The beans were accompanied by some more finger Carrots and a nice batch of Blueberries.
The Blueberries were mostly from the "Earliblue" bush. There was a total of just over 300 grams. I have five Blueberry plants now, all growing in pots, and they are all of different varieties so I get quite a long cropping period. [Note: most of my Blueberry plants are ones that I have acquired as Special Offers from various magazines. If you're interested in this type of thing, the BBC Good Food magazine has a reader offer running at present whereby you can get a "Top Hat" Blueberry plant 'free', paying only £5.60 for postage.]
I just love the bloom on the berries. They look as if they have been lightly dusted with talcum powder!
The carrots are hardly show-bench specimens, and there aren't that many of them, but they were still nice - and significantly unaffected by Carrot Fly. They were all the nicer for the fact that I have heard that most people in the UK have failed to grow ANY carrots at all this year.
Looking at the Carrots growing in their plastic boxes in the raised planter, you wouldn't think they were worth having, but appearances can be deceptive. Underneath the compost's surface, they are not that bad.
This method of growing carrots, keeping them "at altitude" seems to work. Two years in a row now I have had carrots that are worth eating. Hooray! Next year I think I may have a go at growing some bigger, maincrop, varieties.
This week I also harvested some more potatoes. This batch of "Pink Fir Apple" weighed 1.6 kilos.
I was just a little disappointed to see that some of them have a bit of scab. Nothing too serious, and relatively easy to remove with a bit of vigorous scrubbing, but it spoils the look of them a little.
I also tidied-up my Shallot crop, removing the dried-up foliage. The total weight from the 15 sets I planted was 1.3 kilos. Somehow I thought it would be more. It looks more than three times what I started with. Maybe my nominal 500g pack (18 sets) was actually less than 500g?
And then there was another little picking of French Beans - 140g this time, about 60:40 "Speedy" (green) and "Polka" (yellow).
Next week will hopefully see the first picking of Runner Beans...
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To see what other people have been harvesting this week, visit Harvest Monday on Daphne's Dandelions.
What a great harvest. Your photos are lovely.
ReplyDeletevery nice harvest this week! Love the beans and fingerlings.
ReplyDeletegreat harvest!
ReplyDeleteBeans are really nice and straight! Mine are all curly.
ReplyDeleteMy carrots are in the ground, I am a tad worried to pick them, no doubt they would have been affected by the dreaded carrot fly. What a great harvest you have.
ReplyDeleteEverything looks great! I have to grow favas in late fall here, so I plan to plant them in October. I am really looking forward to trying them.
ReplyDeleteThose blueberries look wonderful. I wish mine would put out that many, but it is just their second year. I'll have to have a bit of patience.
ReplyDeleteYour blueberries are fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteNice harvest. The blueberries are beautiful. You did a great job photographing them and the contrast between the blue, orange, and green in the basket is very attractive. Hope they taste as good as they look.
ReplyDeleteMark, What beautiful veggies! And the blueberries are, too. Your gardening efforts are paying off rather handsomely! Thanks for the birthday wishes, too!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, the colors in that first photo! It all looks so lovely, even the potatoes with their itty bitty spots.
ReplyDeleteVery nice full harvest! Lots of colors and variety. How nice to harvest your blueberries for so long. I only have 3 plants in their second year and have not had but a few so far. Can't wait for them to produce bowls like yours!
ReplyDeleteThat is such a wonderful harvest...! All your vegetables are doing you so proud, Mark. My favorites somehow are the pink potatoes and the blueberries.
ReplyDeleteGreat crops Mark, I'm feeling quite jealous, my winter crops aren't going as well as usual and as a result just looking at your veg is making me hungry. I do have flowers on my blueberries though so maybe I have some of them in my future at least.
ReplyDeleteMark this is my third try at leaving a comment! And now all I want to do is complain about my slow computer rather than compliment your fabulous blueberries.
ReplyDeleteHi Ali; Im glad you persevered. It's nice to know that you are still out there and following my blog! :)
DeleteIt's strange as I know people who grow carrots high and still have carrot fly attacks. Maybe growing in a graden attracts the fliws less especially when you don't grow long rows of them - maybe the smell isn't as strong.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed by the blueberries - we may have to end up netting ours in furure.
Bountiful harvests. I accidentally pulled up a tiny carrot last night while weeding, it was barely a mouthful so far ;) We only have one blueberry plant but have picked quite a bit of fruit this year from it, something that's not suffering as much as the rest of the garden!
ReplyDeleteHas inspired me to try blueberries next year.How will they do in North Lancashire.Do they need specialist pruning?
ReplyDeleteHi Shinny; I would think that Blueberries would do OK in North Lancs, because they are originally a cool-weather plant. I don't know much about pruning them, but I know that they produce fruit on new wood, so it is best to cut out some of the oldest wood each year to promote new growth. I do this after thay have fruited.
DeleteOh, look at the harvest! Loved those blueberries :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulation on your first shallot harvest! Ahhh blueberries I envy you :). Nice produce. Good work with the carrot.
ReplyDeletewow what a nice and varied harvest! Envy those of you that can grow blueberreis!
ReplyDelete