What Do You Grow In Your Garden

[BC]

One of these...they are delicious

 

http://www.arbroathsmokies.net/

[Niels]

Some garden pictures of my own. My grandfather owned an allotment (I say owned as he passed away earlier this year). The family still has it and I try to keep it tidy and water the plants. He had planted some potatoes in his greenhouse (variety unknown). Since they were going flat and the leaf being eaten by slugs I decided it was time to harvest them.

 

The yield of 4 plants. Lots of tubers big and small which should taste nicely I hope.

 

His grapes in the greenhouse. The tree is nearly 50 years old and still produces a wonderful crop every year. They are the best tasting I have ever had.

 

My girlfriend helping out doing some trimming.

[powerrabbit]

Getting rather serious here now with the long very hot weather we're having, everything is beginning go give up, lifted a few stalks of spuds in my Brothers garden next door, they're about the sixe of a chicken egg down to marbles and the soil is dry a foot down. The rest of the garden stuff isn't looking too bad and is just about holding it's own as we're watering with the hose about every other day in the late evening. Although we're enjoying the heat, as much as you can enjoy this heat, it aint half punishing the garden.

[robbo]

Harvested my peas today they are now blanched and frozen, never mind picked and frozen in 2 hours, took about 30 minutes to pod them all by hand

[powerrabbit]

All being well my peas should be ready to start picking in about a week, the pods are just beginning to fill and if I keep the two rows damp should have a good crop, that's if the heat doesn't cook them before I do!.

 

How did you blanch yours Mike? I pour boiling water over them in a colander, they don't 'crinkle' so much that way as they do if you put them in a saucepan of water and bring them just to the boil.

[BC]

I was weed killing with the dad's old knapsack a few weeks ago and it must have been windy....but hey ho grass is tough and seems to recover

 

 

 

[BC]

Sweet peas are growing fine but no flowers yet

 

 

[powerrabbit]

All the grass down here is like the brown patch on your lawn Bill, it's beginning to look like 1976 again!

[BC]

Oh I can't remember that year Tim...I was still a youngster   ...mind you I remember warm summers when I was at University and delivered milk from 1979 to 1981 fit and was fit as a fiddle then and I could not believe the money I was earning for such an easy and stress free job   ...anyway back on topic...after being at New Deer show on Saturday I decided I had better go to mums at Kemnay and see to what provisions she needed and well cut the grass and lift some potatoes for tea. This is the 3rd variety I have  tried at Kemnay....Sharpes Express and they weighed in at 2 and 1/4 lbs betting the Aminca red Dukes we tried earlier...anyway they tasted lovely with chicken and cauliflower and cheese

 

[powerrabbit]

My Brothers spuds are about the same size Bill  but would get bigger if it would only rain! I picked 13lb of peas off my two rows this morning, that's weight including pods, and Brother picked his peas, didn't weigh them but I guess about 7lb, his peas won't come to much more, his has just about given up now, his garden lies a lot drier than mine seems to, podded them all this afternoon and he's in there blanching them now to go in the deep freezer, I will still be picking peas off my two rows for at least another week. I've been cutting lettuce and giving them away and have just cut 7 nice sized courgettes, I grow a larger type and you can let them get to around a foot long and 3 inches through so with this variety you get more of a crop. Also picked another 4lb of raspberries today.

[MF-ROB]

looking a good yield Bill I still havent lifted any of my spud yet Bill ive queen's and charlotte's in should be ready at the end of july.

 

Tim when you say blanching what do that mean as ive pea's ready soon but we alway eat them but id like to keep some and freeze

[powerrabbit]

To keep peas and broad beans in the freezer Robert it's necessary to blanch them, this is done to stop the ice crystals in the freezing process destroying the tissues by breaking them down. To blanch peas and broad beans, put them in a large enough saucepan, boil the kettle and pour the boiling water over them, you'll notice that their colour, especially the peas, will darken a little and they'll go rather shiny and 'crinkle' slightly and you'll get quite a nice smell coming off them, basically what you're doing is part cooking them. If you've got a lot to do, do them in small batches and drain them well, they will freeze to a lump in the plastic bag so best to put just enough that you need for a meal in the bag.

[MF-ROB]

Quick one for ye when can u start to lift ur tatties after they have flowered ?

[BC]

I usually only lift when I see the bottom shaws go yellow...Robert

[powerrabbit]

They always used to say that you can start lifting spuds 12 weeks after they first break the ground but on average I would say, as Bill says, wait until the flowers have died off and dropped, this year it's not average being so hot and dry unless you've been able to keep them irrigated or watered, it takes an awful lot of water to keep spuds moist and it depends on the season/temperature.

[robbo]

I have been pickling beetroot today, first few that were large enough to pull, there will be a few more yet in the next couple of weeks.

 

As for digging spuds, earlies can be dug as soon as they flower to get them small and sweet but if you want to wait for maximum yield then wait until the haulm starts to die back.

[powerrabbit]

I've been busy 'harvesting' in the garden today, just come in from picking the peas, they've all come at the same time and there won't be very many more now on the two rows. The tubs and the bucket is what was on them, 19lb in each tub, 6lb in the bucket plus the 13lb I picked off the rows on Monday has given a total of 55lb of peas, not bad considering the weather. Also picked the soft fruit, red are raspberries and the dark looking fruit are loganberries, in total there's about 6lb of fruit there altogether.

 

 

        

 

 

[CMB]

I harvested a line of pea plants from a netted veg garden I'm looking after at the end of last week, about 1.5 cereal bowl's worth when shelled. The plants seem to have gone over now but there are a few pods reappearing. Next to them are what look like French beans which have been badly attacked by by black fly. These though seem to be burgeoning at the moment, despite having eaten loads and given handfuls to neighbours!

 

Two lines of strawberries appear to have been eaten by birds , + some raspberry plants are in their 1st year of growth by the looks of it and only yielding a few berries. On the plus side there are masses of tomatoes ripening in the greenhouse .

[powerrabbit]

My garden is looking better this morning after 14.4mm of rain late last night!

[BC]

The only problem will be it will encourage the weeds to grow as well Tim

[powerrabbit]

That's the problem Bill!, especially seeing that the soil is so warm, damn weeds are going to leap up, there's not a weed in sight at the moment, I'm going to have to sleep with one hand on the hoe.

[MF-ROB]

Good crop of Peas there Tim will they grow anymore peas now or is that them stopped. what is growing beside your Onions is it beans?

[powerrabbit]

There will be a few stragglers on the pea haulms, the last few to set but need to fill out, there might be another 3 or 4 pounds there. To the right of the onion setts and shallots is broad beans, you should be able to see another short row at the bottom of the garden, the gap between was tilled to broad beans but they never germinated, the ones at both ends of the garden that did were odd part packets, the ones that never came up were new seed!. Talking of non-germinating seeds, the flowers that you can see on the left side of the garden were from 2 packets of 'country garden flowers' that had sat in the seed box for nearly 15 years, I mixed them with a part box of the same but new seed, the new seed are mixed with fine wood dust so you can scatter/distribute them better, but, guess what germinated, not the new seed. The line of large low, green plants with yellow flowers are courgettes but by the rate they're growing they'll soon be vegetable marrows. Actually I'd rather eat them when they are grown up marrows, split them in half and scoop out the pith and seeds, fill the 2 halves with a minced beef or lamb and finely chopped onion mix, tie together and wrap in foil and put on a deep baking tray and cook in a moderate oven for 45 minutes to an hour and you have a really nice meal, my Mother used to call it 'mock duck'

[CMB]

There will be a few stragglers on the pea haulms, the last few to set but need to fill out, there might be another 3 or 4 pounds there. To the right of the onion setts and shallots is broad beans, you should be able to see another short row at the bottom of the garden, the gap between was tilled to broad beans but they never germinated, the ones at both ends of the garden that did were odd part packets, the ones that never came up were new seed!. Talking of non-germinating seeds, the flowers that you can see on the left side of the garden were from 2 packets of 'country garden flowers' that had sat in the seed box for nearly 15 years, I mixed them with a part box of the same but new seed, the new seed are mixed with fine wood dust so you can scatter/distribute them better, but, guess what germinated, not the new seed. The line of large low, green plants with yellow flowers are courgettes but by the rate they're growing they'll soon be vegetable marrows. Actually I'd rather eat them when they are grown up marrows, split them in half and scoop out the pith and seeds, fill the 2 halves with a minced beef or lamb and finely chopped onion mix, tie together and wrap in foil and put on a deep baking tray and cook in a moderate oven for 45 minutes to an hour and you have a really nice meal, my Mother used to call it 'mock duck'

 

 I've had this or something similar (not sure we called it 'mock duck' though), it was delicious and very filling.

[BC]

Tried 2 stems of white Duke of Yorks at mums yesterday 2lb 10 oz so yields are increasing. Thats all 4 early varieties tried now.