This is what I harvested from my garden last night. A clutch of green Tomatoes. I had forgotton to stake one of my plants and the top fell over and snapped so I had to cut it off. But that’s okay because I’ve been looking for an excuse to make more Green Tomato Chutney for a while now.
The first of this season’s Peaches. Actually, I found this one on the floor so I had no choice but to eat it. It tastes lovely, slightly hard on one side, but still beautifully fragrant.
Then a small group of Raspberries. I have to get in there before my little boy does. I think this is the biggest harvest of Raspberries I’ve had to myself all summer!
And finally some Asters. A bit of an eclectic mix but sometimes that’s just what you get when you have a small plot. You gotta take what comes your way, haven’t you?
I harvested my Shallots a couple of days ago. They had reached the stage where their leaves had flopped over and dried out and the bulbs were looking pretty big. So I took advantage of a sunny day and dug the whole harvest up.
I put them in a wooden tray to dry in the sun for a few days - with the precaution of the lid from my Victorian cloche over them. And today I rubbed off the dirt and put them in this old sieve ready for storage.
They like to have air circulating around them so anything with holes in is ideal. Sometimes I use old Orange bags, or netted shopping bags if I have a lot to store.
I’m pretty happy with the harvest. Last year I grew Longor Shallots which are more bullet shaped than these. This year I went for round ones (can’t remember the variety). Some are a little small but they make a good addition to my son, Jackson’s, meals since he won’t eat a lot of oniony flavours anyway.
I always feel a bit smug when I put away the first harvest of the season for storing. I’m always a bit sad when I see Lettuce go to seed, or a Cauliflower go over. All that effort and I just wasn’t quick enough to enjoy it. With Onions and Shallots it’s a different story - none of it goes to waste (assuming none of them rot) and it feels good to know that all my effort will be rewarded over the coming months.
I had to pull my Elephant Garlic because it was trying to flower. I’ve showed it here next to some Carrots I pulled at the same time so you can see how big it is. They’re about 8 or 9cm across.
I must confess myself a bit disappointed with the Elephant Garlic. It’s not as big as I thought it would be and also doesn’t seem to have split into bulbs quite as nicely as you see in the photos. Oh well - it’s still edible, I’m sure.
Next year I might switch back to my usual Garlic. You get more heads for the garden space and in a tiny plot you gotta use the space wisely. Is anyone else growing Elephant Garlic? Did you have success?
It’s time to harvest the Blackcurrants. They’re so ripe I can actually smell them as I walk past the bush. I only have one Blackcurrant bush but it’s always dripping in berries so I always have more than enough.
I usually use the Sarah Raven method for harvesting Blackcurrants by cutting whole branches out with berries on them and picking them at my leisure. This solves two problems in one by pruning the old wood out and making it easier to pick the berries.
I didn’t prune all of the fruiting branches out because that would make the bush too small. I only pruned about a third of them out and next year I will prune the rest. Those branches will still fruit but just a little further up on the new wood.
I’ve made a few things in the past with my Blackcurrants:
This time I made Blackcurrant Cake from a recipe I found online. It was lovely, however next time I would put more sugar in as the Blackcurrants were still just a tad sharp.
Have fun with your Blackcurrants, if you have any, if you don’t then get some for next year :)
I can hardly believe I’m writing this but after years of trying to grow an edible Cauliflower I’ve actually gone and managed it. I’m in shock.
I harvested this Cauliflower a few days ago but there are another five or six of them in the ground. Before I went on holiday the plants were quite big and the middle leaves were starting to tighten. But there was no sign of a Cauliflower. When I came back from holiday (two weeks later) I had seven beautiful Cauliflowers, all in a row. I was amazed.
I have tried several different approaches in the past; liming the ground, netting the whole crop, using brassica collars. All to no avail. Every time, I ended up with something that was only fit for the compost pile.
The secret to my success this time must be that I sowed the seed last Autumn and over-wintered them in my coldframe. I then planted them out in early Spring and have been watering them like crazy during the last few dry months. I’ve also been feeding them with chicken manure pellets, once or twice since I planted them in the ground.
They seem to love it and have rewarded me with some beautiful curds. I made Cauliflower Cheese with the first one and all three of us virtually licked our plates it tasted so Cauliflowery. I’m always amazed how homegrown veg tastes are more intense than shop bought.
Next year I’ll be trying to repeat my success by sowing in Autumn again.
Home-grown Peas. You really can’t beat them. I love the way the plant itself is so fresh and green. It’s the very epitome of Spring. The leaves are intricate and interesting. And catch the light beautifully.
The flowers are small and pearly white and hide from view like they’re shy of something.
And then one day you notice that there are not one, not two, not even three, four or five pods appearing. They’re everywhere. And the more you look the more you find. They’re all green and they make that squeaky noise when you touch them.
Peas - quite possibly the greatest vegetable of all.
My Winter Density Lettuce are just coming into their own and it’s nearly the end of May! I’m so glad that I planted two varieties of winter Lettuce because the Winter Gem hearted up early and are now all gone but this variety is still going.
After this harvest I’ll have three Lettuces left in the ground which I’m saving for my camping trip at the weekend. After that the summer Lettuces will be centre stage, Marvel of the 4 Seasons, Drunken Housewife, Parris Island, Tom Thumb and Oak Leaf. Can’t wait!
What Lettuce varieties are you growing? And which is your favourite. Mine is still Marvel.
We had a few friends round for a BBQ today so it was the perfect opportunity to cut three of my Winter Gem Lettuces that have been happily growing in the coldframe all Winter.
They have hearted up nicely over the last week and were hitting perfection today so I went for it.
Winter Gem are just like Little Gem’s except they’re way more Winter hardy. They taste virtually the same too - nice and crispy and perfect with a good sharp dressing.
I sowed them back in October last year and basically fretted and fussed over them all Winter, particularly during our bout of snow. Then in early March I thinned them out, which is what allowed them to grow lovely and big.
I’d say growing Winter Lettuce is the perfect use of a coldframe or greenhouse. It makes use of your frame during an empty period and by the time you need it they can either be harvested or transferred to your main plot - I transferred my other Winter sowings (Avalanche Cauliflower and Winter Density Lettuce) a couple of weeks ago.
So come this October the first thing I’ll be doing is sowing some Winter Lettuce.
My Purple Sprouting Broccoli is finally nearing harvest. Honestly, you need the patience of a very patient saint to grow this thing. This year seems a particularly painful year. It’s already April and it’s only just purpling up. In previous years we’ve been eating it by early March.
But, that said, I’m very excited about the prospect of eating Purple Sprouting Broccoli. If you’ve never tasted it, then do it, and very soon. It’s the most Broccoliy tasting thing you’ll ever taste. It’s one of those vegetables that is worth growing, even though it’s probably the most expensive Broccoli you’ll ever have on your plate (cost/hour of your time that is). But still, I will grow it every year and I can’t wait to get it in the pan.
I’m pretty sure I saw the first signs of my future Sprouting Broccoli harvest today. Each branch has a tiny little sprout, tinged with purple, beginning to show. This is where the small bunches of curds will form. Ooh I can hardly wait. Purple Sprouting Broccoli is one of my favourite vegetables from the garden. You can hardly buy it in the shops (maybe at a farmer’s market) but it tastes sooo much better than common Broccoli (actually Calabrese) that it’s worth waiting nearly a whole year for.
I made sure that the plants were staked firmly and even earthed them up a little to stop wind rock. It would be a disaster if one of them fell over!
