September 2019 in pictures

Another really good month for our home grown fruit and veg. I had to cut back the grape vine and found what seemed like an endless wall of grapes hidden underneath the leaves. There were far too many to eat so we made grape juice and that will probably continue into October.




And it is another successful year for tomatoes; indigo beauty, orange banana, brandywine and red pear are shown below.

The strawberries have finished now and although plentiful are all one early variety. So, we have ordered three mid to late season varieties from Suttons for next year.

August 2019 in pictures

Fruit in abundance this month! Grapes, damson plums and apples.

And plenty of cucumbers and tomatoes

October 2018 in pictures

There was plenty of veg coming in from the garden this month: beetroot, beans, radicchio, cabbages, kale, Swiss chard, and the last of the courgettes. Towards the end of the month we picked the remaining tomatoes. Most of them were green, some will ripen indoors, and the rest we'll chop up and add to various recipes. 

The foraged sweet chestnut harvest was not as abundant as last year. There were fewer fruits and many of the "nuts" were small and not worth collecting and processing. The long hot, dry spells we had this year were probably to blame. 

September 2018 in pictures

We had an abundance of tomatoes of many colour, sizes and shapes and some of them heritage varieties. Jersey Devil is one that we shall definitely be growing next year long with Orange Banana. Both are substantial, meaty tomatoes with a great flavour.

Runner beans and climbing beans were also doing well.

We grew radicchio for the first time this year and had  several plants dotted around the garden. One, however, was overlooked when it came to gathering heads and leaves, and it quickly went to seed.  We also had a range of swiss chard varieties popping up in various spots, some of it self sown.

The squashes were disappointing partly because I was late putting them in but also, I suspect, because of the long hot, dry spells we had. Not sure is more regular watering would have helped much 

August 2018 in pictures

August was yet another hot month with temperatures in the upper 30s. Great weather conditions for the salad vegetables, chillies and tomatoes but, of course, the pots required constant watering. 

 

Tomatoes: Indigo Beauty and Jersey Devil

Southern Hawker dragonfly on nearby elderberries

March 2018 in pictures

What a start to the month! Freezing temperatures and on March 1st we had heavy snow. This lasted 3-4 days, disappeared and then reapppeared with a vengeance two weeks later. No way were we going to be sowing or planting anything outdoors this month.

In between snow storms the rhubarb was bold enough to poke its head above ground. It was planted about 18 months ago so we are hoping to be able to harvest some stalks from it this year.

Indoors, we were enjoying some pea shoots growing on the window sill but I suspect we may have started them off far too soon. We have no clue as to when it is going to be warm enough to plant them outside.

We finally took the plunge and sowed our tomatoes in modules indoors toward the end of the month, three weeks later than usual but there was no point in starting them off any earlier. The weather forecast is still not good and it will take a while for the ground to warm up. It looks as though that, like last year, everything will be a month late.

We did, though, have some harvest from our perennials: ramsons (wild garlic), Babington's leeks and red veined sorrel. And we were still pulling up the spring onions that probably grew from a packet I had dropped in the autumn last year. 

October 2017 in pictures

The autumn harvest from the garden continues: squash, cauliflower, herbs, carrots, tomatoes and courgettes. 

The sweet chestnuts came from a tree next to The Church of Our Lady and St Anne in Caversham. It is a well established tree and there is always a good crop, although the quality of the chestnuts does vary from year to year. This year they were really plump and a great addition to stews and casseroles.

 

We gathered in the last of the tomatoes, some of which were still green but may ripen indoors. They are usually eaten before that happens, though, chopped and fried with a little garlic, onion salt and chilli. It was not the highest yielding year we've ever had but a good one and we did manage to avoid the blight that afflicted so many vegetable gardens and allotments in the area. The photo on the left is a sample of some of the varieties we grew this season.

A friend gave me a bag of quince from their garden. I poached some in a honey syrup along with some foraged apples and the rest I incorporated into marmalade (recipe to follow in a separate post).

We harvested the two monster squashes that were growing against our kitchen wall; they weighed in at just over 6lb each in weight. I found the label at the base of the plant and it said "Harlequin". I've been collecting seeds from our squashes for about three years and so far the harlequins have all been small to medium sized yellow/orange specimens (see the one on the right in the photo). I initially thought that there had been cross pollination to produce the green giant on the left but on checking my seed catalogues I see that Harlequin is an F1 hybrid. It's amazing that my collected seed generated so many "true" harlequins. Some of the green giant was made into chutney and the rest eaten over two weeks in risottos, curries and roasted veg recipes. Its twin is waiting to be eaten. We shall probably tackle it at the end of the year!

Our other main harvest was that of runner bean seeds. We have been growing runner beans and collecting our own seed for many years and have long forgotten what varieties they are/were. It doesn't really matter as they are well adapted to our garden conditions, are prolific and taste good. I may, though, try out one or two new "bought-in" varieties next year.

Some of the brassica and swiss chard seedlings have been planted out in areas that won't be trampled on when our storm-damaged, dividing fence is replaced (hopefully in November). They have all been covered with fleece, not to protect them from frost but to stop the pigeons getting at them! The brussel sprouts that you can see in the background are big enough to take care of themselves.