That variety has lovely large fruits too.
DeleteAre broad beans what we would call lima beans? Those are especially nice home grown. Buddleia is one of my favorite shrubs--a reminder of the lilacs we can't grow in this warm climate. Your berries and other flowers are enviable. Such abundant harvests.
ReplyDeleteI think you call broad beans fave beans Sue, change always reminds me of Silence of the Lambs.
DeleteI love how you are incorporating your harvest into your daily meals. It all looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly makes me flexible when planning meals, Bonnie. I plan one thing and suddenly a different vegetable is in abundance.
DeleteSo it’s all change
Harvests and some empty beds are what it's about this time of the year, but as always, your harvest is impressive. Ouch re the bites though! Loving your meals especially the stir fry cabbage. Your annual bed is just lovely.xxx
ReplyDeleteAs the beds empty and are dug over, Dina my skin is being populated by various insect bites.
Deleteooh, you have red tomatoes. Ours are in a race against blight but they’re all green at the moment. Your butterfly bush hedge is beautiful! And those rustic tarts look delish.
ReplyDeleteThe cherry tomatoes are the only ones that are ripening at the moment, Belinda.Blight has struck on the allotment so we are in a race against time too.
DeleteHello again Sue! I'm jumping my blog catch-ups to your recent post and will return to your others later. How busy you have been and by gosh does this harvest not say it all! Wow, what a selection and great quality too. You both certainly know how to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers! I love that you are growing flowers for pollinators too, I'm loving watching them too just now. I guess they helps with pest control on your allotment too. I always love to see what you look with your produce, this is a great selection again. I'm also loving seeing your Nostell and wildlife park visits :-)
ReplyDeleteApologies for dumping lots of comments on you in one go, Sue. As I said in my first one this morning, back in May, my blog catch-ups tend to come with me posting a blog but that by no means means I'm looking for comments in return. It's purely a time thing for me, I'm usually busy with other stuff during the day and I no longer blog/blog browse late in the evenings as it keeps me awake too long. I used to manage ok, but I need more sleep now. I'm sure other bloggers may find the same. Off to have lunch now, wishing you both a good week!