Planting for winter

After a hot dry start, summer has become cool and rainy--somewhat typical for this part of the world (in my 19 years experience).  I usually try and plant for both hot/dry and cool/wet conditions, so maybe not all of my plants will flourish, but at least I should have some success.

Sowing for winter, July 2023

As it stands, I'm still doing some last minute sowings for autumn and winter.  I've been doing about a 3 weekly rotation for kohl rabi and beets, although I think I might be coming to the end of that at last.  I've been harvesting the first of them for a few weeks now, but grown in good composted manure (helped along by the extra rain), they do seem to bulb up fairly quickly.

In the kitchen garden I've been clearing away the spring cabbage bed, none of which managed a very tight head sadly (regardless, these are the current occupants in my dehydrator).  One by one they are making space for the next plants:  fennel and daikon radishes.  Technically I probably shouldn't sow radish after cabbage--both brassicas--but I'll risk it this once, having no other space for them.

I have a couple more cabbages and some pak choy seedlings needing to plant out--I'll risk the cabbages at the allotment but the pak choy will have to squeeze in at home (somewhere!) as it's known slug candy.  I also have a new sowing of spring onions in pots: these will probably make it up to the allotment too--and I'll have time to make at least one more sowing.  I'll keep the pots of parsley at home though, for easier picking.

Preparing for winter

 

All been picked now, June 2023

The family spent a busy day on Sunday working on some garden projects:  in particular getting some more firewood cut/split and stored for the winter.  There are still some larger branches and some old fencing, but the husband and son split nearly all the last of the logs.  We are collecting a newer pile of green wood (mainly branches and larger prunings from our shrubs and trees) drying out too;  however these won't be dry enough for burning until the following winter.

We also picked the first half of the blackcurrants, and the last of the redcurrants.  I'm not quite decided if they will become jam or wine, but for now they are in the freezer until the rest of the blackcurrants ripen.  

My initial experiments with quick pickling/refrigerator pickling seem to have worked out (although the son thinks they are a little too sour):  cucumbers and beets.  I don't think these will last till actual winter, though maybe?  I hope to keep making more small batches as well as eating them.

Another pickle I have been contemplating is my green tomato salsa.  It's also a refrigerator type, and I usually make it closer to the end of the summer.  However, it's a pickle I really enjoy and I do have a lot of green toms right now (none very close to ripening yet).  If I did, I would use the cherry toms and again make smaller batches.  I'll think about it a little more;  the cherry toms are an "everbearing" plant, whereas the regular toms are a "once and done" plant.  So I could theoretically keep picking green cherry toms for the rest of the summer, and keep my fingers crossed the big toms will actually ripen.

I'm trying to keep the dehydrator going most days, even if only for a single tray.  I've been mainly focusing on the zucs and kohl rabi.  I want my cupboards (and fridge and freezer) to be full by winter, with plenty of variety.

Preserving, July 2023

It's begun!  I dusted off the dehydrator and have kicked off this year's preservation bonanza with zucchini and kohl rabi.  I really love having jars of dried vegetables for adding to stews and such:  it's so handy.  I'll probably focus on dehydration as my main preservation method this year.

However, I've also started harvesting my little pickling cucumbers;  it's been several years since I've successfully grown more than just a couple, and I've got my fingers crossed they'll continue.  Some of the cucs are kind of bitter;  an internet search suggests either growing conditions or pollination to be the culprit, and picking off male flowers is meant to be a solution to the second.  However, I'm not 100% sure I'll get any cucumbers at all if I do this (not all varieties can produce without pollination);  I've started a small batch of brined pickles instead.  Soaking them in salt usually works to draw out the bitterness, which is exactly what brined pickles are.  Wish me luck.

I've got lots and lots of blackcurrants ready now, but am somewhat at a loss of how to preserve them.  We are mainly a low carb family so I rarely make sweet things like jam;  that said, I do make a small batch every few years, so maybe it's due again--we don't have any jam in the cupboard at present.  Last year I made raspberry wine from that enormous glut so I suppose it could be an option for the blackcurrants too (though I must admit the rasp wine didn't turn out particularly nice).

And I made my first cut of chamomile to dry for tea.  It's very fragrant--though not particularly nice tasting--but it does really work to help me sleep when I drink it.  I use the leaves, stems and flowers and simply air dry them on a tray in my kitchen.  I was surprised to see it growing this spring, not having sown any;  I was under the impression it was an annual although perhaps it self seeded (last year's plants were very puny and I only got one small jar off them).  Long may it continue.

At the allotment, July 2023

A tangle of new garlic, June 2023

The husband was in charge of digging up the garlic harvest at the allotment last month;  I spread it on a wicker panel on the patio to cure for a few weeks, then into a couple of large plastic trays in the garage to finish off (it kept getting rained on).  Last year I tied my garlic into bundles by their long stems and hung them from the garage rafters, but I might go back to my old way of storing them:  trimmed of their stems, in a kitchen cupboard.  The last of the hanging bulbs went moldy before we used them--if I look at them more often I can hopefully discover any problems earlier.

The daughter (aged 3) helped me pick all the broad beans, and even helped me shell them.  Although the bed was very weedy they were still productive;  most of the seeds sprouted into several stems, each bearing several pods.  Some pods were massive with up to 8 beans;  most were a more modest 4-6.  The son is helping me gradually sheet mulch over this bed.

A regular producer, we have been picking 6-8 artichokes most days.  Rather than picking a big batch all at once, I'm finding the small but steady approach more manageable.  They are kind of time consuming to process: I cook them whole for several hours in the slow cooker, then once cooled I'll peel the outer petals and choke to reveal the heart.  For such a huge plant--they're all about 2 m tall--the resulting harvest is pretty puny:  those 6-8 hearts typically weigh in at around 1.5 oz.  Not each mind you, but total.  Is it worth the space and effort?  For now, I suppose so;  they're a perennial and therefore free.

Another perennial producer is the raspberries;  last year they overwhelmed us.  This year they are fewer though bigger (pretty small last year).  Actually it feels like a good amount this year:  not too many, not too few.  I made a batch of wine with them last year which has turned out very sour;  however I also made a batch of too-sweet redcurrant wine.  Half and half in a glass with ice they are a perfect match.

The chickens and ducks (4 and 2 each) are also in residence, probably for the rest of the summer, though none is very happy with the arrangement.  However, we're getting 1-2 eggs a day, both chicken and duck.  I try to give them something green and fresh every day when I visit, which is all too easy to procure in our still weedy allotment;  I wish I could let them free range a bit, but we still have no fencing.  It's on the list.