This week I picked a couple of batches of Radishes - the first ones of my current sowing.
This batch is a mixture of "Cherry Belle" (round) and "Flamboyant 5" (long).
Although they were welcome, we thought they were not as nice as the ones I grew in the Spring. Somehow they seemed a bit watery rather than crisp in texture, and quite peppery in taste.
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| Flamboyant 5 |
The "De Ciccio" Broccoli yielded four nice spears:
I also harvested a few more pots of potatoes. These are"Annabelle" and "Winston".
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| "Annabelle" (Left) and "Winston" (Right) |
This one is rather nice, I think!
These are "Vales Emerald":
When you look closely you can see that their skins are beginning to harden. If they had not been picked, these ones would soon have passed the "new potato" stage, when you can just rub or scrub off the skins. Not that we ever do, because we like the skins, and they are the most nutritious part of the tuber anyway, so it seems a shame to discard them.
The Strawberries are continuing to trickle in, a few at a time. Great taste, shame about the quantity (lack of)!
The best thing about growing your own Strawberries is that you can pick them at just the right point - when they are completely ripe (unlike some of the crunchy ones you sometimes buy in the shops!)
This week also saw my first harvest of Broad Beans, just over 500g.
Yesterday I picked a second lot, weighing-in this time at 1kg:
We had no immediate plans for eating Broad Beans, so these ones went into a plastic bag in the fridge, where they will keep quite happily for several days. I think it makes sense to pick them before they get too big. Over-mature Broad beans can be very floury.
We had Lettuce a couple of times. The red-and-green one seen here is "Amaze". It is quite similar (except in colour) to "Little Gem".
This is "Webbs Wonderful".
Those two are not prime examples of the type. The hearts ought to be really tightly-packed, but those ones aren't. I know why. They have been grown too close together. Given more space I think they would have developed more slowly and would have produced denser hearts. "Webbs "Wonderful" is really not well suited to my small garden.
We have also been using loads of Herbs - Mint, Parsley, Chives, Thyme, and Savory. They are at their best just now, mature and full of flavour, but not yet old and tough.
I love this time of year - the garden is beginning to yield up its bounty!
I am link this post to Harvest Monday, hosted as ever by Daphne's Dandelions, where I'm sure you will see all manner of good things being harvested from other people's gardens and plots.
You are really getting some great harvests and so varied. And I agree about the strawberries. The ones from the grocery just aren't the same as the homegrown type. Even a small amount of homegrown berries are worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteNice harvest. I like the coloring on the Amaze lettuce. For strawberries, we sometimes go to the pick-your-own farms. You can pick the quantity you want and every one is a perfect berry. The farmers don't like that but they have pickers that go over the rows. If you buy a box of berries in their store, you are getting mostly the ones passed over.
ReplyDeleteA very nice harvest, the variety is starting to come now. My mum always scrapes her new potatoes, I tell her she's wasting the best bit but she won't have it. I just wash mine and eat them as they are, delicious.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful harvests you have had over the past week - talk about variety! I agree with you on the potato skins - I love them, even if they are a bit old. I'll probably be picking some broad beans soon too - having never grown them before, I think there will be a bit of trial and error as to when I should be doing that.
ReplyDeleteSpring radishes truly are the best. I think the summer radishes grow too quickly for their own good. Lovely broad beans, the sight of yours makes me miss them.
ReplyDeleteI can't say enough about your amazing 'taters! They always look so good.
ReplyDeleteThings are starting to happen! It all looks great!
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