December 2017 in pictures

This month saw the first snow of the winter and some heavy overnight frosts. 

We are steadily eating our way through the winter squashes, but it looks as though we shall still have some for January at least.

The Babington's leeks are ready for harvesting and, after three years in the ground, a few clumps now need thinning out.






There are plenty of brussels sprouts in the garden, a few parsnips and some "volunteer" potatoes that were found lurking around the edge of the compost heap. I had hoped to have more from some late plantings in the growing sacks, but the foliage was completely flattened when the fence panels came down in the September storms. Better luck next year!




December is when I place my orders for fresh seeds and new varieties, but first I have to organise my existing stock so that I can see what I already have. That took half a day to do and then I could work out what I needed to order from the seed suppliers. My next task will be to create my sowing diary for the coming year.

December 2017 Harvest Summary

Weight 2.940 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £9.14

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £9.14

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Potatoes	752	£0.75
Brussels sprouts	736	£3.21
Cabbage/brassica leaves	396	£0.45
Parsnips	366	£0.62
Babington's Leeks	286	£0.66
Horseradish	176	£1.80
Jerusalem artichokes	130	£0.50
Carrots	98	£0.15

Herbs - estimate £2.00

November 2017 harvest summary

Weight 2.862 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £6.95

Foraged £2.30

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £11.25

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Cabbages	956	£0.80
Cauliflower	500	£1.80
Potatoes	264	£0.50
Runner beans	234	£0.84
Jerusalem artichokes	186	£0.65
Horseradish	130	£1.60
Carrots	122	£0.30
Courgette	116	£0.46

Foraged	Weight g	Shop price
Pears	290	£1.50
Figs	64	£0.80

Herbs - estimate £2.00

October 2017 harvest summary

Weight 13.103 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £44.43

Foraged £7.60

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £52.03

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Squash	5642	£11.84
Courgettes	2252	£10.80
Tomatoes	1810	£9.50
Cauliflower	904	£3.50
Potatoes	554	£0.65
Grapes	493	£1.97
Runner beans	262	£1.27
Carrots	224	£0.40
Jerusalem artichokes	108	£0.50
Sweet peppers	94	£1.00

Foraged	Weight g	Shop price
Sweet Chestnuts	760	£7.60

Herbs - estimate £3.00

September 2017 Harvest

Weight  31.262 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £89.32

Foraged £20.31

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £109.63

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Squash	12656	£25.00
Tomatoes	5040	£25.00
Runner beans	1492	£7.20
Potatoes	1466	£1.50
Courgette	1360	£5.44
Grapes	1016	£4.00
Cauliflower	522	£2.00
Figs	382	£4.82
Cucumber	262	£2.00
Purple sprouting broccoli	216	£2.16
Plums	192	£1.00
Sweet pepper	98	£1.00
Brassica leaves	92	£1.00
Beetroot	82	£0.60
Aubergine	72	£0.30
Strawberries	66	£0.50
Raspberries	56	£0.80

Foraged	Weight g	Shop price
Apples	3134	£6.00
Quince	2584	£13.31
Pears	474	£1.00

Herbs - estimate £3.00

Salad leaves /lettuces estimate £2.00

August 2017 harvest summary

Weight  35.652 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £88.15

Foraged £73.26

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £161.41

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Tomatoes	4468	£22.34
Potatoes	2878	£5.76
Courgettes	2504	£10.16
Pears	1874	£3.75
Squash	1364	£2.60
Cucumber	1060	£8.00
Runner beans	992	£5.95
Red cabbage	682	£1.15
Purple Sprouting Broccoli	474	£4.74
Cauliflower	356	£1.20
Cherry plums	310	£1.55
French beans	298	£1.79
Figs	270	£3.78
Grapes	202	£1.01
Carrots	142	£0.89
Raspberries	140	£1.82
Sweet peppers	92	£0.92
Peas	72	£0.72
Strawberries	68	£0.50
Celery	48	£0.50

Foraged	Weight g	Shop price
Apples	4976	£7.50
Hazelnuts	4098	£22.54
Elderberries	2918	£8.75
Blackberries	2716	£21.73
Plums	1662	£8.31
Damsons	988	£4.45

Herbs - estimate £4.00

Salad leaves /lettuces estimate £5.00

July 2017 harvest summary

Garden harvest total 6.020kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £48.90

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £55.90

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Potatoes	2980	£8.90
Garlic (46 bulbs)	1180	£23.00
Cucumber	608	£5.00
Peas	502	£4.00
Gooseberries	210	£1.40
Purple sprouting broccoli	174	£1.80
Cherry plums	148	£0.60
Runner beans	130	£0.90
Carrots	88	£1.30

Herbs - estimate £4.00

Salad leaves /lettuces estimate £5.00

June 2017 in pictures - it was hot!

It was hot this month!

One of the parsnips was overlooked during the winter harvesting and started to sprout leaves. We decided to leave it to go to seed. When they get to this stage they are euphemistically referred to as "architectural plants", that is they are big! We managed to harvest a good quantity of seeds and will see how worthwhile the exercise was next spring when we sow them. 

A good year so far for our raspberries and our handful of strawberry plants. The strawberries are beginning to multiply so we should have a good harvest next year.

Garlic scapes, onions and peas. Plenty of garlic scapes this year and delicious steamed as a vegetable or chopped and added to salads.

Regular supply of lettuces that were planted earlier in spaces in pots and between other veg.

First potatoes of the season from the garden. I had a gentle rummage around the top of a few of the containers and came up with these beauties. Also some onions and various greens.

Onions!

And wonky carrots. Really pleased that we are finally starting to get some even though they are "individual" in appearance. They were delicious!

Brandywine tomato

White Versailles currants

Gooseberry - Winham's Industry

Perfect weather for drying washed duvets over the kitchen wall

Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus)

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
Onions	2122	£4.10
Strawberries	554	£6.00
Swiss chard	496	£3.75
Raspberries	350	£5.25
White currants	280	£3.00
Gooseberries	214	£1.40
Carrots	186	£0.60
Cabbage/brassica leaves	124	£1.20
Garlic	120	£2.00
Peas	58	£0.50
Purple sprouting broccoli	28	£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. 

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 leaves	474	£1.60
Swiss chard	442	£4.20
Babington's leeks	318	£1.92
Purple sprouting broccoli	258	£4.65
Shallots	146	£0.60
Cavolo nero	144	£1.20
Curly kale	56	£0.56
Pea shoots	48	£1.00
Spring onions	38	£2.00
Raspberries	22	£0.42
Peas	18	£0.20

Herbs - estimate £3

Salad leaves/lettuces estimate £5

April 2017 in pictures

Viewed from east to west with the garden shed at the bottom. Looks very messy and scrappy but there is a lot going on. Fruit trees and bushes in blossom, brassicas flowering, swiss chard still growing, onions and garlic filling out, Babington's leeks ready for cutting, strawberries spreading, grape vine against the shed budding.....

Time to assess what we have in the preserves cupboard. Damson chutney in there from 2014!

Cowslips in the lawn.

Early morning - brassicas in flower. 

The early morning light really makes the yellow brassica flowers standout in the garden.

Ramsons doing well in the garden and spreading!

"Bright Lights" swiss chard cropping really well.

Garden veg for lunch: swiss chard, cavolo nero, spring onions, Babington's leeks, ramsons, lovage.....

And this was the result!

The main herb patch is doing well apart from the chives not re-appearing this year. The spanish bluebell has been there ever since we moved in over 30 years ago. I have tried to remove it on several occasions and plant it somewhere else but it keeps coming back. Ramsons are coming towards the end now and the flowers are going to seed. Oregano going bonkers as usual, as is the lemon balm. Mint, lovage, rosemary, sage and thyme in pots.




Looks as though we might have more than one pear this year (last year's harvest). The blossom escaped the frosts we had a few weeks ago.

April 2017 harvest summary

Garden harvest total 1.914 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £14.50

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £16.50

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Swiss chard	762	£5.71
Purple sprouting broccoli	342	£3.42
Curly kale (red ursa)	218	£1.74
Cavolo nero	166	£1.12
Spring onions	140	£1.12
Babington's leeks	120	£0.96
Onions	106	£0.11
Cabbage/brassica leaves	38	£0.15
Pea shoots	22	£0.17

Herbs - estimated £2

Nettles ?!

March 2017 harvest summary

March is when the herbs start to grow so mint, ramsons, oregano, lemon balm are now being picked. I estimate how much I might have bought if I were not growing the herbs myself but, of course, some such as ramsons (or wild garlic) are not sold in the shops. Nettles are another "vegetable" that I gather from a corner in our garden but to which I cannot allocate a price. I was luckier with pea shoots as Waitrose sell them, although not in my local branch (http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317--63011-Waitrose+pea+shoots)

Garden harvest total 0.992 kg

Garden harvest shop/market price £5.10

TOTAL SHOP/MARKET PRICE £7.10

Garden crops	Weight g	Shop price
Brussel sprouts	204	£0.41
Swiss chard	196	£1.47
Cavolo nero	154	£1.04
Cabbage/brassica leaves	154	£0.28
Curly kale (red ursa)	114	£0.91
Parsnips	84	£0.34
Babington's leeks	68	£0.54
Pea shoots	18	£0.11

Herbs - estimated £2

Nettles ?!

February 2017 - garden ticking over

February is generally a quiet month in the garden with most things ticking over quite nicely on their own. Adding to and turning the compost heap is just about the only regular job at this time of year and we are usually joined by some of the birds hoping to get an easy meal from the disturbed pile. This cheeky little robin was one of several regular visitors.

The winter greens are still producing but some of the cavolo nero was starting to sprout. We picked some to steam along with the leaves but we generally leave a few to flower so that we can collect seed from them in later months. As we start most crops in seed trays indoors we don't need need to free up the ground straightaway for the new seasons plants.

Indoors, one of my tasks is to test the viability of the older pea seeds in the Reading Food Growing Network's seed swap boxes. Once they have germinated I plant them in seed pans and put them on the kitchen windowsill for pea shoots. I usually get about three cuts from them before the stems start to toughen up. By that stage, the weather is often about right for planting them out into the garden to grow as normal pea plants.

I went on a willow weaving workshop run by Five a Day Market Garden in Englefield. I attended a similar event last year. The willow wigwam I made last year has lost its colours (see the photo below on the left) but is still good for another year at least. I was more adventurous with the design for this year's effort (wigwam on the right). I'm still not sure where I am going to put it but I'll have to make my mind up soon so that I can plan the plantings around it.

And meanwhile, at the the front of the house, the daffodils are about to burst into life and the crocuses are adding a welcome bit of colour as well as providing food for the insects.