Friday, July 27, 2007


Friday 27th July 2007 - Weather: sunny, breezy, overcast in the distance

Our lovely friend and neighbour offered to have the children for a couple of hours today to give me a chance to get to the plot for a pick. In return, I would give her a selection of the goodies. Also, lovely lovely Jim from the A4all site sent me some Dithane to treat the blight threat on the toms, so I was able to do those whilst I was there.

Picked over a dozen courgettes. Amazing how quickly they grow. When I was last on the plot I cleared all of the courgettes, so I was really suprised at the harvest. I love these little ones with their flowers, and we had the flowers stuffed with our steak tonight. Delicious!

Now beans......oh beans.....beans coming out of our earholes! So much for staggered sowing! Not one batch of beans were sown on the same day and the purples were a good 6 weeks after the rest, and look, all coming at once. Fortunately my neighbour loves beans, so she had a pile, plus I do find the frenchies freeze very well, so some went in there. I love french beans lightly blanched, so they are still crunchy, but tender, then cooled, drizzled with olive oil, plenty of pepper and served with feta cheese or flaked tuna. I think they make a lovely salad and could eat them every day....good job!!
The yellow is one I brought in France called Beurre something, the long thing greens are called Corden Bleu, again from France, the flat frenchies are a climber and called Gold something, I think they were from a swap, the purple, again from France are called Amathyst and the runners are called Enorma.
I pulled a few carrots, picked the peas, yanked out a few beetroot, picked some blackcurrants and cut some spinach. Ooo, also found some brocolli to pick! My final job of the day was spraying my toms. I don't like to spray anything, but I wouldn't be able to stand loosing my hole tom crop. I do always keep a few plants at home in the greenhouse as a backup, but there is nothing as wonderful as being on the allotment and picking toms, especially those cherry babies which pop into your mouth as you work!



Whilst over on plot number 2 I checked out the seeds I sowed last visit, kale, mooli, chinese cabbage etc, and they are all up already! Nature is amazing.

Before I left, I did take a few photos of the various squashes that I am growing. We don't tend to grow them all to eat, which I know seems like a waste, but I grow them because the children love to go and collect them and sort them, and then at halloween they carve some of them, not necessarily traditional pumpkins, plus I make soup. All in all, a productive couple of hours.

4 comments:

Melanie Rimmer said...

You're doing a lot better than us. It's easy to overdo beans, isn't it? And I agree, staggered sowing makes little difference, although you can extend the length of your season somewhat at the end with a late sowing. But you still get a glut in the middle.

dodo said...

I very much enjoy the pictures of your vegetables. Pardon me while I take on a faint tinge of green (envy).
I have one crop currently: some bush beans, which I am cosseting along; no bloom yet, but healthy-looking.
I don't have a big garden anymore, so I really enjoy reading about yours.
Thanks for giving us all a look at it.

Unknown said...

Hej EJ, you look to be faring much better than me. I think this year will be a wash out for me. Still there is always next season ... sigh. If ya get fed up of those beans, pop some in the post to Sheffield !

Emma Jane said...

Hiya Melanie, ash and mc55.

Sorry for not replying soon, just returned today from 2 glorious weeks in France. I dread to think what the allotment will look like when I visit with the family tomorrow. I shall post the saga!

Yup, those beans all come at once, but I have sown a few more to extend the season. At least the Frenchies freeze well.

Ash, glad you enjoyed my allotment news. I am passionate about the old plot and my veggies and love to share the goodies around. Before I had my allotments I used to grow veggies in pots at home in the garden and had quite a lot of success, even now, I still grow chillis, peppers, aubergines and a couple of tomato plants at home in pots where I can love them, and the children grow salad leaves and radishes at home in pots.

Fingers crossed when I get to the plot tomorrow my toms haven't been wiped out by blight!