This week I picked the first of my large tomatoes: two fruits each from my two "Orkado" plants.
I also picked the first of the "Cobra" climbing French Beans (bottom left in the photo above). These are lovely beans: long, straight, and tender even when mature. Cobra is a variety I have grown for many years now, and I thoroughly recommend it.
At the same time I also picked a few of the "Polka" yellow Dwarf French Beans. They are OK, but not hugely prolific so far. I like them for their colour mainly. And what can I say about the Runner Bean harvest? It is certainly "bountiful" this year. I have lost track of the total weight I have picked, but this week alone I have picked three lots, each in the region of 650 - 750 grams, so I think the total so far must be about 4kgs. I have three big "Stayfresh" bags of them in the fridge now, so a backlog is building up and I think I will soon be a ble to freeze another batch. And this is despite the fact that we have had our daughter Fiona and her husband Juan staying with us for a few days, and we have all eaten Runner Beans every day. Wow, young people eat a lot compared with us oldies!
Talking of Fiona and Juan, I want to show you a lovely piece of ceramic ware which they gave me earlier this year as a Father's Day gift. In my photo it is being put to use for holding my latest batch of Blueberries (I picked another 370g this week).
Isn't that beautiful?
This week I also picked the first two ripe chillis from my plants - one each from "Hot Portugal" and "Fuego F1". To be honest, they weren't 100% ripe, but I had got fed up of waiting! This year they have taken AGES to ripen, and the whole chilli crop is going to be very sparse.
I'm going to write about potatoes more fully tomorrow, but just for now here's some evidence that I dug up about 2kg of various types of new potato this last week.
One of the ways we used the potatoes was to cook them in our Tefal ActiFry machine, which basically makes them into chips, but uses a very small quantity of oil and therefore keeping them healthy. They are lovely done this way. You could enhance them by adding some chopped herbs too - such as Rosemary or Savory.
Lots more cherry tomatoes this week too - this batch is about 700g:
Finally, I dug up my Hardneck Garlic crop - not huge (15 heads) - but a first for me, so exciting no matter what the result! I think the bulbs were a bit on the small side, but a few of them were respectable enough:
I've learnt a bit about growing garlic this year, and I think I will have another go, but I'll try Autumn-planted garlic this time. I have read that Hardneck Garlic doesn't keep very well. Is this your experience?
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Finally,a plea to my readers for their support in the Achica Blogs Award. My blog is on the shortlist of 3 in the Gardening category. The competition ends on Thursday 16th August, and I would be very grateful if you would help me win! To vote, follow this link:
http://www.achica.com/achicaliving/2012/08/vote-for-your-favourite-blog-in-the-achica-blog-awards-2012/
Thank you.
Really nice harvest, and I am amazed every week how blue your blueberries are. The red dish really sets them off. I'm in the same situation with beans, can not get any more in the fridge. Fortunately they are going to pick up this evening for the local food pantry so I can give them to someone who really needs them.
ReplyDeleteStill no red tomatoes yet but our runners have started to crop and are loaded with tiny beans
ReplyDeleteWhat a very nice harvest you have there! Everything looks beautiful. Last year I had my first garlic harvest and I'd only planted a bit so I had all of 15 heads to use. I ran out by January, but they'd certainly kept very nicely til then and I think would've kept quite a bit longer. We have a very dry cold basement(dry because of a dehumidifier)so things keep pretty well down there.
ReplyDeleteI love the blueberries in the red dish!
ReplyDeleteNot sure what I like best the harvest or the pictures of you harvest :)
ReplyDeleteI voted for you the other day Mark, good luck though i dont think you need it. I can't remember what garlic i grew last year but it kept for ages. Well long enough for me to use it all anyway. I'm quite eager for the garlic to appear at the garden centres now.
ReplyDeleteThese veggies look so great!
ReplyDeleteOh, it's all so pretty! I don't know how you manage to grow such perfect looking vegetables and you do such a great job of photographing them.
ReplyDeleteYes those blueberries look fabulous. As to garlic, in general that is true, but it depends upon the kind of hardneck garlic. I grow German Extra Hardy which is a porcelain hardneck. It keeps for 12 months or until the next harvest for me. So it is a great keeper. I think porcelain garlics break the rule of hardnecks not storing for very long.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos as always Mark. I am so jealous of those toms. Fully blighted up here. Gutted. A summer just isn't a summer without tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteYour blueberries are indeed, beautiful, but so is everything else that looks like it's in living color. My hot peppers are taking forever to ripen as well...maybe they just like being green?!
ReplyDeletelovely harvest; love the red ceramic and it really shows off your blue berries.
ReplyDeleteVery lovely harvest and congrats on the first round of garlic!
ReplyDeleteYour garlic is gorgeous...almost as gorgeous as those blueberries in that red dish! Holy cow! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful harvest, you're doing so well with everything in spite of what the weather has thrown at us this year. Lovely ceramic ware, perfect for holding your blueberry harvest. I'm so envious of your tomatoes, though my plants are starting to produce a few more now, I just need them to grow a bit and ripen. Even the Incas, which are outdoors, have a few tiny fruits.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos as usual, but particularly like your blueberries and the chillies. Your photos are making me crave summer produce!
ReplyDeleteThose beans have me envious, mine haven't done so much but there is still hope. Nice shot of the blueberries.
ReplyDeleteFabulous harvests Mark - your tomatoes look perfect, the blueberries delicious and the potatoes just great. Most of all though I want to eat those beans I do miss beans, ah well just a few months before I shoudl have them too.
ReplyDeleteWOW! WOW! WOW!
ReplyDeleteYou seem so far ahead of us where you are. We are going to be luck to see a red tomato in August! The tomatoes in the first picture look divine and the quantities of produce you are getting are great.
Our big red chillies aren't ready yet, but the Fillius Blue are ready for harvesting.
Great stuff as usual, love reading your blog!
Martin
Wonderful harvest, Mark! I'm quite envious. I'd love to know what kind of blueberry you're growing and how long you've had this bush. My original blueberries were in the care of friend who has not managed to keep them growing so I need to reinvest.
ReplyDeleteI've read that hardneck garlic doesn't store as well as the soft neck varieties, but we've had luck storing our autumn-planted hardneck ones until the new ones are up. It may be that they're now well-adapted after several years of growing from our own seed. Lovely harvest, especially if this is your first go at it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photographs as always, you have my vote!
What stunning vegetables! Just gorgeous and I love the pretty dish with the blueberries. You should be very proud of your harvest!
ReplyDeleteIts such a joy to read through your posts. You have such bountiful harvests. Also I voted for your blog. Looks like you are going to win it - you got 225votes so far while the other two have got 52 and 19 votes (according to the website.) Congratulations in advance!
ReplyDeleteDelicious - I am really looking forward to being able to grow edibles again. I've been missing it, despite the lousy weather proving so challenging.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful harvest! Your garlic is beautiful.
ReplyDelete