Harvesting and preserving

The first Savoy of the summer, July 2018

Now, at the height of summer, I'm preserving every veg I can, and we're eating everything I can't!  

I've again got more cabbage than I can handle--a good position to be in, right?  The above was picked on a Sunday, eaten for the next four days, then made into a big jar of kraut, and finally on the fifth day the remainder was blanched and frozen for later (it filled a freezer bag).  The next cabbage got the same treatment, and the rest are almost there--it'll be a head a week for at least six weeks.  I want to make plenty of sauerkraut--I need a big bucket, I think!

I'm picking chard leaves at least once a week to dry for winter use.  The stems are either cooked that day, or chopped and frozen.  I've also been drying summer savory, a pungent herb which I was happy to find self-seeded this spring.  It's reminiscent of rosemary (which as I've mentioned has died) and useful for stews and sausage.

And the first zuccini, July 2018

I'm doing as many pickles as I can.  I've done beets, turnips, cucumbers (given to me from a fellow allotmenteer), and zuccinis so far;  most of them are brined/fermented in the fridge, but the beets are in vinegar in the cupboard.  If I get a zuccini explosion, I'll do some of them in vinegar too as they were very nice last year.  Otherwise I might run out of fridge space.

I can't really preserve lettuce, though--we're racing to keep up with it, by eating salads several times a week.  I hope my own cucumbers and cherry tomatoes are ready soon--both are making little green fruits. 

My French beans are a bit sparse still, no doubt because of the heat, but I'm very gradually salting down the few French beans I've been picking, half an ounce at a time.  I hope to fill up at least one jar of them by the end of the season.  If the runner beans start up, they might go in the same jar.

As you know, my goal of veg self sufficiency for this year is six months, and the deadline isn't until the end of November--another four months away.  I know from experience, fresh veg harvest starts to tail off mid-September;  I hope the surplus I preserve now can keep us going, not just till the deadline but beyond.

Conserving water part 4: building soil

Still growing, despite the dry (see that little patch of brown lawn in the foreground), July 2018

Over the first three parts of this little series, I've explored ways I have (and should have) conserved water in my garden.  This last part isn't a quick fix--it takes a long time--luckily I've been working on it the longest!  I've been incorporating organic matter into the soil so that it absorbs and holds water in the first place.

I started doing this as soon as I began gardening, by adding my own compost to my beds.  It was a very slow process to begin with, as I only used regular garden waste (trimmings, leaf fall, grass clippings, etc) and put all weeds in the council garden bin which was collected every other week.  My compost pile was small, and never gave me enough to cover every bed each year.

I now keep all my garden waste on site:  anything that's not just chopped and dropped gets chucked into a giant pile in the chickens' permanent run.  Since first getting chickens about seven years ago, I've had plenty of organic matter to add to my beds, in the form of their soiled bedding:  manure and straw.  There has been a huge increase in garden fertility over the years; and also, luckily for me in this hot dry summer, water retention.

Most of my veg have rallied in these conditions, because there is still a moist layer underground.  New seeds and seedlings--which didn't have time to put down deep enough roots--haven't flourished, but things I put down early have been able to survive the heat and dry.  I'm currently watering from the hose only once a week.

Using the three techniques of graywater reuse, mulch/ground cover, and building the soil with organic matter (and hopefully the fourth in the future of rain water collection), I hope to keep my garden not just alive but producing, no matter how long dry spells last.

And we got a ten minute sharp shower yesterday--thank goodness;  I think we were up to about 50-ish days with no rain.

Gratuitous chickie pic! July 2018

State of the flock, July 2018 (new chicks!)

I mentioned last month that I had been given six fertilized eggs for our broody hen Cookie to sit on.  I really mulled over whether I wanted another six small flighty chickens (Leghorn eggs), but in the end decided to give them to Cookie and deal with the outcome as it happened.  The Leghorn is a pretty amazing egg layer, after all, and we really do want more eggs.

Well, after three weeks, we've seen three little chickies with Cookie and her new broody partner, Rainbow.  Rainbow is a rescue hen whose breed is known for its definite non-broody behavior, yet she decided to join Cookie on the nest in the last week and the two of them hatched the chicks and are now co-parenting.  I don't know if Rainbow will carry on to the end, but it's nice to have some back up for Cookie and the chicks, especially as Rainbow is a full sized chicken, unlike Cookie.

We haven't separated them from the main flock this time, although in these first few days they've had the coop to themselves during the day (the husband has been shutting them in first thing in the morning and then opening it back up right before dark).  We hope they'll integrate smoothly when Cookie decides to venture outside with them, but as a precaution, I've opened up the entire back (non-veg) garden, so everyone is free ranging and there is plenty of space.

---

One of the adult hens had a very bad prolapse a few days ago and needed to be put down.  She was the last of the Australorps, and only a year old--that entire batch died young:  a weak strain?  Or just bad luck?  I had to kill her, as the husband has a fractured rib (bicycle accident) and can't lift/pull.  I used the broomstick method and it was quick and clean;  we buried her afterward.

---

The earlier batch of chicks (Australorp/Orpington cross) are bigger than all the other adult hens now but I still can't tell if any are girls.  Some of them continue posturing/fighting each other, but not all at once;  and only one has distinguishing features (almost definitely a boy), so I can't tell if they're all taking turns, or if one of them isn't doing it!  However, in light of the above Australorp issues, the husband and I have agreed that as soon as any start crowing, they're going to the pot.  I don't think they'll be worth breeding from.

Conserving water part 3: mulch, ground cover and shade

Well, I might have mentioned in the past I don't do much mulching in my veg patch;  slugs and bugs love it, and they do more harm to my plants than mulch does good.  Things are topsy turvy this year, and my soil needs mulch more than my plants need slug protection (I think they've all died off in this heat).

The soil has been getting dryer and dryer, especially where it's exposed.  In the shade, such as where plant cover is thick enough, the soil is a little moist, at least under the topmost layer.  The squashes, for example, have been shading the soil as they ramble around the Misc bed. 

Keeping cool in the Misc bed, July 2018

I haven't been weeding much since it got so hot--and not only because I'm lazy.  I want the weeds to help shade the soil, like the squashes are doing.  Will the weeds drink the bed dry, leaving no water in the soil for my veg?  I doubt it, as there are far more veg than weeds, but even so, I know the soil will lose water quickly if exposed to the sun and wind.

In places I hoed bare, like some of the Roots bed when I sowed new beet seed earlier, nothing is growing, not even weeds;  it's too hot and dry for anything to germinate I suspect.  I don't dare transplant anything here now, either, as anything new will just bake.

Bare in the Roots bed, July 2018

My best bet is to mulch the empty spots, after giving them a bit of a soak.  I'll use some trimmings from the Perennial beds, which is in partial shade and far more weedy/leafy now.  And when it rains again (oh man do we need some rain--even just a short shower), hopefully these spots will be ready for a quick growing crop. 

More than I can chew...?

Last November I applied for an allotment with the local council.  This month I was offered one, and of course I accepted right away.  But, uh, is this a good idea:  having two gardens in two separate locations?

When I envisioned taking on an allotment last winter, I imagined I would plant bulk crops like potatoes, peas, sweetcorn, and the like:  things that get harvested all at once and don't need too much maintenance;  things that store/preserve easily.  And maybe some of those to supplement the chickens' feed too.  I even considered keeping a breeding flock, as we wouldn't have to worry about a rooster annoying the neighbors.

It's too late in the season to plant out those bulk crops now.  If it was rainy I could do a batch of peas, but it's been too hot and dry.  I'll have to focus instead on improving the soil and trying for a few winter crops like cabbages--I've got about a dozen Savoy seedlings potted on, waiting for a bare spot in my own garden;  these could go out, as well as the cauliflowers, though the purple sprouting broccoli needs daily attention at harvest time--ideal for just outside my kitchen door and no further.

And I'd have to really get into visiting every day, rain or shine, before putting animals on an allotment;  it's not something I'm ready to do quite yet.

Luckily, the husband and I discussed at length the amount of labor involved before applying for an allotment;  he agreed to take a more active role if I got one.  Our own garden is mainly my endeavor;  he and the eight year old participate only when specifically asked.  The husband pledged to visit regularly (probably mainly on weekends), and as the site is close to school, the eight year old and I can visit on our way home.

Can we, our little family, do this?  Can we up our game and produce even more food--maybe even all our own vegetables, year round, in the near future?

Conserving water, part 2: gray water

It's still hot.  And dry.  Some things in my garden are ok with this, whether because they just like it like that (squashes seem pretty thrilled), or they have deep enough roots to manage (Savoy cabbages, planted out last summer, are just muscling through).  Some things are struggling a bit--the Roots bed is sad.

Every year I try to plant a mixture of heat-loving veg and cool-loving veg;  this way I'll get something no matter which--our summers are variable, and it's impossible to predict which way they'll go.  Last summer was also warm and dry;  however I've never experienced such a prolonged spell of hot rainless weather in all my 14 years here.  I've certainly been through a few wet, sunless summers!

Most years I haven't needed to irrigate--unless you count watering planters which I do even when it rains.  There's been the odd spell of dry weather over the years, and I've dragged the hose out once or twice--or more likely persuaded the husband to--but never have I been concerned for the state of my plants until this summer.

As far as I'm aware, at the moment we're not under a hosepipe ban.  If we were, we'd only be allowed, legally, to water by watering can.  This even includes topping up ponds--only by hand.  But we have been urged to conserve water so that we don't get a hosepipe ban;  I'm doing what I can to use our gray water so we don't have to use clean tap water for irrigation.

To this end, I asked the husband to stick our washing machine exit pipe out the dryer vent in the wall, so that the water can be directed to the veg beds.  He's put the end of the exit pipe end (poking out of the house wall) into a 1 m (ish) length of rigid pipe;  this can be directed onto the nearest veg bed (which is Peas/Beans/Brassicas), and to extend it we have another 1 m (ish) piece of plastic guttering which just reaches across the patio to the edge of the Misc bed.  The machine pumps it out of the dryer vent, and from there I rely on gravity to get it to the beds.

Washing machine water goes in, July 2018

I'm using my washing machine at the end of the day instead of morning, to reduce evaporation (any watering from the hose is also done in the evening).  I have a bucket, not big enough to collect an entire wash's worth of water, which could use for hand watering though I haven't done this yet--I'd rather let the machine/gravity do the watering for me.

And comes out, July 2018

I've also dug out our big stock pot, capacity 9 L, to use as a washing up bowl for dishes, handwashing, etc in the kitchen.  It collects all the water from the kitchen sink which I can then take outside to tip over needy plants (mainly the tomatoes and sweetcorn).  I've been emptying it at about half capacity, as it's a bit heavy otherwise.  I try to dump it on the places the washing machine water can't reach, and have been emptying it several times a day.  A bit of a labor intensive way to water...

Another thing I've been doing--for several years actually!--is making use of the wee bucket every day (by the way, this is technically not gray water).  The eight year old and I use it during the afternoon and evening, and the next morning I dilute it with water and chuck it over a different spot.  The onions and leeks get it a couple times a week, as does the celery.  Other places get it sporadically, even occasionally the planters, for both a drink and a boost of nitrogen.

The only source of gray water I don't currently make use of is from the bathroom:  neither the sink nor tub;  I don't have an easy way to collect it or direct it.  I've got a length of small diameter plastic tubing which I might be able to use as a siphon out of the tub, but it's not long enough to actually reach the garden or even the patio;  it'd have to siphon into a watering can or bucket and then get carried downstairs...I guess if we do get a hosepipe ban I'll explore this option.

(Edited 13 July, 2018, to add photos)

Conserving water part 1: rain water

I'm such a failure:  I don't have a way to collect rain water, other than setting out empty buckets/containers during a shower (I actually do this, to use on my blueberry bushes).  My gutters from the house roof direct straight to the sewers.  I don't even have gutters on the garage roof.  I have no rain water stored, at all.

Why a big deal, though?  It rains all the time here!  No need to save the rain water when it'll just come from the sky again, right? 

Well, we've had a prolonged hot, dry spell.  I guess it's been more than three weeks without rain on the garden, and temps in the mid to high 20s Celsius, with absolutely no cloud cover.  The sun has baked my garden (and me:  you should see my tan!) and the vegetables need a drink.  I've even gone so far as to persuade the husband to drag out the hose for watering--in the late evening, of course, to reduce evaporation.

I used to collect rain water in a big plastic wheelie bin, meant for garden waste.  We almost never send our garden waste off the property--I think it got filled one time last year, with a big wad of extremely prickly blackberry brambles which I couldn't face chopping up for my own compost.  So this bin had been sitting empty on the driveway for ages, when my garage roof sprung a pretty substantial leak.  We couldn't fix it immediately, so the wheelie bin went underneath it, and I would use the water for my patio containers every day.  If it got too full I'd siphon it out the garage window usually into the pond, or occasionally onto a bed.

Now the garage roof is properly watertight again, I've got no rain water.  And I need rain.  What I wouldn't give for four or five big tanks, already filled from this spring's rain, especially now that water's scarce;  I've read Northern Ireland has a hosepipe ban, and it's not inconceivable that we could be next.

June 2018 garden notes

Small but tasty, June 2018

Roots

Celery growing well, especially on the side of the bed where the chickens overwintered (extra manure).

Still no evidence of scorzerona, first or second sowings.  A few more beet seedlings appeared from another sowing early in June, but pretty sparse;  picked one good sized beet as it was trying to bolt:  yum.

Harvested a few good finger sized carrots--that's about as big as they get in their planters.  Still plenty to come.

Onions and leeks still pretty small;  been giving them bi-weekly doses of diluted urine (the celery has been getting it too).  Shallots also small.  None harvested yet.

Harvested the garlic in June, as the leaves were turning yellow and the stalks falling over--maybe knocked over by a cat or hedgehog--but figured they weren't going to grow any more in that condition.  Bulbs smaller than last year, but still acceptable;  will save the largest for planting out in autumn, but have been eating the smallest all through the month.  Left them to cure on trays in the garage for two weeks, and are now in a cupboard in my kitchen:  99 bulbs (not including a few tiny one-clove bulbs).

Peas and beans

Harvesting broad beans all through June--all eaten as young whole pods.

Only a small amount of early peas harvested--about a quarter of the seeds sown grew into plants;  ate them all out of hand without weighing (probably no more than 1-2 oz total).  Cleared them away and sowed this patch with pre-sprouted snap peas, some of which popped up by the end of June.

First batch of snap peas very bushy and harvested some nice little pods this month.  Harvesting small amounts of mange tout peas all through June--mainly eaten raw in salads.  Started harvesting maincrop peas at the end of the month;  probably won't be growing these kind of peas (normal podded peas) next year:  too labor intensive to harvest and prepare.

Put up supports for runner beans, which had climbed to the top by the end of the month, with a few flowers forming at the end of June.  A few flowers also appeared on earliest sown French beans by the end of June.  After clearing away the last spring sweetheart cabbage, sowed another small batch of pre-sprouted French beans, which started coming up at the end of the month.

Sowed a small batch of pre-sprouted asparagus peas, but only a few appeared by the end of June (been a hot, dry month and I think this has affected germination of all the beans).

Brassicas

Finally finished the last of the spring sweetheart cabbages in June, and as mentioned above, resowed their space with French beans and asparagus peas.

Brussels sprouts and red kale under insect mesh both straining to escape!  Really big, but not ready for harvest yet (or safe to take the mesh off:  butterflies fluttering about all this month).

At least two purple sprouting broccoli cuttings rooted, with some of the others still alive, though not sure about roots yet.  Planted out two kale cuttings from May, both growing strongly, though not sure if they'll go straight to flower.  Took a few more cuttings of kale and broccoli.

Potted on Savoy cabbage, cauliflower and purple sprouting broccoli seedlings;  all put under insect mesh (this one is actually a net curtain bought from a charity shop).  All growing strongly on my patio table.

Radishes sown earlier are either bolting or wilting:  none formed any good roots, probably from hot, dry conditions.  Not sure about kohlrabi or the few turnips in this bed either.  Turnips in the old chicken yard growing nice roots, however (lots of manure in this bed, and it's in partial shade);  harvested some of the biggest ones at the end of the month.

Last winter's remaining Savoy cabbages forming heads now;  have picked off a few caterpillars, and one was stricken with aphids.  Luckily the sparrows have now completely cleaned off all aphids and it seems to be recovering nicely.  Harvested a couple outer leaves this month.

Harvested three cauliflowers (from a planter) at the beginning of June, with the remaining three (in the main Brassicas bed) forming good heads at the end of the month.

Miscellaneous

Last year's chard now fully flowering;  have pulled up some, but left about 15 to set seed.  New season chard now ready for harvest:  picking a little for salads and stews.

Red leaf lettuces growing very strongly this month, and producing enough to pick small salads twice or more a week.  Planted out a second batch:  some in the ground, and a few in large pots and planters.

Harvested a couple new season spring onions, and the rest growing well--all these in planters.  Letting bunching spring onions establish before harvest, and these are growing even bigger than the non bunching ones.

Lost one sweetcorn plant:  down to five total, though growing strongly.  Lost a few tomatillos, and the rest are a bit spindly still, but growing.  Tomatoes growing well:  cherry tomatoes flowering with a few green fruits formed at the end of June, and regular tomatoes just beginning to flower.

Zuccinis, squashes and pumpkins (I mixed them up in the bed and can't tell them apart now!) growing new leaves, and a few making flowers but no fruit yet.  Found a couple volunteer squashes, growing well with the turnips in the old chicken yard (I think they're squash anyway). 

Planted out late-sown cucumbers by the second week of June--some in the ground and some in planters--just starting to grow by the end of the month.  Also planted out my one melon seedling in a planter on the patio, but my hopes aren't high:  growing, but still very small.

Peppers in planters growing bigger, but no flowers yet.  Began watering them (and tomatoes/cucumbers in planters) with manure tea once or twice a week:  water which had dried chicken poo soaking in it for a day or two.

Aztec broccoli (not true broccoli) up and growing, but still a bit small.  Achocha getting very bushy now, and trying to smother its immediate neighbors (a volunteer potato, lettuce and the sweetcorn), though no flowers yet.  Keep adding new stakes to encourage it to grow up instead of out.

Fruit

Harvested all the strawberries this month (birds and slugs had some too).  A few raspberries by the end of the month, with lots more green ones to ripen. 

Too many redcurrants:  mostly eaten out of hand, but some given away or eaten by neighborhood children.  Finally finished them by the end of June.  Brought the blueberries (in pots) inside at the end of June, just as the berries started turning blue, to protect from birds.

Netted both the Morello and Kordia cherries, and picked all the Morellos to freeze:  eight year old wants a pie but it'll be a small one.  Started picking Kordia cherries at the end of the month--they're bigger than the Morellos but fewer of them.

Picked all the blackcurrants at the end of the month--not as many as last year, but the bushes had some damage from the felling of the sycamore tree in January.  Gooseberries still a little hard, and whitecurrants still green this month.  Autumn raspberry tall and leafy, but no flowers yet.

Peach aka nectarine tree has two fruits still growing on it.  Figs glorious and still green;  Williams pear has just a couple fruits that I can see.  Almond tree has tons of almonds;  Sparta apple has shed some immature fruit but both it and Laxton Fortune are still well covered in little apples.

Perennials and herbs

Harvested small amounts of parsley, chives, savory, and dill all through this month.  Picked a big bunch of mint to make a jar of mint sauce;  hoping it puts out a similar amount of growth next month so I can make another!  Discovered some self-seeded camomile--last year's batch either didn't survive the harsher-than-usual winter, or was scratched up by chickens (still have half a jar of dried leaves and it's way more powerful than any I've ever bought).

Rhubarb looks like it's dying back--hopefully not actually dying.  Asparagus not much bigger than last month, though still growing.

Harvested my first artichokes:  none bigger than walnuts, but they were starting to open, so I figured I better have them;  they were delicious after cooking whole and marinating (trimmed off the sharp tips first).  A few more buds forming at the end of June, but doubt they'll be any bigger.

June 2018 Food Totals

A few more broad beans, June 2018

Vegetables:

103.5 oz spring sweetheart cabbage
21 oz  Savoy cabbage
41 oz broad beans
8 oz mange tout peas
28.5 oz salad greens (red leaf lettuce, baby chard, spring onion)
35 oz cauliflower and leaves
3 oz spring onion
2 oz artichokes
3.5 oz carrots
3 oz beet
8 oz snap peas
7.5 oz chard
6.5 oz turnips

99 garlic bulbs (unweighed)

Total: 270.5 oz, or 16 lb 14.5 oz

Note:  I weigh all my vegetables after preparation:  peeling, trimming, etc.  Does not include fresh herbs which were too small an amount to weigh, i.e. less than 0.5 oz.

Fruit:

28 strawberries
1 alpine strawberry
9.5 oz redcurrants (incomplete)
32 raspberries
28 sweet cherries
1 blueberry
6 oz blackcurrants

Does not include a small bag of morello cherries which were unweighed

Eggs:

Total: 146 eggs from 9 hens
Total feed bought: 2 bags layers pellets (40kg)

Preserves:

3 medium jars dried marjoram (wild harvested)
0.5 L mint sauce

Homebrew:  

Cider still fermenting

No new homebrew begun