Whose idea was this, anyway?

Help, I'm drowning in vegetables!  The son cried off his potato digging duties at the weekend (only one row left of Charlottes to come up), so the rest of us went to the allotment on Sunday to bring back five Savoy cabbages, about a dozen zucs, two fennel and a handful of purple snap peas;  this completely filled my two bags, one an extra large canvas bag.  The husband declined to pick any tomatoes, saying there was no room for them and he'd get them in the evening when he went back to water--after I got home with my heavy heavy bags (the husband took the daughter to the park), I was so glad he'd refused!  I spent about two hours dealing with what I had:  soaking/washing, blanching, freezing, drying and kimchi-ing.  

The majority of the potato bed has been resown now, with beets, carrots, turnips, swede, and two kinds of winter radish.  Some of the seed was old so I really oversowed the bed, just in case.  The beets, turnips and pink radishes ought to be ok.  But if there are big gaps in the bed, I have some winter/spring brassica seedlings to transplant in about a month's time, too.  

Still hoping for some rain, though thankfully it wasn't blazing hot again last week (it's forecast for this week instead).  Our washing machine was out of commission for almost a month, so there's been very little graywater for my kitchen garden until this week (finally!).  I save the water from washing/cooking vegetables, but that just about covers the planters, not the beds.  I've had to drag the hose out a couple of times for my cucumbers and French beans.  

Actually my allotment has much better water retention than my kitchen garden, most likely due to the annual sheet mulch (cardboard and straw/manure over plants and weeds)--my kitchen garden gets a top up of chicken manure once a year, but usually just one bed per year.  I should give it a thick layer all over this coming winter.  Unlike at the allotment which is mostly deep mulched with wood chips, I've had to leave the weeds in the soil in the kitchen garden, just to keep the soil shaded. 

Speaking of hot and dry, I picked my very first aubergines/eggplants last week--I can't believe they've actually grown and ripened on my patio.  They're all in large pots in a sheltered place right next to the house;  the pots are filled with composted chicken manure and a light topping of commercial potting compost.  I made ratatouille with the first batch, and steamed the second batch and seasoned with soy sauce/vinegar/sesame oil--this was even more delicious than the ratatouille, and some of it went onto homemade pizza.  I've got my eye on the next batch, just about ready to pick again.  What's more, I have cucumbers after all that drama:  I've started a jar of gherkins in the fridge, and the daughter and I have been munching the first salad cucumbers.