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What are you harvesting today?

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Post by FloBear 5th July 2015, 5:15 pm

Dandelion wrote:
Ploshkin wrote:
I've also picked some green & have some gooseberry & elderflower ice cream in the making.

That sounds scrumptious!

Certainly does!  I had some fabulous fresh-picked-raspberry ice-cream made b my sister when I went to visit during the week. Must not give in and get an ice-cream maker, though, as I'd indulge far too often.

Today I picked Broad beans, gooseberries, blueberries and I pulled up a small garlic clove from the sprouting-in-the-kitchen ones that I planted at the same time as some that I bought from the GC.


Last edited by FloBear on 5th July 2015, 5:18 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : forgot the produce :-))

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Post by Ploshkin 5th July 2015, 7:23 pm

It was scrumptious - just had some with gooseberry crumble made with the red ones
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Post by Chilli-head 5th July 2015, 8:19 pm

I picked my first outdoor cucumber yesterday. Tonight I picked a trugfull of tomatoes to make a litre of passata usimg the trusty Seeds of Italy passata press. That made pasta sauce for dinner.

Also picked off the tail end of the strawberries to make smoothies yesterday

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Post by Dandelion 7th July 2015, 8:01 pm

Peas, lovely peas - popped in with the pasta for the last few minutes of cooking, then tossed with butter, shredded ham, sauted button mushroom and a good twist of black pepper. Worth all the hassle (for the third year in a row my pea support has failed, despite my attempts to improve and refine it. I have had to prop the whole huge mound of growth up with chicken fencing. It looks a complete mess, but the peas are lovely!)
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Post by freebird 7th July 2015, 8:16 pm

Mmm - peas from the garden. Yum. I'm having a good raspberry year, despite the heat, dry weather and lack of watering.
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Post by Chilli-head 7th July 2015, 10:10 pm

Dandelion wrote:Worth all the hassle (for the third year in a row my pea support has failed, despite my attempts to improve and refine it. I have had to prop the whole huge mound of growth up with chicken fencing. It looks a complete mess, but the peas are lovely!)

You need to find a silver birch tree to prune to make pea sticks.  If you use them quite thickly,  they give surprising good support,  without being scratcy or getting in the way whilst harvesting.
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Post by Dandelion 8th July 2015, 8:13 pm

Oh dear - we moved from a house with a huge silver birch 12 years ago!! Will try to track down our nearest (or maybe there's one in the school grounds!!!)
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Post by Chilli-head 9th July 2015, 11:12 am

Getting a bit weary of tomato and rocket salad !

Last night I made a "Tarte d'été à la tomate" - or summer tomato tart, seing that I have a lot of tomatoes this year. Very nice. It uses a puff pastry case, with sweated red onions, a layer of sliced tomatoes, topped with a scattering of fresh basil and olives. The onion, tomato and basil were all as fresh as can be, and though I don't have much basil yet, it was so fragrant that only little was needed.

Hoping to get the first few Cobra French beans tonight.
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Post by Chilli-head 12th July 2015, 9:09 pm

Lots of picking today.  The first cabbage - The Real Seed Catalogue's Precoce de Louviers.  What a splendid variety; very nicely shaped pointy cabbage, fairly mild flavour.  Also picked peas, and 3 courgettes.  First pickings of the Kew Blue beans from the seed swap, which were rather nice - strong beany flavour.  And some broad beans from the plants I almost dug out because of the blackfly, but a couple of dousings with soft soap seems to have killed enough of them for me to still get a crop.  The plants are forming new growth from the base, so a second crop might be possible.  Never give in !

Finally picked off the rest of the "bonus" raspberries - they are Polka, an autumn variety, but if you leave the old canes on you get a few extra in early summer.  Also the tail end of the strawberries, and 1.5kg of blackcurrants - from one bush of two !  We used some for a baked cheescake for tea tonight. Mmmm.
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Post by FloBear 12th July 2015, 11:05 pm

We had part 2 of Summer pudding this evening as I had a mixture of gooseberries, blueberries, blackcurrants and the three last strawberries from the garden.
Also had some of our Broad beans in the risotto as well as some last night as a side veg. They have a lovely flavour and texture. Masterpiece Green Longpod - I'll be growing those again. And the parrots like them too!
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Post by freebird 13th July 2015, 8:39 am

Oh yes Flo - Masterpiece Green Longpod is the only variety of broad bean that I will grow. They are absolutely lovely (blackfly permitting), and you can save seed for the following year too.
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Post by Chilli-head 13th July 2015, 10:18 am

freebird wrote:Masterpiece Green Longpod is the only variety of broad bean that I will grow.

That sounds surprisingly definitive ! There are a lot of broad beans that ought to be OK for seed saving. Broad beans are an odd one; posh chefs seem to always peel each bean (or more likely get a minion to do it !). This to me removes almost all the flavour. Some may not like the slight bitterness and toughness of the skin, but if you eat them early enough then it is less of a problem and to me a pleasant aspect of the taste. Indeed if you pick them early enough you can eat them pod and all - I think Dandelion mentioned this ? It is also how I have had them served on Cyprus.

My regular broad bean is one of the many incarnations of Super Aquadulce - this year Super Aguadulce, the Seeds of Italy version which I like because it comes in a generously filled box. I chose these because I prefer to overwinter them for about 3 reasons. They develop a good root system so are more immune to the unpredictable spring weather; they provide an early crop rather than yet anouther vegetable available in July/August when there is a glut of lots of things, and finally because the blackfly normally only get the tops, and by that time they are well on their way to cropping anyway. As far as I know the Aquadulce's and The Sutton are the only ones thet overwinter really well, though I have overwintered some of the supposedly spring planting types too in a good year.

The ones I just picked are Red Epicure sown in spring, chosen because I liked the colour. Embarassed
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Post by FloBear 13th July 2015, 2:05 pm

Good news about seed-saving, Freebird, thanks. I would have given it a try anyway but nice to know it's worth doing.
Chilli, as you say, the beans only need peeling when old and tough so these posh chefs ought to look to their suppliers for fresher stock!
We did eat some of the small pods in a stir-frry the other week and the parrots like the beans too so we save the smallest ones for them. Have tried offering a pod but it gets chucked on the floor.

My cucumbers are rather slow as I got them in a bit late but there are a few now in evidence. Have just check the plant info and discovered that the variety I have is said to grow to 3m!!! (The plant, not the fruit, silly Very Happy ) Oo-er.
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Post by freebird 13th July 2015, 5:58 pm

I grow that variety because it's good to eat, good to look at (unlike the rather unattractive white skinned varieties) and does well in my garden. I think I've said before that I'm not a great experimenter. If something works for me, I stick with it.
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Post by Chilli-head 13th July 2015, 7:17 pm

Fair enough FB. Are you saying that the skin on the beans stays bright green when cooked ?
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Post by freebird 13th July 2015, 10:22 pm

Yes, they do stay green. I always find the white skinned ones off-putting.
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Post by Ploshkin 14th July 2015, 10:37 am

I am off put by the white skinned ones too. I usually grow The Sutton. They are dwarf plants which suit our often windy conditions.

I picked my first raspberries yesterday - made eton mess using the egg whites left over from the gooseberry ice cream for the meringue.
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Post by Chilli-head 14th July 2015, 10:53 am

For my lunch today, I've achieved that special thing - a homegrown meal ! Potato salad (new potatoes and spring onion), and a tomato/cucumber/rocket salad. I've allowed myself the slight cheats of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a twist of black pepper.
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Post by Dandelion 14th July 2015, 10:09 pm

That sounds lovely!
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Post by Chilli-head 18th July 2015, 5:26 pm

Lots of stuff available now. Tomatoes for salad and for squishing into passata. Beans - kew blue from the seed swap are now doing well after a slow start, aand my red epicure broad beans produced a fair few despite chronic blackfly. Cucumbers - we are liking the dragon's egg from tge seed swap- not very melon like despite what I read on the web, but crisp and refreshing without a thick skin. Thanks to whoever put them in.

We are going to dig some new potatoes too to barbecue in foil parcels for dinner, along with courgettes and the first few peppers.
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Post by Dandelion 18th July 2015, 10:52 pm

Our neighbour has a cherry tree right next to the fence -since we had the fence replaced, the tree seems to have had one main branch hanging over our fence. I know that the cherries are quite sour, but would make good jam. My other half netted the cherries which are on our side to keep the blackbirds off, and today I finally saw our neighbour and asked whether he wanted us to pick the cherries for him. He said that they don't eat them, and suggested that we tried making jam. The freeezer is crammed full, and we don't need any more jam, but I can't let an opportunity like that pass me by!
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Post by freebird 19th July 2015, 9:17 pm

Bottle them, Dandelion.
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Post by Ploshkin 19th July 2015, 9:40 pm

I must mention my cucumbers. They are doing fantastically well - a short variety and a long one.
You may recall (or not) that I have always had cucumber woes, a good first flush after which most of the tiny fruit just goes yellow. Chilli Head recommended high nitrogen feed & I managed to get a few extras last year.
I also tried out self watering pots for some tomatoes last year as recommended by Freebird but without much success. So, this year I decided to try cucumbers in the self watering pots & I filled the tank with diluted high nitrogen feed. It has been a resounding success. Both plants are almost up to the top of the greenhouse back wall with all of the fruit nice & green & developing nicely. I've been giving away cucumbers!
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Post by Dandelion 19th July 2015, 10:30 pm

It's lovely when you solve a problem Ploshkin!

Mr D went out and picked about 4lb of cherries this afternoon - I suggested that he made jam, but he doesn't like cherry jam! So tomorrow I'll pack some in a little sugar and freeze them for pies: I did a bit of rearranging in the freezer, so I should be able to hammer a couple more containers in!!
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Post by FloBear 19th July 2015, 11:10 pm

Cherries are one of my favourites. Perhaps if I get my three fruit trees established I could try cherries next.
Good to hear of your cucumber success, Ploshkin. My first one is due to be picked tomorrow. Outdoor variety, went in a little late but they seem to be catching up now.
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Post by Dandelion 20th July 2015, 10:49 pm

I've learnt few things about cherries today - having ended up with 4lb in the fridge (and having a husband who doesn't like cherry jam) I needed to be lateral. The cherries are desperately sour, but I've discovered that they are prized in the States, so have tapped into a rich vein of recipes and tips. I've frozen most of them in sugar, cooked some to have with ice cream for tea (with lots of sugar in, I'm afraid), and also tried a variation on an almond cake, but putting a big handful of chopped sour cherries in before baking. It worked very well. I also discovered, having bought a cherry pitting tool for £5.95, that a paper clip works just as well, and avoids the blisters which were beginning to form as I pitted the fourth pound of fruit!
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