What Have You Harvested Upto Now?

[Bonjon 10]

what are you using as your green manure Bonjon?

 

I saw some mixed seeds on suttons, I think it was mainly mustard.

[sezbetz 10]

I seem to have created monster courgettes!!! One day they are tiny - the next like marrows!! Lovely though Also had some broad beans, radishes, charlotte potatoes and the next lot of potatoes should be ready soon.

Am really pleased that we have managed to get something from the bit of the plot we have used. Just need to get the rest of it sorted now.

 

Oh and had a huuugggee yield of rhubarb this year and blackcurrants.

[Bonjon 10]

I'm now at the start of my tomato glut, getting 5-10 a day at the moment, I must find something to do with them all.

 

Sweetcorns are days away from being ready, also getting loads of runners, cucumbers, chilli's, peppers, onions, cabbage, lettuce. And I think our first aubuergene is ready too.

 

Fruit wise, apples, strawbs, figs and raspberrys are all ready.

 

Been a much better year then last year, but as the season is startng to draw to a close i'm going to plan much earlier what to do next year to maximise the allotment. Anyone have any suggestions of things that have grown wel for them this year?

 

My main failures have been, cauliflowers(don't know where they went) and parsnips.

[Hayley1 10]

that's excellent! well done!

 

I've only had odd patches in the garden and containers for my fruit and veg at home (first time)

My successes have been summer raspberries, strawberries, peas, tomatoes and lettuce. I also did quite well in potatoes, although there wasn't as many as I'd hoped for, they were in bags.

 

My failures have been squash (they're still not flowering yet)

Onions (tops marauded by slugs, then a couple bolted), the rest aren't very big.

Carrots should have been harvested long ago, are still quite skinny.

And my peppers haven't flowered.

 

I also do a gardening club at school, and our pumpkins are really struggling with slugs. We did have a fruit forming, but I went away on holiday at the begining of the break up, and it disappeared. The courgettes have been filling up the slugs too!

The potatoes are ready for harvesting, but they can wait until kids go back.

Tomatoes are flowering (it might be too late to ripen), and onions are about ready to lift too.

The strawberries and beans might have been harvested by other members of staff as they pass, I'm not sure.

 

Next year I'll be better at planning it's been fun trying though, and I'm quite pleased with my first attempt at fruit/veg growing....but I don't think I'll ever be as good at this as flowers and plants LOL

[Halibut 12]

We had our onions out the other day, they're excellent. Sweetcorn is nearly there and the squashes are rampant, each plant having a good handful of squash which are still only about an inch and a half long.

[sezbetz 10]

Despite not getting very far with our plots this year the things we have had in have done reasonably well -

 

Lots and lots of courgettes - out of 16 sweetcorn we have 12 almost ready - onions have been ok (better than the ones in the garden that the slugs got at!) Under the weeds are a lovely row of potatoes that will be ready soon and we have rows of beetroot some of which we pulled up yesterday and will be eating latre - although my baby boy decided to munch on one raw straught out of the ground.... no patiencethat child! So for the llittle we have done we have got lots in return.

 

Anyone know what I can do with elderberries?

 

 

Ooo also at home have got a great glut of plums just ripenjing ad plans are going ahead to piut fruit trees on the allotment later in the year so thats exciting

[Hayley1 10]

Sounds fab Sarah!

 

I've found this for you re elderberries:

 

Elderberry wine recipe

4lb Elderberries

1 gallon (5 litres) of boiling water

3 lb (1.5Kg) of granulated sugar

a 'claret' yeast sachet

8 oz (200g) chopped raisins

Juice of 1 lemon

Juice of 1 orange

1 vitamin B tablet

1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient

Campden tablets

 

Procedure:

Strip the berries from the stalks into a suitably large vessel.

Add 8 oz chopped raisins, juice of the lemon, juice of the orange, a vitamin B tablet and a teaspoon of yeast nutrient.

Add the boiling water and stir well.

When cool enough to handle, squeeze fruit with hands to extract juice.

Leave for one day to infuse.

Add 2 1/2 lb sugar and activated yeast and leave covered for three days.

Strain off liquid into demijohns, top up with another 1/4 lb of sugar in each and, if necessary, with cooled boiled water.

Leave to ferment in a warm (65-75 degrees), dark place.

When the fermentation ceases ( usually 2-3 weeks ) syphon the clearing wine from the sediment into a clean demijohn and move to a cool place.

After 1 or 2 days rack again, adding 2 campden tablets and topping up with a little cold water.

After 2 weeks rack again, adding 1 more campden tablet.

Replace the airlock with a cork bung. Rack again when a heavy deposit forms.

Bottle in dark green bottles when wine is clear and there has been no activity for some time.

Mature for at least 6 months before drinking.

 

Jam

fork berries into a pan and barely cover with water

bring to a simmer until the berries go pulpy

pass through muslin to get rid of skins and pips

pour back into pan with sugar - 1ib sugar for every litre of berry juice

bring to the boil, testing for set stage at regular intervals

jar

 

 

NB there's not much pectin in elderberries, so serto may be needed to help set

 

Chutney

 

1 lb onions -weight when peeled and finely chopped

1/2 pint malt vinegar (white)

2 lb cooking apples (weight when peeled and cored)

1 teaspoon pf pickling spices

12 0z soft light brown sugar

40z raisins or any other dried fruit

salt and pepper to taste

 

Chop the onions and put into half the amount of vinegar and simmer gently for ten mins. Cut the apple into 3/4 inch dice and add to the pan with the rest of the vinegar, the pickling spices (tied in a muslin) the sugar, the dried fruit and a little seasoning. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer steadily, stirring from time to time, until the consistency of a thick jam. Remove the bag of pickling spices. Spoon the chutney into hot jars and seal down.

 

The variation for elderberry chutney is

 

follow the apple chutney recipe but use 1 lb of elderberries and 1 lb of apples. For a less strong flavour use only 8oz elderberries and 1 1/2 lb of apples. In each case the weight of apples is when they have been peeled and cored.

 

You can also make a cordial, jellies, ice cream

 

Mix them with sugar - boil and put in jars - mix one teaspoon of this with hot water to make a "tea".

 

It is supposed to be very good for coughs, colds and flu.

 

Blackberry and Elderberry Jam

 

Take equal quantities of blackberries and elderberries (stripped of stalks), put in pan, bring to boil and cook for 20 mins. Allow ¾lb sugar to each 1lb fruit, bring again to boil for 20 mins. Pot.