August 2019 Harvest Summary

Weight: 17.799kg

Total for main garden crops: £47.77
Salad leaves: £4.00
Herbs: £4

Garden produce price: £55.77
Foraged: £62.70

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £118.47

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Tomatoes	1695	£13.56
Cucumber	1309	£3.50
Runner beans	1156	£6.94
Rhubarb	760	£4.75
Grapes	617	£2.47
Raspberries	463	£4.40
Potatoes	394	£0.99
Carrots	337	£1.69
Beetroot	325	£1.30
Pears	298	£0.60
Yellow courgette	234	£0.75
Cavolo nero	190	£1.43
Damsons	140	£0.65
French beans	137	£0.82
Gooseberries	132	£0.90
Green Courgette	122	£0.34
Spring onions	121	£1.20
Swiss chard	96	£0.72
Celery	59	£0.20
Sweet peppers	44	£0.14
Sprouting broccoli/brassicas	33	£0.36

Foraged:

Blackberries	2963	£29.63
Apples	2460	£4.43
Cherry plums	1850	£11.10
Elderberries	1680	£16.80
Plums	184	£0.80

July 2019 in pictures

Not many photos this month as we've been busy with work and other projects, but we have been harvesting plenty of fruit and veg (See A Caversham Garden: July 2019 harvest summary
https://cavershamgarden.blogspot.com/2019/12/july-2019-harvest-summary.html )

We were delighted to see that the bumble bees were back this year. They had found a way underneath the shed through a hole close to the ground in the corrugated iron. An excellent choice as there is flowering comfrey next to the hole. Ideal for breakfast for the bees as they leave first thing in the morning.  

A very different bee was spotted in residence in the garden wall: a mason bee. All I ever managed to capture on camera was the hole in the wall that was the entrance to its nest. 

Flowers were really coming into their own this month. At the front of the house the self sown rudbeckia were showing off and in the main veg garden one of the radicchio underneath the damson plum was sporting mauve/blue flowers.

July 2019 harvest summary

Weight 6945g

Total for main garden crops: £38.45
Salad leaves: £4.00
Herbs: £4

Garden produce price: £46.45
Foraged: £0.00

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £46.45

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Potatoes	2377	£5.95
Broad beans	1117	£4.87
Garlic	798	£6.30
Peas	583	£5.83
Strawberries	460	£2.76
Rhubarb	268	£1.10
Gooseberries	205	£1.17
Cavolo nero	202	£1.52
French beans	195	£1.17
Tomatoes	139	£1.39
Raspberries	138	£1.66
Shallots	134	£0.54
White currants	106	£2.56
Celery	98	£0.30
Sprouting brassicas/broccoli	85	£0.93
Runner beans	40	£0.40

June 2019 in pictures

Right at the beginning of this month we had one of what we call our first and last Sunday lunches. We had the first of the peas (mangetout), garlic scapes and cavolo nero of the year from the garden. We've been picking onions (in the bubble and squeak) and broad beans for a few weeks. We ate the last of the sprouting broccoli/brassicas (in the bubble and squeak) and the overwintered swiss chard. Pie, potatoes and carrots were from Reading Farmers' Market. 

Two of the bag beds had peas that were grown at the start of the year indoors for pea shoots. We usually manage to harvest three cuts before they start to get a bit tough, and then we plant them outside. In previous years we have had mixed results: some would just give up or show minimal new growth (cold weather conditions plus rodent activity perhaps?) whilst others would grow quite well and produce an average crop. This year they are going berserk and we are having to hack them back on a regular basis!

We've picked some more of the overwintered onions, the first of the garlic and the strawberries. The sorrel, both french and red-veined are plentiful as are the various herbs.

At the end of the month, temperatures rose to over 35degrees C and the forecast is for the hot weather to continue well into July. The pots will need regular watering, but I am hoping the mulch that we put on the main beds earlier in the year will help those retain moisture for longer.