Sorrow

I’ve been offline for a few weeks and the season moved from some sweltering late Summer days to rainy Autumn ones, although it’s a dazzling blue sky this morning.

In the mornings and evenings it definitely feels like Autumn.

Harvests have been plentiful and colourful. 

The French and runner beans have been feeding us well. We were late with the runners so they’re not stringy yet. I may pod some of the French beans for drying, but I probably have enough dried beans…

Most of the Borlotti and Yin Yang are being dried. I move them from the polytunnel roof drying mesh before the pods pop open.

Flowers are beginning to die back, but the Scabiosa Stellata are now in their prime - their seedheads are only small, but so pretty.

The Spanish Flag began to show flowers at about the same time as Spain beat England in the Women’s World Cup final, but September put on a full show.

The calendula have been stunning, but really need deadheading daily.

The two courgette plants just keep producing. We’ve had to share or compost some giants but they keep on coming!

And sweetcorn is now on the menu, for lunch most days. A few of the stalks had been blown down (or dragged down by the weight of the mini pumpkins), but the cobs are excellent; Incredible are not as sweet as our normal Lark variety, but are delicious.

The radish flowers have been so pretty and the pods have been a tasty, hot, on-site snack and addition to salads/stir fry. So many pods that I pickled some and added nasturtium seeds which are extremely tasty when fresh so I hope they’re good pickled.

The song is provided by David Bowie and reflects the current feeling as we said goodbye to my mum who made it to her 95th birthday but pretty much decided that was plenty and fell asleep. A terrible time for us but doing our best to remember the good times, of which there were many.

Summertime

It’s been another mixed bag weatherwise….

We’ve been to the plot to either water or harvest most days. Really hot if the Sun happens to be shining, but at other times it has been distinctly grey!

But it’s been quite warm and the plants really are loving it.

The Borlotti beans are behaving as planned on the frame. They’ll be easier to pick than the Asparagus Pea (aka winged peas) which are so tricky to spot amongst the weeds and squash foliage!

The asparagus peas are still part of most harvests at the moment along with courgettes…

The cucumbers may have produced their last fruits - well, we still have a supply in the fridge. We pickled a couple in white wine vinegar with dill, mustard seeds and a few chive flower buds on 5th August.

And I even resorted to a peanut butter and cucumber roll for lunch - it was actually very tasty!

On our plot visit, ahead of the football yesterday (England beat Colombia to get to the Women’s World Cup Semi-final!) I was hoping to pick a Florence fennel bulb, but (as usual) they have all bolted - I’m sure they looked ok in the week, but they were still under their protective covering. Frustrating, I should have kept a closer eye on them. They’ll just be composted now.

Plot 7 is looking particularly overgrown! There are lots of Yin Yang dwarf beans and the Cornell’s Delicata squash as well as Jack-be-Little mini pumpkins hidden amongst that lot.

I had to clear alongside the polytunnel as snails have been getting in and eating our peppers 😒 They liked the flowerpots and the mass of Creeping Cinquefoil which has taken over that pathway. I chucked about 30 snails over the hedge - I know they may return, but I’ve at least slowed them down and they don’t have such a handy hiding place right next to the food supply! We shall keep a closer eye…

Our first aubergine is on its way and I don’t want something nibbling that. Such a pretty flower and fruit.

But the prettiest flower at the moment is the second flowering of our Delphinium. This photo hasn’t been edited at all - the sky really has been that blue at times! The plant has sent up at least four more spikes, it’s a beauty.

The flowerbed has quite a lot of Nicotiana now and Verbena Bonariensis is just beginning to emerge. I’m waiting (quite) patiently to see what another plant is which I clearly sowed, in a T-shape, but can’t find a record of… Buds are just appearing..

And lastly, this was last night’s dinner - all home-grown and rather pretty. Carrot and beetroot fritters with chard, potatoes and asparagus peas. Not a courgette in sight, or even hidden (though there are three in waiting..!)

The song is provided by the Fun Boy Three - love this version of a beautiful song. Enjoy the song and the Summer…

Still Ill

This is my most beautiful squash so far - a Festival.

And this is the biggest and it's so pleasing! A Boston Winter Squash - the only fruit that developed on that plant - perhaps not surprisingly,

I removed a few of the Honey Boat squash too, in case there is a frost this week, as threatened, they're now in the greenhouse along with the others. Including a barrowful of quite small pumpkins - we're blaming the weather. This variety Jack of all Trades normally grow bigger than this for us.

The greenhouse is looking a bit different because we've suspended net from the ceiling to store our onions and shallots. We decided not to risk putting the squash up there - I already bumped into the onions several times today!

The peppers are changing colour - we can definitely see some yellow, red and orange. Really hope the greenhouse is protection enough from the cold... it would be good if they're still fresh for Hungerford Food Festival in 2 weeks time...

I hacked back quite a bit of tomato plant growth. There are a few small signs of blight, but plenty more tomatoes to pick.

As I'm writing this I should be making carrot soup, but I'm being lazy because I have a horrible cold 😩.

I was pleased it was so rainy yesterday so we stayed indoors most of the day and prepared shallots for soaking in salt water prior to pickling. The Longor shallots grew so big this year, we're just doing one big jar full of pickles.

And I shelled the borlotti and soya beans for storage - I do plan to use them, but I need to find a good recipe. I asked on a forum on Facebook and the second answer to 'what should I do with my dried soyabeans?' was 'BURN THEM' - hahaha, that doesn't bode well!!

So now I really should start on that soup...but first, a song title..aah, The Smiths - perfect 🤧.

All These Things That I've Done

It's been a busy July, what with Open Day preparations, the World Cup and such hot weather that it feels like I should be on holiday, not working. Lunches are getting more varied; the peppery turnips were a very tasty addition - I blanched them before adding to salads. But they, like the radishes, have not lasted well in the ground, I may try another sowing.

This has been our largest harvest so far, with our first courgette and the shallots, which have grown very well this year.

And we're very happy with our first aubergine! The plant in the greenhouse has plenty more fruits to come; the outdoor plants are slower, but I think we'll get something from them.

The ladybirds are making a show now, but too late for most of our broad beans - we've only managed a few meals from them this year because of the blackfly.

It seems that all the cabbage whites have emerged at the same time too. Everywhere you look they're flitting about or supping up the minerals where we've watered.

Another England win at the World Cup (this time 2-0 against Sweden) - AMAZING - meant another late night barbecue on the plot for Jamie and me last week. And we listened to Croatia beating Russia (on penalties) on the radio.

Kate's leek flowers are a fabulous display.

Now the World Cup is over and France won. The hot Summer weather continues to amaze - we're just not used to waking up to blue skies every morning! We had one afternoon with just about enough rain that we only needed to water the greenhouse...

 ... otherwise we're watering everything each evening as the ground is so dry.

We're leaving the lettuces under their cover as they seem happy under there.. these are the plants that looked so sad on 3rd July- great recovery ability!

And I found time to pickle some garlic in red wine vinegar, with mustard seeds, pepper, a little salt and a little sugar. I used these tiny Kilner jars which are so cute! It should be ready to eat in a couple of weeks and can keep for up to a year, apparently.

I used 3 remaining cloves to make garlic salt - the sea salt and garlic were ground together and then dried in the oven at 80° until it had formed a dry crust. I'm looking forward to having that on chips - it smells very strong so maybe not on a week-night!

Hmm, now what song to use for this summary of the last couple of weeks.... Ahh, The Killers  - please think of it as 'things that we've done'!

Ooh La La - Ail mariné

Or, marinated garlic, which is what I've been making this afternoon. There it is, it's got to wait in the fridge for a couple of weeks before I can have a taster. The authentic french version is apparently delicious...

I used three fresh garlic bulbs, which didn't go as far as you may think - these are only very little jars.

I added salt, one of the jars has this Smoked Cornish salt, and red wine vinegar.

I also picked for my dinner this evening: our first beetroot of the year, this one is in surpisingly good condition; fennel; first carrots of the year - these are thinnings so they're only little; a courgette that's getting a bit too big. I'm roasting the veggies (although I haven't got any garlic left at home - duh!). I'll shallow fry the courgette so it's a bit of a different texture, I'm removing some of the water from it first, using salt.

And raspberries for pud.