Jamming!

About a third of the greengages got turned into jam, another third was given away and the rest is waiting to be chopped and frozen (for pies and perhaps more jam). I think I cooked it for a bit too long so it may be a bit more set than I prefer but it should taste ok. Yay jam!


Today I picked the rest of them from the tree (lost about half to roving snails eating them on the branches!). Very good harvest. Also picked blackberries which grow along the fence. And a handful of beans.


The blackberries along with some gooseberries I still had lingering in the fridge are now bubbling away on the stove for more jam. Raspberries should be next in line for harvesting and maybe I'll make more jam, but I think I may try my hand at raspberry vodka (basically just a lot of raspberries covered in vodka - easy!). Considering it takes me quite a while to get through a jar of jam, I may not need to buy any for at least six months (never mind vodka which has been in my freezer for at least a year).

Greengage glut

Now what??!??? I have 5kg of greengages, still some more hanging on the tree! And of course I should have harvested them at least a week ago - because of their green bloom they are quite deceptive and don't look ripe.


Currently making jam, a friend is taking some off my hands tomorrow. I think I may surprise work colleagues with a few. Then tarts, pies, any more ideas???

Full of beans

Took the opportunity to run out into the garden between downpours to check on the pole beans ('Pantheon'). I've managed to pick a good handful of fairly large ones and in between picking and eating barely 30 minutes passed. So delicious! Lots more to come. Now I only need to stop them climbing along my washing line (or maybe I shouldn't?).


Somehow very soon I also need to slot in picking the greengages. I probably will only keep a few of them for eating right now and make jam with the rest. Hopefully it'll stop raining soon - no fun standing in the rain picking fruit!

Between harvests

I'm between harvests. It won't be far off but need to just wait it out. The raspberries have finished their first crop and are preparing for the second big push. If the weather is warm enough they'll grow surprisingly quickly. One or two beans should be big enough to pull off in a few days or so.



Still waiting for the tomatoes, cucumbers and patty pans. The tomatoes have at least set fruit (all six kinds of them, I'm just showing pictures of two of them) but no such luck yet for the rest. At least there's some flowering (even though I lost one of my cucumber plants on the way).





The big-if is the greengage tree, probably ready in about one or two weeks in my estimate. It's really hanging full, so much so that I propped up the main branch because it's bending over so much I feared it would snap. However, I think I may have a stealthy enemy. Some of the fruit are rotting on the tree. I'm not sure if it's the wet weather or it could be greengage sawfly. I will need to keep an eye on it.


In other news I "found" lots of salad potatoes to sow. And when I say I found I meant I forgot about them in my veg rack and then they sprouted. They should make a nice crop later in the autumn. I'm usually quite bad about planting veg for autumn and winter but this year I should have some winter squash, kale and these potatoes. Not quite self-sufficient but nice addition to buying food later in the year.

raspberry harvest

Returned from my week's jaunt and everything is doing ok. Well, except the gooseberries - tiny caterpillars have managed to strip them more or less of all their leaves. However, it seemed to have rained enough that everything else looked lush.


It's amazing what difference a week can make. Before I went there were one or two raspberries that looked like they may be ripe soon but today I did my first substantial harvest. A good handful of nice big fruit. Which reminded me to get the last of the frozen raspberries out to use up before a new batch takes their place...

Definitely a month ahead...

A longish post before I go away for a week and everything shrivels up - it's going remarkably well and the garden is a full month ahead.

The evidence: the first raspberries. I checked back over the blog and the last two years the first few ripened end of June/beginning of July instead of beginning of June.

Strawberries also ripening in the pot and I picked a couple - so sweet! I fear however that the snails are getting to them before I will, even the copper tape doesn't seem to stop them.


The squashes, cucumbers and tomatoes are growing well, too, although they could do with more watering. I ended up with three different kinds of cucumbers (lemon, ridge and "Delta Star F1" mini cucumber) alongside my six varieties of tomatoes (the first ones are now flowering). Patty pan squashes are only two varieties, to keep it simple ;)




In the other bit of veg garden there are the curly kale (starting to curl), the beetroot, carrots and leafy lettuce mix (need to remember to pick before it bolts) and the pole beans (getting there but no Jack and the Beanstalk material).




Overall the garden is looking very nice. Very "orderly" - veg on the left, flowers on the right. The level beyond the curved path hides more veg and flowers. Now I do hope that it rains a bit over the next week so it doesn't all die...

May...or June?

This weather is crazy. It's been so warm and, especially, dry that everything is at least a month in advance. The kniphofia - Red Hot Poker - is already coming out and I have this feeling that all the flowers are going to be over and done with in a month. This is also bad news for the veg. I'm struggling to keep up with watering. One of the cucumber is really not looking happy. However, the germination of the lemon cucumbers was a bit hit-and-miss so there may be an underlying problem anyway. I also bought a ridge cucumber in the local shop today to see how that will do.


However, the gamble with the tomatoes and patty pan squash last month paid off. They are not that big yet but then again it's still early days. I spotted the first flower buds on one of the tomatoes today. I managed to mix them all up and didn't label them so it'll be a surprise when they ripen.



The herbs love this weather! The fennel, thyme, oregano and purple sage are nearly taking over!

The rest are also making progress. Kale (lost one to the snails), pole beans, and my rows of beetroot, carrots and salad mix are doing quite well. And just in case you are wondering - the bamboo BBQ sticks are cat defences.





So... all in all not bad but I wish it would rain now and again - overnight and then stop in the morning ;)