Thursday 1 September 2016

Abundance!

Yesterday I said I was going to spend some time harvesting, and I certainly did. Let me show you...


Runner Beans, Cucumbers, Beetroot...


"Boltardy" Beetroot and "Pink Fir Apple" potatoes...


Lettuce, Tomatoes and Spring Onions...


This "January King" Cabbage was in dire need of harvesting because it had begun to split. If we use it soon it will still be OK though.


There was even a useable quantity of Cucumelons. Jane is going to try pickling these. I don't think I will like them, but she might.



Notice that there are also a couple of chillis in that saucer. The yellow one is "Aji Limon" and the little red one is a "Purira".

In between jobs in the garden I made a batch of tomato and chilli sauce, which is now in the freezer. I have enough tomatoes to make at least three more batches, and there are still plenty of fruits on the plants. The "Maskotka" plants are finished though - they are a consistently early variety - and I have cut them down:



However, I have about 3kgs of their fruits at various stages of ripeness waiting to be used. This is some of them:



The "Montello" plant has a few fruit left on it still, so I'll leave it a bit longer before cutting it down.



Another job I did yesterday was to remove a load of "superannuated" Lettuces (mostly bolted), and replace them with new little seedlings. I have planted 4 each of "Little Gem", "Tom Thumb" and "Dubacek". I'm hoping they will make it to maturity before the frosts come.

Endives, Radicchio, Spring Onions and the new Lettuces

OK now, this will raise a smile: cutting the big "January King" seen above revealed the true extent of the puniness of the "Brilliant" Brussels Sprout plant, seen here at the left of the photo below. Contrast it with the two much bigger BS plants to its right! The silvery-grey plant at the right corner is a "Ruby Perfection" Red Cabbage, which is nearly ready for cutting.


7 comments:

  1. Wow, your tomatoes, lettuce, and beans look incredible. It's fabulous that you're getting such a variety of vegetables from your garden. I'm starting the big garden cleanup this weekend so likely there'll only be peppers and luffa in the garden after this.

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  2. Your garden seems to be in its full glory right now. I'm no expert on growing Brussels Sprouts, this being my 2nd year with them, but I would guess that your mini plant resented being crowded by the King. This year I gave my plants nearly twice the space they had last year and they have grown to fill it.

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    1. Yes, that's the reason. The January King was huge, so the poor old BS didn't stand a chance!

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  3. The wonderful variety in that first photo is a true gardener's delight - so many delicious meals in that basket. I actually have a question for you - my Lemon Drop (aka Aji Limon) pepper plant is loaded with fruit, but they all seems to be turning from green to a darkish colour...is that the pre-cursor to the bright yellow shade?

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    1. Yes, Margaret, the Aji Limon fruits often do go a sort of purple colour before they turn yellow. I find that the yellow colour comes very quickly - often overnight.

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  4. I've been wondering whether to try pickling cucumber too

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  5. Your basket full of produce looks like a rather special harvest festival display.

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