The last bit of summer

We're still eating our apple a day here, with no signs of slowing just yet.  Actually it's the figs I'm trying to keep up with, as they really don't store at all:  almost all are going in the dehydrator.  I kept a bowlful overnight when the dehydrator was full of shredded zucchini, and there was a little cloud of fruit flies around it the next morning--I won't let that happen again.

I definitely feel a touch of autumn in the air;  cooler temps, getting darker earlier, even a few leaves on the ground--I think because it's been so dry some trees are dropping leaves early (all of my small trees have green leaves but my mature horse chestnut has gone a bit brown).  We had a little rain recently, but not enough to green up the grass just yet;  at least it perked up my new plantings at the allotment (fennel, kohlrabi, cauliflower) and the cooler temps have meant less watering needed.

My tomatoes and zucs have slowed down a bit, and I may have had all the pickling cucumbers though the salad cucumbers are still going.  I picked my five measly sweetcorn ears--not well pollinated, but that's only to be expected I guess;  we ate them fresh and uncooked, the best way in my opinion.  We're still eating a salad a day with lettuce, tomato and cucumber;  and I'm pulling an early leek every other day to use as an onion substitute (although buying onions is allowed per the Vegetable Challenge rules, I'm trying to avoid it if I can)--many are a fairly good size by now, and I want to carry on with my succession planting and follow them on with some winter/spring brassica transplants as soon as possible.

Although I've been mainly harvesting (and watering), I'm still not quite finished with the seed sowing, despite it being the end of August!  I've got some new trays of lettuce, pak choi, spring cabbage (I ordered some new seed for this) and spring onions.  I'll probably have time for maybe one more sowing of pak choi and spring onions if needed, but that will be it for the year--finally.  My patio table has been full of seed trays since spring;  as soon as I've emptied one, I've filled it again with something else.  

Cherry tomato summer

Many, many cherry tomatoes, August 2025

I've been growing and saving seed from this cherry tomato variety for many years now;  I think it's Garden Pearl.  In addition, I was given another few seedlings of some different cherry varieties though these were not as prolific as the Pearl above.  It's the kind that doesn't get the side shoots pinched out--I can't remember if that's determinate or indeterminate;  the gift plants are the other kind which I really should have staked and pinched--but didn't.  All cherry tomatoes are in planters at my allotment

I'm also growing a plum tomato variety, name unknown;  it's like a beefsteak tomato which is hard to ripen outdoors in this climate, so I'm pretty happy with it, despite it not being as wildly productive as my cherry tomatoes.  I've only been saving seed from it for a few years now, replacing my old salad variety which I grew for many years outdoors.  Half of my plum tomatoes are in the ground at the allotment;  the rest are in containers both there and on my patio at home.  It's also the kind that doesn't get its side shoots pinched out, though I did try to stake it, not very successfully.

I actually have a really tasty green tomato salsa recipe and I am always disappointed if I don't get to make it:  this looks to be one of those years.  Tomatoes are coming in thick and fast though I said to the son on Sunday (as we picked 5# between us, following on from 4# the previous day) I think we have reached peak tomato.  Finally.  I have bags and bags in the freezer, I'm putting them in the dehydrator (though they take more than a day and it's a small one), and we're eating fresh tomatoes in sauce/salads/salsa/etc every day.

The fact is, most of these tomatoes are cherry tomatoes;  and thankfully they are slightly raised up off the ground in their containers, because they are tedious enough to pick as it is!  Next year I'm going to grow many more plum toms and many less cherries;  I had actually planned that for this year, but I didn't have enough plum seed so I made up for it with cherry.  This time I'm saving extra extra plum seed for next year

So much food! Can we eat it?

 

My allotment, early August 2025

It's kind of hard to distinguish what's growing in the photo above (except maybe that purple artichoke flower):  closest under the nets are Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, fennel and kohlrabi (just newly transplanted), and the one at the back right is newly sown turnip and radish seed though none have emerged yet (waiting for rain).  This does show a good 3/4 of my plot, but to the right (not shown) are my artichokes and plum tomatoes, newly sown beetroot bed--also not up yet--and small shed and compost bins.  Also at the very back behind the squash-filled chicken yard are most of my cherry tomatoes in planters, raspberry canes and a good amount of random pallet wood and other detritus.

The allotment has really done well for me this year so far.  I've kept on top of things for the most part, although the vegetables are still rolling in almost faster than I can keep up with them.  I've enlisted the son to pick tomatoes several times--reminding him of all the pizzas he can make!  He's also helped mulch and water;  it's school summer break so he, the daughter and I are all off until next month.  And this does mean I've got a little more time to deal with all the food.

Right now I'm pickling beetroot, pickling cucumbers, freezing and dehydrating tomatoes, freezing runner beans, dehydrating zucchini, dehydrating figs--and eating eating eating.  Apples, Asian pears, plums.  Lettuce, spring onions, tiny hot chilies, early leeks, self-sown chard.  And that's not counting everything in my fridge, freezer and cupboards already--and fermenting on the counters too.

Will we eat it all?  Can we?  The Vegetable Challenge is on, and I've got to make sure we have enough for the winter until the Challenge ends (and beyond, hopefully).  Keep pickling, freezing, drying, fermenting, storing and eating!

Sorting the wood store, making a duck yard, growing squash

Making kindling bundles, July 2025

The husband took this action shot of me, making kindling bundles from the last of the hedge trimmings we cut about a year and a half ago.  At the time we'd piled them up and just left them to dry;  the son and I spent a couple days sawing the larger branches into stove lengths and breaking up the small sticks into kindling.  I don't know how many bundles we made in total--maybe 50?  They're great for starting our wood stove in winter;  since that's our chosen source of heating, collecting as much free fuel as possible is a priority.  True, it's time consuming to make these bundles, but there are times when I just want to sit out in the sunshine and enjoy the garden.  As the son and I were doing this each day, we also supervised the chickens' free ranging:  multitasking!  

Where that pile now isn't, we are constructing a new duck yard.  Recall that the two ducks have a large yard in the Perennials section, which is about four times the size of the chicken yard (for 11 chickens!).  Well, the ducks will share a wall with the chickens;  the two yards will be a similar size, under the shade of our big horse chestnut tree (they need separate yards because Boy Duck is a bit of a jerk to chickens).  As the ducks already get regular unsupervised free range, I hope this move isn't too much of a shock to them.  The husband and son have set in the posts--and an old bathtub--and I've ordered some new wire to enclose it all.  I look forward to having use of the Perennials section again--it'll need a full renovation I think.  

I accidentally left the gate open and the squash escaped!  July 2025

Above is the chicken yard at the allotment, growing squash vines like crazy.  At least five squashes have been spotted, both in this and another bed (not pictured).