Post-vacation harvest

What survives, survives. In this case, it was summer squash and greengages which greeted me on arrival. Not as many greengages as last year but they alternate in years. There are a few tomatoes which should be ready in a couple of weeks (good for the cold and rainy weather we've been having) and the raspberries are gearing up for another harvest.

What didn't make it through: gooseberry bushes have again been stripped by caterpillars and they are now officially abandoned (also, I didn't like their spiney defences). No white beetroot this year either. No jalapeno peppers. Not a great gardening year...

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.

Harvest for dinner

Dinner was a stir-fry and alongside store-bought supplies I also did a quick harvest of veg to go in it - carrots, a patty pan squash, some beans and the tops of the white beetroot (taste like spinach - they were declared "very nice" by a beetroot-hater). Still leaves me with two lemon cucumbers and the beetroot for another day.


Today is drizzly, too wet to stand there and water the garden but yet not enough to quench the thirst of the plants. Hope it'll give it a good drenching overnight.

On another thought, I need to check whether there are any greengages this year (I think the tree is suffering from some kind of insect infestation that makes them drop off before ripening) and figure out what to do with my three (!) gooseberries. I also now have some blackberries coming up. Maybe just a square of puff pastry with an assortment of fruit on it?

A day of sunshine and thundery showers

For Sharon.

come on, grow!

Update on tomatoes: Managed to save at least one of each but still puny. In the meantime, I bought four plants from the garden centre (Sungold, Sweet Millions, Plum Titania Improved (how so?) , and a beefsteak tomato the label of which I lost cycling home).


Then there is the fruit. Pruned the greengage slightly but still quite a bit of fruit hanging on it. A few small pears on the horizon. Raspberries show signs of blossoms. It will only be a handful but for the first year that is not too bad. Also noticed something that looks like brambles growing wild yet respectfully on one side of the garden.





The other stuff is getting on but I'm getting a bit impatient. Peas are climbing, beans are growing, white beetroots are finding their way. Few more rows of radishes, endive, welsh onion and more beets. With the nice weather though they should go into a growth spurt soon enough. Half of gardening life is waiting - now I am waiting for the zucchini and cucumbers to come up. All in good time, it's only the end of May. In the meantime, I can enjoy some flowers.

String Theory

Had enough time (and motivation) today to put some string up for the mange tout to climb on. Not before time, they are stretching up. Not the prettiest of constructions but I hope that it'll get covered up soon.


I also put some cucumbers, patty pan squash and zucchini in pots to plant out in a few weeks. While I was at it I also sowed some pole beans directly - if they don't get going I'll have plenty of time to sow more - and I left some space for more in a couple of weeks.


Other than that there are now definite signs of growth in the potatoes, raspberries and white beetroot. The greengages appear to have set fruit and barring any infestation or weird weather it looks like there will be quite a few in summer. The herb garden is doing fine - although the lemon balm a bit too well. Anyone got any ideas what to do with it other than make tea?


Had no rain and sunny weather for quite some time and I should have watered the vegetables earlier. I think the forecast for tomorrow is showers but I'll give it a good soaking later on nonetheless.

Happy equinox

Blossoms on my greengage tree.