Sunday 3 September 2017

June 2017 harvest summary

Garden harvest total 7.534kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £37.10

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £46.10







Garden crops

Weight g


Shop price

Potatoes
3002
£9.00
Onions2122£4.10
Strawberries554£6.00
Swiss chard496£3.75
Raspberries350£5.25
White currants280£3.00
Gooseberries214£1.40
Carrots186£0.60
Cabbage/brassica leaves124£1.20
Garlic120£2.00
Peas58£0.50
Purple sprouting broccoli28£0.30

Herbs - estimate £4.00
Salad leaves /lettuces estimate £5.00
Garlic scapes ? - not exactly commonplace in the shops!

May 2017 in pictures


Really pleased to see that the pear blossom and fertilised flowers survived/missed the frosts. It looks as though we shall have at least a dozen pears this year, up from last year's single fruit that survived.


A typical Sunday Lunch for this time of the year. Starting at the top and working around the plate clockwise: steak and ale pie from Reading Farmers' Market; pea shoots (kitchen window sill); stuffed purple sprouting broccoli leaf (garden) stuffed with risotto; purple sprouting broccoli (garden); carrots (Reading Farmers' Market); potatoes (supermarket); various brassica leaves (garden).





Typical daily veg collection for May and on this occasion the veg was for a shared meal at a meeting and AGM of Transition Town Reading (TTR). Includes swiss chard, purple sprouting broccoli, onions, cavolo nero, various kales and oregano.


And this is what I made for the TTR AGM: winter/spring vegetable quiche, spicy vegetable and chickpea flour muffins, and sprouting broccoli leaves stuffed with vegetable risotto.









At the front of the house, the new(ish) rosemary bush is now well established and liking the hot dry environment. The surplus garlic cloves that I planted as an experiment are also doing well. 


Some of the runner bean seedlings that were started off under cover. Having been caught out with late frosts in previous years these will not be planted out until late May or the beginning of June.








I bought some interesting varieties of tomatoes and chillies from Homecrafts in Caversham, and was forced to use the bath as a "waiting room" for them a while. Tomatoes were Brandywine (pink beefsteak variety), Principe Borghese (red egg/plum shaped fruit)  and Costoluto Fiorentino (red beefsteak).

Although there is a lot just beginning to grow some of the crops are finishing. Last year's planting of swiss chard is now going to seed but there are still several meals worth left before they need to be pulled out. 

Friday 1 September 2017

May 2017 Harvest Summary

Garden harvest total 2.448 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £19.19

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £27.19





Garden crops

Weight g


Shop price

Onions
484
£0.84
Cabbage/brassica leaves474£1.60
Swiss chard442£4.20
Babington's leeks318£1.92
Purple sprouting broccoli258£4.65
Shallots146£0.60
Cavolo nero144£1.20
Curly kale56£0.56
Pea shoots48£1.00
Spring onions38£2.00
Raspberries22£0.42
Peas18£0.20

Herbs - estimate £3
Salad leaves/lettuces estimate £5