Re: What are you harvesting today?

by Ploshkin 3rd August 2013, 6:58 pm

This thread should be renamed 'What are the blackbirds harvesting today'. I've managed to rescue a reasonable amount of blackcurrants & realised that it has all been a front for the raiding of my early blueberries - the bush is bare! I'll have to resort to netting the later ones which I rarely do. They're raiding the redcurrants big time too so I'll have to mount a rescue mission on those tomorrow. On the positive side perhaps it means that they have had a good breeding season this year.
FB I've heard loads of reports of tomatoes taking an age to start ripening this year. I've had some sungold but the rest (4 other varieties) are determined to stay huge & green

by Dandelion 3rd August 2013, 10:05 pm

...or small and green!!
Sadly I've had the first signs of blight today. I had been keeping my eye on a tomato plant in a large pot as the leaves had a little yellow mottling - nothing too awful, but today I saw two unmistakeably blightly fruits. I've removed them, and any yellowing leaves. I had been growing the tomato in the garden, but with rain forecast I had moved it inside one of our light sheds (not greenhouses, but with see-through roofs). Despite that, it has still succumbed. All the rest (inside and out) look fine - interestingly, the sick one was the only one I accidentally watered with water from the butt, which had been there since last year, so that could be the cause.

by freebird 3rd August 2013, 10:37 pm

Oh that's disappointing Dandelion. I've not seen any sign of blight on mine, but did make a point of growing blight resistant varieties outdoors, so keeping fingers crossed. So far the potatoes have been ok.

by polgara 4th August 2013, 7:24 pm

Toms, cues, pots & beans. Well pleased

by Dandelion 5th August 2013, 9:07 pm

The last of the cauliflowers, which had become quite overgrown and wierd. The flowers were on their way to becoming pinky purple, and the whole cauli head was uneven and strange looking. Tasted OK though!

by Ploshkin 8th August 2013, 9:05 am

The cucumbers have joined the courgettes in a bid for world domination. Still only sungold ripening in the tomato department. Dug a couple more rows of potatoes as the leaves are starting to get some tell tale spots - Arran pilot, a fantastic crop of mahoosive spuds. Picked a very nice second crop of strawberries from the hanging baskets in the greenhouse, they're big & sweet & much better than the earlier crop. Typical isn't it, now that the toms & cucs have got going I've got a blip in my lettuce supply.

by Dandelion 9th August 2013, 6:33 pm

Well, I seriously hope that the gooseberries I picked today are going to taste good - I have some savage scratches on my arm!

by freebird 10th August 2013, 2:55 pm

Yeay! My first few runner beans today. The hot dry weather meant the earlier flowers didn't set, and I notice that some of the plants are quite badly infested with the dreaded blackfly. But if the weather holds, I'm hoping for some reasonable crops in the next weeks. A N D at last my greenhouse tomatoes are starting to change colour. Also accidentally harvested my first chilli, while attending to the greenhouse watering - it got knocked off a plant that is now 8 feet high and is making a bid for freedom out the greenhouse roof.

Oh, and a goodly picking of ginormous blackberries. And courgettes of course.

by Dandelion 10th August 2013, 4:48 pm

My courgettes are now marrows, so DD1 made a big marrow and tomato casserole this morning Very Happy

I have a few blackberries on the new plant I put in last year (Oregon thornless - really pretty leaves) which'll be ripe in a few weeks time. But I spotted some monster brambles coming over the fence from next door which look as if they have much bigger fruit on - the brambles have been attacking me as I was trying to sort out the bed underneath them, so I will have to cut them back eventually.

by Ploshkin 14th August 2013, 4:57 pm

70lbs of honey - whoo hoo!

by freebird 14th August 2013, 8:14 pm

Ploshkin wrote:70lbs of honey - whoo hoo!

Blimey - has it been a good year for honey, or have you had good luck?

by Ploshkin 15th August 2013, 11:26 am

It has been a good year for honey in these parts but I could potentially have had double that. I only managed to stop one hive from swarming, the others were popping off every 5 minutes taking half the foraging force with them and also we have had dull, wet weather ever since the willowherb started to flower so very little collected from that. I think I have mainly clover & bramble which were both out in force when we had our 3 week summer last month.

by freebird 18th August 2013, 5:42 pm

My first red chilli! More courgettes, superb blackberries, autumn-fruiting raspberries (the best raspberries I've had all year), greenhouse tomatoes, and best of all, my first ever plums off my 3 (or is it 4?) year old plum tree.

by polgara 18th August 2013, 7:24 pm

Runner & green beans & toms & cue.

by Dandelion 19th August 2013, 11:17 am

polgara wrote:Runner & green beans & toms & cue.

Pol, you're a marvel - all that harvest considering that it hasn't been an easy year for you.

by Chilli-head 19th August 2013, 9:47 pm

Tomatoes - well impressed with a dwarf bush type Red Robin. Very cute and productive in small clay pots on the patio. Plenty of cucumbers, both greenhouse and outdoor. A couple of nice calabrese, carrots, and red onions. Oh, and a raspberry ! Hopefully more to come.

Lettuce has all bolted, and the fennel has largely vanished. One year I might figure out where it goes. The squash Sweet dumpling from the seed swap are romping over the plot - I'll have to lok out what to do with them.

by Ploshkin 28th August 2013, 8:09 pm

Hey - first runner beans & thanks to the busy bumbles it is looking to be a bumper crop. I feel some jars of pickled runner beans coming on - if you haven't tried River Cottage pickled beans then you haven't lived.

Finally got a ripe tomato other than sungold - a couple of black cherry which I've grown for the first time. Still picking strawberries from the hanging baskets in the gh, they have had a brilliant season.

I think I am going to struggle for green stuff this winter, they're all in rhacs, thanks to the caterpillars, despite being under mesh.

by Dandelion 28th August 2013, 8:28 pm

Picked the first tomato from my Yellow Brandywine plant which has been growing in the shed - the fruit was 14oz in weight, and made two rounds of tomatoes on toast and three cheese and tomato sandwiches. That's what I call value for money!

by Jaded Green 29th August 2013, 10:11 am

sounds lovely. we didn't grow any tomatoes this year.

We must start planning some autumn sowing.

by Chilli-head 29th August 2013, 1:01 pm

Something has gone rather awry with my chillies this year. I have a pot labelled Mulato with a red bell peper on it. And the ones labelled Ancho look brown, suspiciously like they are Mulato. I stuffed and barbecued some of the Sweet Nardello, supposedly a long pointed pepper at the weekend and was left with a mouth on fire !

I must take more care with my labelling next year.

by Dandelion 29th August 2013, 9:43 pm

Chilli-head wrote:Something has gone rather awry with my chillies this year. I have a pot labelled Mulato with a red bell peper on it. And the ones labelled Ancho look brown, suspiciously like they are Mulato. I stuffed and barbecued some of the Sweet Nardello, supposedly a long pointed pepper at the weekend and was left with a mouth on fire !

I must take more care with my labelling next year.

You don't keep a bottle of sherry in your greenhouse do you??

by freebird 30th August 2013, 9:40 am

Look what I just brought in from the garden.....
What are you harvesting today? - Page 16 Harves10

by Ploshkin 30th August 2013, 10:06 am

by Chilli-head 30th August 2013, 10:46 am

Very pretty. Don't fresh vegetables look so appealing when artfully arranged together like that. I'm sure they will taste as good as they look. Don't hang around too long getting the sweetcorn to the kitchen !

I'm sure you now deserve to treat yourself to a nice, had crafted traditional trug though, FB Very Happy

by freebird 30th August 2013, 11:26 am

Chilli-head wrote:I'm sure you now deserve to treat yourself to a nice, had crafted traditional trug though, FB

You'll probably think I'm a complete philistine, but I actually prefer a plastic trug. It's lightweight and really easy to clean.

by Chilli-head 7th September 2013, 9:09 pm

Lots of stuff to get in today. I spent the morning digging potatoes, then in the afternooon went back to pick some other stuff - cucumbers, beetroot, peas, sweetcorn, calabrese, raspberries, and peppers and chilles from the greenhouse. Just got to work out what to do with it all now !

by Sponsored content