What are you harvesting today?

Did a bit of a 'stir fry forage' around the garden - tried some Cavolo Nero kale, which is a bit young really, but it was delicious, and the chinese broccoli which is flowering before it should be and was also delicious.

Had the last of the greenhouse toms on Sunday, my they were so sweet. We have now had some frost so I suspect I will not get anymore.

Intend to pull some carrots for the weekend.

Pulled some great carrots, best I have ever grown. Shall certainly do the same with thr seeds this year. A great success

As the weather is at last a bit warmer I had a chance to wander round the garden deciding what needed doing. I had a row of leaf beet which had survived the cold temperature - I was going to give it to the chickens to eat but then realised that a lot of the leaves were quite edible. So I dug up four huge plants with all kinds of side shoots. I cut them up (leaving a lot of soil in the kitchen!) sorted the leaves, washed them then trimmed them. Finally I sweated them in a pan so I could freeze them. From four huge plants I ended up with less than a cupful of cooked leaves!! Never mind - I've got a recipe which uses a thin layer of spinach at the bottom of the dish which is then covered with minced pork sauce and noodles, so it will be enough for that. And the really good thing is that I've got a space in the garden for planting out the cauliflower plants I've been over-wintering!

Emptied a pot of carrots today. Planted last Autumn but quite a few nice baby carrots.

Emptied the last carrot pot today some nice ones ready for tomorrow & Sunday

wild garlic, it grows in my garden so maybe not really "wild"

Wild garlic grows up on the road to the Malverns from Ledbury - it's a fantastic smell on a warm spring day when you drive up there with the windows open...unless my mother is in the car, who will not tolerate garlic in any shape or form,!!

Rhubarb. Going with homegrown blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries that have been residing in the freezer, to make a summer pudding (with home-made bread, of course).

I love the smell of wild garlic - didn't know you could eat it though.

My last few leeks. I'll be cutting some baby leaf salad tomorrow too.

Asparagus again yesterday. The baby leaf salad from seed trays in the garden is still going strong; particularly good value since the seed were a freebie giveaway from the "Recycle Now" stall at the local fete. It is quite a nice mix of lettuces and rocket. Better value than the free basil seeds with the Lakeland catalogue; it looked a bit scant and squashed and has produced just one seedling ...

My first potatoes of the year. Planted in early February and grown in a mix of spent compost mixed with fresh worm compost, in a planter in the greenhouse. As me mum gave me the seed potatoes, they've cost me nothing - well, time and energy, but not pennies.

That's amazing! I planted mine in late Feb (in my shed-with-a-plastic-roof) but the leaves are only just over the top of the planting bags. It'll be a good few weeks yet.
I bet they tasted fantastic!

Cut lots of sage & parsley which is drying in the oven. Smells great.

Lettuce for the OH.

I'm now bored with asparagus, so I'm letting it grow away now. But now, I've got onions, cabbage, broad beans and I picked my first ripe strawberry yesterday Green chillies at least look like there might not be long to wait too ...

I picked my first strawberry a couple of days ago - looking forward to more, I went to look and found a single ripe one left on the stem. All the rest scatted about half eaten. Probably birds, maybe squirrels. They're netted now.
And yesterday, my first raspberries.

That's great! I think my strawberries are a late variety, so they're still small and green, and I have autumn rasps, so that pleasure is still to come.

The first cucumber from the greenhouse.

Mmm. Cucumbers are always better when homegrown and fresh, I think. I have a couple of plants of Cucino, which makes baby cucumbers about 4-6" long. They are great, although it did mean dealing with T&M to get them, which will ensure another 5 years of mailbombing.

Chilli-head wrote:Mmm. Cucumbers are always better when homegrown and fresh, I think. I have a couple of plants of Cucino, which makes baby cucumbers about 4-6" long. They are great, although it did mean dealing with T&M to get them, which will ensure another 5 years of mailbombing.

Yes, that's the variety I am growing - the man doesn't care for cucumber, so they are ideal size for just me. And I bought the seed from a garden centre, so no problems with unwanted mail.

We've had some tiny Douce Provence peas - only a tablespoonful when they were podded so they went in with carrots and cauli, but they were very nice. There are some tayberries looking a bit ripe today, but I'm feeling a bit too tired to try to slip past the chickens and pick them. Maybe the weekend (and by then the one or two strawberries may be ripe for fruit salad or meringues)

Today I picked my first sugarsnap peas, and we've just had them for dinner. They were goooood.

How did you cook them?

Steamed, for just a few minutes.

Oooh lovely.

I'll be inventing a broad bean and blackfly recipe soon (I suppose I could pretend they're poppy seeds...)