Summer's end

I hope it stays warm for the next month but I have my doubts.  I've got at least three big squashes at the allotment plus another one at home;  there are also an undetermined number of smaller ones--all at the allotment--and I want them all to ripen!  Also on the ripening wish list is my corn:  some stalks still have cobs just starting to emerge, and they'll need all the light and warmth they can get.

Surprisingly, I'm still getting a regular harvest of pickling cucumbers;  twice a week all summer and no sign of stopping just yet, though I think they hit their peak in mid-August.  I have so many jars of pickles now, both fermented and vinegar brined.  I had to rearrange my fridge to fit them all and despite that I still have two large jars on my counter;  the bigger of these jars is absorbing all the newest harvest, to ferment for winter--it's got a mix of all different kinds of veg, whenever I have a small harvest that isn't worth dehydrating:  kohl rabi, cucumber, French beans, etc.

I made a second sowing in June of some old cucumber seed;  it was either sow it or throw it and I was again surprised that several sprouted.  Now two of these plants have been producing little cucs:  they are meant to be a mid-sized eating variety, but so far none have been much bigger than the pickling cucs.  Tasty though:  a nice pale yellow variety.  Incidently, I found an over-large, over-ripe pickling cuc that I somehow missed in time and have left it growing in the hopes of next year's seeds.  The yellow cuc variety was from my own saved seed too though I don't know if I'll be able to save any from it again this year.

I made an executive decision to hold off pulling out the allotment tomatoes in the hopes I'll get some more red ones before they blacken--so far so good, although I've picked only a handful so far.  They still look pretty healthy actually, though the cherry toms are goners.

And in other news, I've got two kinds of radishes sprouting up;  the daughter and I sowed two rows of daikon radish after the cabbages all came out, and we broadcast black radish and spring onion seed over the zuc bed after I pulled up most of those last week.  I still have a couple zuc plants at home and the allotment but they nearly are at the end now. 

Blight again

After such a wet July, I guess it's not too much of a surprise that my tomatoes have been infected with blight.  It doesn't happen every year, but it's not particularly uncommon either:  just as they were starting to ripen too.  The ones at the allotment are showing early signs of it, but the ones at home have been blackening for longer;  these I have mostly pulled up, leaving two plants which have clusters of yellow/orange tomatoes, not yet blighted (though the plants are).  I'll give them another couple of days with my fingers crossed.

The cherry toms at the allotment are all sorry with it, though I've gotten a few ripe ones off them;  the regular toms are sprawling all over them.  I sowed a tray of each and planted the regular and plum toms at home and the cherries at the allotment;  except somehow most of the cherry toms ended up being regular toms.  None of the regular toms turned out to be cherries, so I definitely didn't mix up the trays.  Anyway, the regular toms are only showing the first signs of blight, but if I want any harvest off them I'll have to pick them within the next few days, green though they are.

I've made two 1.8 L jars of green tomato salsa (brined/fermented) and put what red tomatoes I could salvage into the freezer for future pizza sauce.  I'll probably make a big jar of pickled toms and cucumbers with the rest of the green ones at the allotment:  I've run out of those 1.8 L jars but I still have a 3.3 L jar, and while there's probably not enough toms to fill it, there's definitely enough cucs.  I have a great recipe for bottled green salsa, but I like the fermented kind even more;  I just need to make room in my fridge for it.

The cabbage bed

A splash of color in the veg bed, July 2023

I'm even busier than last week!  But at least I've got the cabbage bed cleared and replanted (finally) and all the cabbage either dehydrated or brined for later eating/cooking.  As I may have mentioned, they were meant to be spring cabbages (harvest in spring), and none of them produced much of a head.  But I needed the space so I pulled them all, and of course a little harvest is better than no harvest.  The oldest outer leaves went to the chickens and ducks, and I put the stalks in the compost.

After hoeing and raking off the bed, I put down the pak choi and fennel transplants, and two rows of daikon radish seeds;  as a precaution I draped insect mesh over the whole bed--against both cabbage butterflies and pigeons.  

Speaking of cabbage butterflies, the carnage wasn't so bad this year.  Only one spindly little cabbage got badly munched--the rest only lightly, with just one or two green caterpillars per plant it seemed (at least, that's how many I found at the bottom of the sink after soaking each head).  Usually the first wave consists of many many single green caterpillars;  then come the armies of black and yellow ones.  Except they didn't. I have seen a couple of husks here and there where the parasitic wasps have been busy, so maybe other predators have been working on it too?

I've done a couple of quick sweeps at the allotment; the brassicas there look a little more tattered, but I think it's more flea beetles and slugs than caterpillars.  Still, I'll try and keep on top of it, as those black and yellow caterpillars can completely defoliate plants if not stopped in time.

Working, working

Not ready yet, July 2023

It's two weeks into our six week school holiday (for the kids and me; husband is still working) and I feel like I could do with a break!  The kids and I walk up to the allotment every day for our usual jobs:  poultry care, picking artichokes and anything else ready (beets, cucumbers, French beans and more).  I do the same harvesting round at home (cucs, zucs, lettuce, herbs and more).  And after all this I'll get busy in the kitchen every day, cooking and preserving the harvest. 

What is all this junk next to my grape arbor? July 2023

I'm still dehydrating veg nearly every day, and getting to the last couple heads of cabbage.  Also dehydrating the excess of zucs (hooray!), though I have come to the last of the big kohl rabi for now--some little ones still growing, hopefully for autumn harvest.

I've also got several jars of pickled cucumbers--just started a new one yesterday.  Even though it's still maybe a little early, I'm starting to sample the fermented ones I began last month:  yum.  I also started fermenting a small jar of cabbage and zuc, and a big jar of mixed veg with a jumble of whatever I had too much of: French beans, kohl rabi, zuc, cuc, cabbage, garlic.  I even put in some dried chilis I found in the back of the cupboard, which I'd grown about five years ago.  

I still have lot more harvesting--and dealing with that harvest.  I also have other garden chores including clearing beds and transplanting the last seedlings I sowed in July.  I expect to be very busy for the rest of my relaxing holiday.

Curcubits

A lot growing here, July 2023

I sowed my own saved squash seed as usual this spring, but additionally a packet of a new to me variety;  my own squash has made a couple (hoping for more) but the new variety hasn't even formed any female flowers, let alone started growing any squashes (not very promising).  Oh well.  The original squash was a large green kuri type, but has had several generations of crossing with other people's varieties at the allotment, so I never quite know what I'm getting--but that's part of the fun.  Last year it was big and yellow (and one vine I planted at the allotment is again producting yellow fruits).  It's always been tasty;  it's also usually big (growing conditions permitting), and has always kept well.  The above photo has a little green squash right in the center, but it's already doubled in size since I took the picture last week.

Also in the photo growing up canes (maybe hard to tell with all that greenery) are my pickling cucumbers.  I've got four plants at home and about 12 at the allotment.  I may have mentioned before that I've not had much luck with them in the past but this year has been great so far.  I've had a 500mL jar of pickling vinegar on the go in the fridge:  cucumbers go in, a few days later pickles come out.  However, in the past week the harvest has gone up a notch and I've had to break out the big guns:  my two 1.7L kilner jars, which hold 12-15 cucumbers each.  They are both currently brining on my countertop--the recipe from National Center for Home Food Preservation suggests fermenting at room temperature for about a month (then keeping in the fridge for up to six months).  In fact, the cucumbers have been such a success I'm going out to buy a few more big kilner jars.

And also pictured on the left in front of the cucumber canes:  my zuc patch.  This is the year!  I finally have more zucs than I can use, and it's wonderful!  I'm cooking with them most days: diced up into soup, stir fried, grated into bread, sliced thinly onto pizza and more;  I'm of course dehydrating the rest, both grated and in cubes.  I actually have four varieties growing though I'm still waiting on my first patty pan (finally formed a fruit, but not yet big enough to pick);  I particularly like the pale yellow kind below which is very long and narrow.  I also have a bright yellow one, shorter but fatter; and a pale green one, teardrop shaped.

Keep them coming! July 2023