I'm putting Blueberries at the top of my list this week, simply because they were unexpected. When I picked some the other day I thought that was it, so I was pleasantly surprised to be able to pick another 270g:
Unsurprisingly, almost all of those came from the one plant that I managed to protect with a net. The other plants are mostly bare by now.
I picked a few Cucamelons:
The jury's still out on these. I'm not overly enthused. A novelty, I would say, which probably won't appear in my garden again. I prefer the traditional type of cucumber, like these:
That's one each of "Passandra" (top) and "Diva". In terms of quality, I think these two are equal. In terms of appearance, "Passandra" is lightly slimmer than the chubby "Diva", but that's not necessarily a good thing.
Before we left home, I picked all the tomatoes that were nearly ripe and stashed them in the fridge in some of those green plastic "Stayfresh" bags. It was just over 3.5kgs.
I don't normally put fresh tomatoes in the fridge, because I think it can impair their flavour, but this was an emergency measure, to ensure that the fruit wouldn't spoil during our absence.
I pulled up another small batch of carrots.
I was specifically looking for small ones, to take for Jane's mother, who likes nibbling them raw. I found that what seems like a small carrot is not always a small carrot. And this bunch is very diverse anyway, because it contains specimens from three of the four varieties I'm growing. There a several short dumpy ones, which I wasn't expecting. They are all supposed to be long varieties, and they are growing in a very deep bed full of lovely stone-free sandy soil. Very odd.
Well, that's my harvests for another week. I'm linking my post to Harvest Monday, hosted by Dave at Our Happy Acres, where I'm sure you will be able to see loads more lovely veggies.
Lovely harvest Mark, the cucamelons look interesting. I am assuming they were grown in the greenhouse. PS you reminded me to take the net off my blueberries and harvest the last lot, off to do it now.
ReplyDeleteNo, the cucamelons were grown outdoors, like all my crops. I don't have a greenhouse.
DeleteThose cucumbers look good. I grow Marketmore and they tend to be quite high yield but vary so much in size and shape. No doubt down to pollination times and watering levels as well as sun.
ReplyDeleteHow thick is the skin of those cucumbers? Mine often get a tad thick.
The skin is not tough at all, Andy. The so-called "cocktail" cucumbers do tend to be better than the traditional outdoor varieties (like Marketmore) in this respect.
DeleteNice harvest considering you were away. I'm impressed with your tomato harvest and the fact you found enough room in the fridge for them. Wouldn't happen in mine.
ReplyDeleteDave, our fridge was only empty because we were going away. Normally it would have been full like yours!
DeleteThe "is the fridge good or bad" for tomatoes is pretty much answered here (with ref to other posts) http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/09/tomato-taste-test-refrigerate-tomatoes-furtther-testing-results.html
ReplyDeleteI think the result was ripe tomatoes in a fridge is perfectly OK.
That's an interesting article - thanks for posting the link. They key thing seems to be "What is room temperature?"
DeleteI'm sure those lovely blueberries were a pleasant surprise! And ditto what David said - our frig is usually too full of stuff. It will be interesting to see what you think about the tomatoes after their cold storage.
ReplyDeleteOur fridge was only that empty because we were going away for a week!
DeleteWhen it comes to the tomato harvest, you gotta do what you gotta do. Even with a slight loss in flavour from being refrigerated they are likely still miles ahead of those at the grocery store.
ReplyDeleteMust admit like you I don't keep tomatoes that we are going to eat raw in the fridge.
ReplyDeleteLook at all your tomatoes! And the blueberries look especially good. My carrots only grow short and fat because of our heavy clay soil, but that's odd that yours are doing that.
ReplyDeleteGreat harvest Mark. That is a fab amount of blueberries. Mine are coming in drips and drabs but admittedly quite a few have been eaten straight from the bushes.
ReplyDeleteI've been getting Cucamelons that are falling off the vines which is apparently an indication that they are ripe, they don't look much different. They definitely taste less tart and a little more flavorful, I think I'm going to just gather the fallen ones now. How strange that your carrots are stubby, it sounds like you have the ideal soil for nice long ones.
ReplyDeleteBlueberries are always a nice surprise! Your cucamelons are adorable even if they aren't the best tasting. I've never grown them, but they do look interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to hear your view of cucamelons – I got the impression they were bit of a gimmick and, as a result, haven't tried growing them.
ReplyDelete