One of the most beautiful veg - purple sprouting broccoli. This is the summer version, called Summer Purple. It has been picked all August and will go on all through the autumn and then the winter version, Red Arrow will take over for next spring. Absolutely delicious just steamed or boiled in very little water and then drained with a knob of good butter.
The beautiful harvest goes on and on - the scallop patti pans are so pretty like little flying saucers and have a sweet gentle flavour. The round de Nizza was absolutely gorgeous - we barbecued it on a pizza stone and ate it with some baby dover sole that we were given which were thrown back in the sea because of their size! The subtle fresh taste really complimented each other.
There are so many french beans...we can only just keep up as they don't freeze very well. I have them in a big round bean tub with their wigwam of bamboos in a sheltered corner. They are called Fasold and have a delicate purple flower and a fantastic flavour. I will miss them when the frosts come.
The cucumbers have gone mad climbing up to ten feet high and covered in flowers and fruit.
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Look at this long one....we had it in a salad for our summer party on the deck...superb flavour. Burpless is a great variety and I will grow it again. |
Tomatoes tomatoes tomatoes...so many. I have grown Tamina (the tall ones) and four Principe Borghese with the hope that they may ripen before autumn and loads of Tumbling Toms.....there can't be too many as I make a roasted tomatoe sauce for the freezer and we live on it all winter.
A glimpse of my fennel through the leeks. Its swelling up and the bulbs are looking really good. I wish I had grown more...its wonderfully adaptable and absolutely great on the barbecue.
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The onion harvest is now safely hung in the shed for the winter out of the reach of rats and mice. I am dead chuffed with the strings and just love pulling out an onion whenever I need it. |
As I go out to dig up the maincrop potatoes one beautiful sunny day I can't resist taking more photos. Its hard to believe that six months ago this was pasture. It is stuffed now with good things to eat which I have grown from seed. Here you can see Brussel sprouts, carrots, salad, parsnips, leeks, Summer Purple sprouting broccoli on the left, the fronds of fennel and the courgettes in the background....and nothing has eaten them...just us!
And now for.....the Potato Harvest!
There is nothing like lifting potatoes...its like a lucky dip ...you don't know what you will find. I checked that the tuber's skins were hard and then went for it. There were on average about 12-15 tubers per plant.
Ninja, my tortoiseshell kitten helped me - she was fascinated by the workings of the spade but it was damp underfoot and so she climbed on my back as I was bent over digging. When I straightened up she walked up onto my shoulders and then when I bent again she went on my back. She stayed there watching my digging for at least ten minutes. I found it very companionable!
They all had to be washed in the big butlers sink and then laid out on the deck to dry.
A perfect day...they dried very quickly after being turned over once.
And then stored in hessian sacks in the shed.
