Still harvesting and preserving, still sowing and planting

I think my allotment has passed peak zuc.  Going from around 5# per day to 1# seems like a downturn, right?  I can handle 1# per day.  I've left one to grow into a marrow to save for seed;  this is one I grew from seed saved last year.  The fruit I saved from was a typical dark green zuc but had obviously crossed with a different variety as its offspring grew fat striped tasty zucs this year.  Since it's been growing amongst several different varieties again I expect it will be something even more fun next year.

In the face of an overload of tomatoes, I decided to try fermenting a large jar, crushed into sauce.  To be on the safe side, I generally go kind of heavy on the salt when I ferment veg, usually 2 T of salt per L;  the tomatoes haven't really gone very active, at least not yet--probably because of that extra salt.  I've made fermented salsa in the past using both red and green tomatoes, so I'm somewhat confident;  I've just never done it with just straight tomatoes.  I have a 1.8 L jar on the go and two more empty jars to try:  one the same size and a 3.3 L.  

I went through the back of my kitchen cupboards and found some jars I'd forgotten about:  a cucumber relish I'd made back in 2021, and a couple jars of dehydrated garlic stems which had no flavor.  Also two jars of caramel and rhubarb jam which were still good but we are a low- to no-sugar family--I decided to make a clean break and compost them (just one little taste!).  Any fruit preserves I make from now on will have no sugar added.  While this liberated a few jars for me, it's not enough to deal with the tomato influx!  Instead they will do for dehydrated veg, and I have a little more room for now.

The son and I have been renovating a couple beds which have just been cleared at the allotment:  the Charlotte potato bed (finally) and the mange tout pea bed.  We've spent a couple hours forking out grass runners and spreading new wood chips on top;  I'm hoping to transplant some quick brassicas and fennel there, but the brassica seedlings have been attacked by flea beetle and look very sorry indeed.  I don't know how the flea beetles got to them so high up on my patio table, draped with insect mesh;  I'm not sure if they'll pull through actually.  At least the fennel and lettuce seedlings (all sown on the same day) look healthy, though small still.  Maybe I'll risk the lettuce at the allotment too, usually a no go because of slugs;  I risked the pak choi earlier this summer and it paid off--the lettuce might pay off too.

Still picking purple snap peas, small aubergines, salad and pickling cucumbers, French beans, a little cabbage, and a beet or two.  Thinking about a couple onions, kohlrabi, komatsuna and fennel.  The last batch of lettuce bolted in the hot/dry, but my newly sown seeds of beets and radishes are sprouting up.

An allotment helper, still too many vegetables, making kimchi and ice cream

 

A helper at the allotment, July 2026

That little amphibian pictured above also has a friend, slightly smaller.  A female and a male maybe?  We don't have a pond at the allotment but instead an old pond liner smothering weeds;  it has a dip in the middle that has a continual puddle from watering--our little frog puddle.  This one had been lurking in the zuc patch that day and quickly made its way back to the puddle and the safety of the tomato overgrowth nearby.

Speaking of tomatoes, we (well, the husband mostly) have been picking a reliable 2# every other day this past week.  So far I've been making tomato heavy meals, but supply is starting to outpace demand.  I really want to bottle some--but have very few jars left.  The freezer is seriously full now, and the dehydrator is constantly packed with shredded zuc (we're going to be eating this for the rest of the decade I think).  What to do?

I had another kimchi marathon, making about 9 L over the course of three or four days.  I've got an additional 1.8 L of pak choi kimchi and another 1 L of komatsuma too.  And have been slicing up zuc for fresh/unfermented kimchi as needed.  To me it tastes less spicy when fresh, maybe because it doesn't have the sourness.  The zuc softens down so fast I think it would turn to mush if fermented;  I like the fresh texture, and it has a slight sweetness too.  The Savoy cabbage I used for the majority of the kimchi is much more robust;  I probably won't get to it till autumn or even winter--when the zuc gives up!  I've read that kimchi can last a year or more, although I doubt mine will--I'll eat it long before a year's over.  Unlike with the tomatoes, I don't have to have hermetically sealed jars for kimchi or other fermented vegetables;  the salt and acidity prevents spoilage, so long as the jars are kept tight shut.

The daughter and I are waiting for the figs to ripen, although I also have some trepidation:  it's loaded!  It's been such a hot dry summer, our dessert of choice has been homemade fruit ice cream--no doubt fig will be a delicious flavor.  She and I have gone out on our bikes to the local country park to pick wild blackberries, to tide us over.  They're big and juicy this year;  some years they're small and seedy.  

To make ice cream, I cooked them slightly in a pan with a tiny bit of water, just to soften--they really released a lot of juice.  After cooling down a little, I put the entire contents through my food mill with the smallest plate size to catch all the seeds.  Then refrigerated until cold, sweetened to taste, and gently folded with whipped cream.  I froze this mixture in a variety of containers (some silicone muffin cups and a plastic takeaway tub) and we enjoyed it the next day after dinner.

Let's get it done before summer's over

My summer break off work at last (I work at a school), and maybe I'll have a little more time to devote to my food producing engine--I've got six weeks before the kids and I start back.  I've been racing just to keep up with everything these past couple weeks, particularly since the zucs started.  But it's not just them;  it's also lettuce, French beans, kohlrabi, cabbage, komatsuna (similar to pak choi, which I also have), Charlotte potatoes, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, beets.  I've also been desperately trying to keep a handle on the couch grass and bindweed in my wood chip mulch--I can't let them take it over.

Me at the allotment (zucs in the foreground), July 2026

I'm dehydrating zuc shreds daily, freezing snap peas, putting potatoes into paper sacks;  I've made komatsuna kimchi, made kohlrabi/beet sauerkraut, and I'm cooking up a storm.  We are a family of four:  we can eat a lot, right?  Preservation is a high priority:  I'm unofficially following the Vegetable Challenge (not buying any veg except onions--and even these only rarely) and I'll need vegetables in winter too.

The allotment spoils of the day (heavy!), July 2026

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As daytime temps dropped by about 5C (down from the high 20s), I took a chance and started my late season seeds in pots:  Chinese cabbage, spring cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce, fennel, pak choi, komatsuna.  Some of these are second or third sowings, but will probably be the last this year.  Most of these have already started popping up, to be pricked out sometime this week.

I'm also sowing my last half a packet of beet seeds in the potato bed now it's been cleared;  probably some winter radish and turnip seed too.  This bed was generously mulched with well composted manure in early spring when the potatoes went down;  I'll gently fork it over to remove any obvious couch grass runners (a constant battle on my allotment) before sowing, and will cover over with insect mesh to protect from birds/cats/slugs/caterpillars, my usual strategy.  I should be able to take the mesh off by around mid September, as the white butterflies diminish.

An excess of veg, but too hot for seeds

Last week's heatwave was hotter than the previous (though less humid at least).  Thus I've been in harvest mode only, though even that has been almost too much work: a lot to pick!  Still picking lots of zucs, lettuce (not all have bolted yet in the heat), purple French beans, cabbage and new potatoes; and a few artichokes, kohlrabi and purple snap peas (I still plan to save seed from the peas).  The raspberries are just about done with;  and I managed to pick a tub of blackcurrants--unusually for me--to make a small batch of ice cream in the same way as the gooseberries.

I can see little cucumbers forming on my plants at home;  I also have a lot of tomatoes at the allotment, none red but maybe turning a little lighter green?  They are all really bushy in their containers and I haven't done anything to tame them;  since they are growing in composted horse manure they are extravagantly lush.  What's more, it's about time to harvest the allotment pak choi for a batch of kimchi.  Maybe I can do that next week, when school summer holiday starts.

I did have a moment of "what have I done" with the zucs;  I've given a few away, we're eating a fresh/marinated zuc salad every day--and I've dragged the dehydrator out to dry them, shredded.  These go well in stew/chili/etc in the winter.  I made a jar of refrigerator pickles;  I also sliced some thinly to use instead of pasta sheets in lasagna, salted first to draw out water (I defrosted some of last summer's tomatoes to make the sauce too:  really tasty).  And I've been sneaking the fresh shreds into burgers, meatballs, curry, everything. 

The heat/dry has rather put a hold on my seed sowing however.  I still need to start a few autumn/winter plants but doubt they will survive in this weather:  Chinese cabbages, spring cabbages, winter radishes and turnips.  Also the last sowings of beets and lettuce.  I just need it to cool down a little before I start these--I hope it's not too late in the season by the time it does.  Because we are so far north, we lose a lot of light by autumn--if cool weather veg are started too late they won't have enough light to carry on growing, even if the temps are still mild.

Planning for the hungry gap

So.  Hungry gap and self reliance.  How is it going now, ten years into my blog, and eight years into my allotment?

Recall the hungry gap is when the winter stores have run out but the new season harvests haven't begun.  I first wrote about it in 2018 and have touched on it a few times since.  Is the hungry gap a thing any more?  It was for generations past, certainly.  For us?  Well, I have more storage options than just a root cellar and some pickle crocks;  here's what I still have in my stores, of which most but not all is from 2025-2026:  

• One large squash
• Several large bags of frozen tomatoes, leeks, squash puree, broccoli greens, and a few small bags of various berries
• Many jars of dehydrated cabbage, parsnip, swede, zuc, carrot, tomatoes, and quite a few small jars of dried figs
• Several jars of beets pickled in vinegar
• Several litres of kimchi and sauerkraut (mainly shredded kohlrabi/turnip/beet combination)  
• A few jars each of apples and plums
• A couple gallons of fruit wine 
• A basket of unshelled almonds 

Now eating fresh:

• Purple sprouting broccoli and greens (close to finishing)
• Lettuce
• Herbs:  rosemary, sage, parsley, mint, chives
• Chard 

Taken together we still have a good variety of veg to eat until summer production begins, but if we were relying on fresh only, our meals would be very limited.  Having grown so much last year meant I could put away a significant portion into my storage, intended for just this time:  the hungry gap. 

Preserves!

It's the time of year when there is very little fresh, but we are behaving as though we are still in the Vegetable Challenge (only eating what we have, not buying veg).  Currently fresh:  leeks, a little chard and pak choi (both will soon be gone), herbs.  This means most of our five a day comes from preserved veg.  So what's on the menu?

Dried veg  

A lot of my dried veg came from 2024 to early 2025, though I did dry a few jars worth of zuc and toms during the Challenge.  Carrots, parsnips, swede (all bought on special);  also some squash chunks and cabbage greens from the 2025 harvest.  There are still a lot of jars but I am using the oldest ones up gradually in stews/casseroles/etc a couple times a week.  

Stored veg

It's only squash and chilis left in the dry store;  I have six or so squashes left (most of them pretty big) and a chili plant still alive on my kitchen window.  The plant is only barely alive;  its compatriot already bit the dust and those chilis are in a little basket on my counter.  However, I expect them and the squashes to last a good while longer (even if the plant dies).

Frozen veg

My freezer was jam packed at the end of summer but there's a lot more room now.  Still remaining:  half a bag of broad beans, three months worth (I hope) of minced garlic, and three or four large bags of toms.  I'm still adding squash puree once in a while, as we cook our squashes--we can eat the smaller ones quickly enough but we have to freeze some of the excess from the big ones.

Pickled veg

I made two kinds of vinegar pickles in 2025:  cucumber and beetroot.  I still have a large jar of refrigerator cucumbers and several smaller jars of sealed beetroot in the cupboard.  We've eaten about half of these preserves so far.

Fermented veg

Now this may be my biggest form of preservation, or closely behind the dehydrated veg.  I made loads and we've eaten loads--and we still have loads.  My personal favorite is kimchi of course, and I've been making it regularly throughout last year.  

I also made a rather large batch of what I labeled "mixed veg salsa" as an end of season catch-all;  the major ingredient was green tomatoes but I also had cauliflower, leeks, zuc, green beans, fennel...I can't actually remember everything I put in it!  Whatever it was, I whizzed it all up in the food processor and added a few chilis so not too spicy.

I experimented with a mustard/turmeric mixed veg, aka chow chow, but I think it's a little too overpowering.  It's sour and mustardy, and we do like it, but it's more of a condiment:  use sparingly.  I might make a small batch next time, not a big one like last year.

The last main category of fermented veg was sauerkraut, in all its glory.  I made it with cabbage, I made it with shredded kohlrabi, I made it with turnip mixed with beetroot.  It all turned out so good.  I think the turnip/beetroot combination is the best and I managed to make several liters of it.  

All this fermented veg has lived happily in my cupboard until needed; once I open a jar I put it in the fridge, but unopened it seems to seal itself quite nicely--none of it has spoiled yet. 

Fruit

Ok, not veg, and not part of the Challenge, but I do have some frozen berries and cherries, and some dried figs and apples.  Also some jars of apples, plums and one of blackcurrant jam.  And a couple jugs of homemade currant wine.  Nowhere near the amount of fruit in my stores as veg--just enough for an occasional treat.

The year in fruit

 2025 was an incredible year for growing in my garden and allotment.  As I mentioned before, I almost doubled the amount of veg grown from the previous year, and as for fruit, I've never grown so much in one year.  I can't prove this conclusively, as I've not been consistent about recording my fruit harvest (ever);  I can accurately state however, that it was the best year on record for fruit, at over 42 lbs.

I can hardly believe it, but half of the above total was from figs alone!  My Brown Turkey fig tree grew from just a little cutting which I think I bought off ebay (I can't remember exactly, but I do remember it was a cutting and I bought it online).  It grows in the sunniest, most sheltered spot of my garden, my most favoured tree.  We ate a Lot Of Figs;  I dehydrated some and gave some away too, but mainly we ate them:  so sweet and juicy.

The next best spots in the garden are given to a Morello cherry tree (on a mini dwarf rootstock, only about as tall as me), a Phoenix grapevine, a Czar plum, and a Robijn almond.  I harvested various amounts off all of these, but only recorded cherries and plums.  The grapes were disappointing, some going moldy before ripening;  and the pigeons picked off most of the plum blossom resulting in a sparse harvest (a problem I don't know how to prevent, except maybe with a pellet gun and pigeon pie?).  But I have cherries in the freezer, plums in jars and unshelled almonds in a box.

Moving to my less auspicious garden places, I have two apple trees, two young quinces (from seed, but not produced yet), two sweet cherry trees, and several currant bushes of different colours;  and a small bed of strawberries in the main veg patch.  I got a good amount of most of these, barring the sweet cherries--the pigeons gave them the same treatment as the plum (I think the branches of the Morello tree are too spindly for pigeons to perch on, which is why it was spared).  Unexpectedly, I got an apple harvest in 2025, from my two trees which have produced biennially up until now (though it too went unweighed).  I don't know if this is the new trend, or if they will go back to their old habits and take 2026 off:  I hope not.

Lastly, I have raspberries, gooseberries and redcurrants at the allotment, which is in full sun but exposed to winds, not sheltered by trees, fences and walls like my garden.  Since all of these are pretty hardy, I still got a good harvest, though again unweighed.

The Vegetable Challenge in winter

Our Thanksgiving meal was lovely and included lots of homegrown ingredients, including vegetables, eggs and herbs.  We had a nice dinner with friends;  now we're looking forward to Christmas dinner, though just with our four selves.

I'm still picking a few fresh things from the garden and allotment; this last week I've picked lettuce, cauliflower (I thought I'd already got them all), turnips and Chinese cabbage.  I still have fresh leeks in the fridge and squash in my living room, plus various bags in the freezer--and quite a lot of jars in my fridge and pantry:  dried, fermented, pickled.  The Vegetable Challenge has another seven or so weeks to run, and I'm fairly confident about achieving it this time.  I'm even confident about extending it beyond its finish date of 21st January.

Because of my garden and allotment plan this year, there's been plenty of variety and meals haven't got monotonous, at least not yet.  Eating with the season has been interesting and tasty I think.  I liked eating salads every day in summer and I've appreciated starting on the preserved veg at the start of winter:  pickled cucumbers and beets recently.  I've been trying to get through jars to make room in my fridge!  To that end, the last of the early summer sauerkraut has been cooked into most of my stews, and I'm alternating my breakfast kimchi with mixed veg salsa (which also pairs very well with eggs, regardless of having a very different flavor).

And after looking forward to it all year long, it's nice to start finally eating the first parsnips.  I don't have a lot this time, but next spring I'll try to get a full bed instead of just a few rows.  A nice treat in winter.  And I still have a small bed of pak choi awaiting me:  the anticipation is almost better than the eating.

Burning, sheet mulch, more preserving

The daughter and I went up last week to burn a barrel's worth of old pallet wood and artichoke stalks;  however it turned out to be so windy that afternoon that I burned the wood only--flames and sparks were flying and it was a bit scary.  The daughter (age 5) thought it was great;  I ran for the hose, just in case.  Luckily it's been raining fairly regularly and the ground was thoroughly wet.  And because it was windy, the fire burned fast and clean:  hardly any smoke and the full barrel was down to the last few embers in less than two hours.  I'm not sure if I'll try to burn the stalks another time (still some more old wood too) or if I'll bring them home bit by bit to burn in our wood stove.

Sheet mulching has commenced at the allotment, using some large pieces of cardboard I'd collected over the summer;  now there's space in my garage again!  I will start collecting smaller pieces and keep going over winter:  the couch grass grows over summer, I sheet mulch it over winter in order to plant in spring, then the grass grows, etc.  I can't eradicate the grass.  I also can't grow in the grass.  But I can knock it back long enough to get a harvest before it grows again.

I picked the last few cauliflowers this weekend, though I have about half a dozen plants without heads which may overwinter and produce in spring.  Actually I was expecting them all to do that but I guess I started a little too early.  I also made another batch of mixed vegetable sauerkraut, after tasting last week's mixed veg salsa (also fermented and so good!);  with the new batch I cut everything into matchsticks:  turnip, beet, fennel, chard stems, plus some of my earlier fermented spicy garlic stems.  

Speaking of fermenting, I'm down to my last jar of kimchi, made in July.  I eat it pretty much every day, usually with my eggs and bacon at breakfast.  I was a little concerned about running out!  However, I recently made a batch of kohlrabi water kimchi, something I did last summer too, and to fill out the 1.8 L container I also sliced up some (you guessed it) fennel.  I had so much fennel to use up and now it's gone till next year.  There are a couple small rows of both pak choi and Chinese cabbage, intended for kimchi soon.  In fact I was going to cut the pak choi this weekend but the kohlrabi will act as a stopgap:  I've got a reprieve for at least two more weeks.

Tackling the artichokes and making the most of green tomatoes

It was half term week off school and since I work at a school (in the kitchen) I had it off with the kids.  The husband was able to take the week off from his work too, so we had a rare week off all together.  What did we do?  Very little gardening!  

But on a sunny Sunday morning, our last day off together, we all spent two hours doing some work at the allotment.  The first job was digging out artichokes and moving some of them to the back of the plot.  The rest got cut down to the ground and we dragged a piece of carpet and another piece of rubber sheeting to cover over them (both pieces had been smothering weeds at the back where we moved the artichokes to).  Then a lot of wood chips to cover the now bare soil at the back, and my collection of pots and planters filled with overwintering onions on top of the carpet and sheeting.

I will probably have to leave that carpet and sheeting in place all of next growing season, to make sure it kills off what's left of the artichokes--they are very vigorous and we had so much plant matter to clear away first.  I prepared a tall stack of old woody stems to make a bonfire later.

On the same day I cleared away the remaining plum tomato plants and collected the fruits:  about eight pounds of mainly green ones.  We put down some large cardboard sheets over their bed (right in front of the old artichoke bed) for later sheet mulch.  We'd already done a lot of physical work and couldn't face digging out more mulch to pile on top:  soon.

In addition to the tomatoes, I also brought home another five cauliflowers, the last few bolting fennel bulbs and a pile of achocha.  Oh and a container of wood chips from the pile on site to pour into our chicken yard (I'm trying to collect some at least once a week to soak up the mud).  Once home, I started washing and weighing my veg and spent another hour making 6.6 L of green salsa, to ferment.  Although it's mostly tomatoes, I also put in most of the fennel, half of the cauliflowers and all of the achocha:  all chopped into a chunky paste.  Plus a good amount of salt, a handful of minced garlic and 10 small red chilies from a pot on my patio.  

That's pretty much it for my allotment jobs until spring.  Well, other than routine sheet mulching of bare beds and harvesting winter crops.  Maybe about half of the veg beds are still in production.  At home, none of my beds are clear yet, though I'm more than halfway through my early leeks (the late leeks are at the allotment).  Autumn is winding down and so am I.

Another glut of vegetables

I thought I was back to a slow and steady harvest of vegetables at the allotment, but it turns out I was wrong.  Last week I noticed some of my fennel bulbs were starting to bolt, so I pulled most of the bed--around 35 bulbs.  I started a 1.8 L jar to ferment with some garlic and fresh dill heads, but as I've never tried it before I didn't want to go overboard in case it turns out bad (I've done some experimental ferments which have been awful!);  I crammed the rest into the fridge to cook from fresh.  Fennel is nice roasted or added to stews;  the leafy tops also make a tasty tea which I sometimes drink in the evenings (no caffeine).

Another emergency harvest:  my second sowing of kohlrabi.  The spring sowing of kohlrabi made way for the fennel transplants, back in early August;  some of this first harvest went into kimchi and we gradually ate the rest, mainly grated into slaws and salads (just finished the last bulb out of the fridge at the weekend).  There were far fewer plants from the second sowing and I wasn't too confident about them, considering how spindly they were when transplanted out.  Suprisingly, they'd filled out nicely;  rather than let the slugs eat them hollow (they'd made a start), I pulled the remaining ten.  

And speaking of slugs, after a very dry and slug-lite summer, they were happily munching on some of my autumn cauliflowers last week:  about half of these have come home with me, after luckily noticing the damage in time.  I froze the heads, and the nicest outer leaves were dehydrated for winter stews.  I will keep a very close watch on the rest of the heads and pick at the first sign of danger.

At the same time, I checked on my turnip and winter radish bed under its net and found three big purple topped turnips;  these came home for the same reason as the kohlrabi:  I want to eat them before the slugs do (the radishes however don't look promising).  These turnips and most of the kohlrabi got sliced into matchsticks on my mandoline to make sauerkraut;  I added some freshly cooked beetroot too, filling a 3.3 L jar with the whole concoction.  And we ate the turnip and beetroot greens for good measure:  delicious. 

I was positive I'd picked the last of the squashes, but found two more this last week:  one green, one orange.  I can understand missing a green one:  it's the same color as the leaves, but the orange?  That makes 17 squashes altogether, though most of them are medium/small sized;  there are three big orange ones, though none as big as last year's monster.  All mature squashes are on mats either on the floor or windowsill in my living room, for winter eating;  so far we have eaten two that were too immature for long term storage.

Ticking on with the Vegetable Challenge

I finally did it!  I planted out the (somewhat sad looking) spring cabbages in amongst my lettuce bed in my kitchen garden;  and I planted out the last over winter onion seedlings, in containers at the allotment.  All seedlings done for 2025.  What a crazy year for sowing, planting and harvesting:  maybe I overdid it?

The Vegetable Challenge is around half way through (though I'm hoping to extend beyond my official end date of 21 Jan, 2026) and my freezers are full of veg, as are my fridge and cupboards, as are my growing beds at home and at the allotment.  I think I hit peak harvest around July but to be honest, that's only because I wanted to clear beds in order to replant for a second planting.  Now I don't have that pressure, I can mainly harvest when needed.  If a frost threatens, I'll pick the rest of the green tomatoes--nothing else is in danger really--but otherwise no rush.

Right now:  Lyon leeks, tiny hot chilis, fennel bulbs, achocha, kohlrabi, runner beans, lettuce, chard, beets, cauliflowers (a bit small), plum and cherry tomatoes.  Also picking Sparta apples and Kumoi pears, nearing the end.  Soon:  pak choi, Chinese cabbage, Welsh onions, carrots, parsnips, Musselbrugh leeks.  Hopeful but not very close yet:  cooking radishes, turnips, Brussels sprouts, Savoy cabbages.

From tarp to asparagus

How is this grass still here?  September 2025

We had a nice autumn day on Sunday--equinox I think?--and so the whole family went to the allotment to plant out the asparagus at last.  I grew them from seed in the spring and they have been waiting patiently in their pots until now.  

First we pulled out the cherry tomatoes from their planters at the top of the allotment:  all the remaining (mostly green) fruits came home with us to make fermented green salsa.  Then we moved the planters back down to the bottom of the allotment where they will stay until spring, possibly planted with overwintering onions (haven't decided yet).  

Then it was time to pull up the tarp and carpets where the planters had been, revealing a lot of worms and surprisingly a strip of green grass.  The daughter "rescued" all the worms while I dug out the grass;  the husband helped me prepare three rows and plant out while the son pulled out bramble vines at the back of us (not shown).  

I mulched with some wood chips (from a pile near the stables on site) and the son helped me pull the carpets back, to keep the weeds/grass from resprouting.  We moved the tarp onto the path at the side (again, not shown) and weighted it down with bricks.  The path is between us and our allotment neighbor and we generally keep it covered with pieces of carpet to keep the grass from growing--however, sometimes I need that carpet elsewhere.  I don't have enough pieces for both the path and the beds, and it's handy to cover really grassy beds with carpet over winter.  However, I'll be sheet mulching in places too, having collected some large boxes from my work in the summer.

There are still a few jobs to do as we wind down towards winter:  harvesting and clearing away the last of the in-ground tomatoes and squashes, planting out the garlic, and moving the artichokes to the very back of the allotment.  The asparagus are close to the back, but there is a disused space between them and the boundary fence, full of pieces of wood/pallets/wire/other allotment detritus.  It's mainly growing brambles and nettles, but I think it would be much better to grow artichokes. 

A family affair:  asparagus finally planted, September 2025

Still life with fruit and vegetables

 

All homegrown/allotment grown, September 2025

Still eating our apple a day (and salad a day with no end to the lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers yet)--I'm currently experimenting with low carb apple desserts, such as an apple "pie" this weekend with a coconut shortbread top crust (no bottom crust).  We bought a low carb sweetener which is a blend of stevia and erythritol;  I've been using it every Sunday for a special fruit dessert, usually a fruit crumble using ground almonds instead of flour.  The plum crumble was especially good;  though the harvest was small and mostly out of reach, I was able to pick enough to make it on two consecutive Sundays.  No sweetener needed in the fruit, it tasted almost like cherry pie filling:  delicious.  

There are still some Sparta apples left on the tree but the Laxton Fortune is now completely cleared.  It's a surprisingly good harvest this year.  The apples pictured are the very last of the Laxton Fortune.

Not quite so successful for the runner beans though;  I decided to try them again after a hiatus and will probably put them on the back burner again.  Not productive enough:  lots of vines, fairly good flowering, but not enough turned into beans.  I think they need a cooler, wetter summer than we've been getting.  I have French bean seeds which hopefully aren't too old to germinate next year;  these have been much more reliable in a hot summer, and do well in a cool one too.

Although my harvest has been acceptable, it was not a zucchini summer again (though it was a cherry tomato summer!  The son has already made some excellent tomato sauce to go on his homemade pizza).  The above photo shows a massive marrow from someone else's allotment;  the giver said to me, "want a courgette?" and I said, "I never say no," and then he came out with this monstrosity!  I said, "are you sure that's a courgette?" (because in my book that is definitely a marrow).  It's still on my countertop, biding its time.  My own reasonably sized actual zucchinis (aka courgettes) came in at a modest one or two a week from each of about a dozen plants, most of which are now completely finished.  There's still a patty pan making little fruits but I'm going to pull it up anyway, as it's cold and rainy and nearly equinox.  I need a space to plant out my spring cabbages.

And I think we finally got to the end of the season's figs, two of which are pictured with the apples above.  A lot went into the dehydrator, and a lot got eaten.  I don't really know what to do with them otherwise;  I gave some away, but most people around here aren't familiar with figs--I had to teach the recipient how to peel them to eat (but they were well received after tasting). 

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!

Cabbages, lettuces, leeks and flowers

Last week was a kimchi week, with about 10 cabbages all ready at once;  the variety is Dutchman (an F1) which I bought last year in the £1 sale, and I grew them at both the allotment and home.  They are a lovely, quick growing sweetheart type--most of them no more than 3# in weight (a few smaller, one actually much bigger).  I've made somewhere in the vicinity of 10 L of kimchi.  I'm not out of cabbage yet, and I'm also not quite out of big jars--but I've got no room in the fridge and the kitchen counter is also pretty full.  I eat kimchi pretty much every day with my eggs and bacon at breakfast, and sometimes with lunch or dinner too;  I'm not worried about having too much as it will keep for several months or longer--but I may need to rethink my food storage space.

I've now picked most of the lettuces and cabbages (to the left), June 2025

Actually I was going to sow even more cabbage seed last week in the hopes of a second harvest but it turns out I don't have any more.  I have four small Savoy seedlings which I've planted them in the gaps in the bed above where the lettuces and cabbages have gone;  however one has seemingly expired from the heat/dry and the other three don't look very promising either--it was old seed and not many sprouted.  I will turn instead to pak choi, which I definitely have seed for;  however, it too doesn't like hot dry conditions so I will probably wait at least another week to sow (it did finally rain again on Sunday but we're forecast another heatwave this week).

I finally got to the end of the first batch of butterhead lettuces, but have planted out another batch, seen below with leeks.  It's actually kind of amazing how fast it has grown;  I protected it with those wire trays at first but the lettuces outgrew them and the birds started pecking the leaves poking out;  I've now put up some bird netting and canes and it is looking a lot less tattered.  There is still some curly oakleaf lettuce about--and I've just pricked out the newest batch of these into a tray, for hopefully planting out at the end of the month.

These Lyon leeks have grown since this picture, as have the lettuces (under the wire, front left), June 2025

When I planted out the leeks, their tray had some unexpected calendula in it so I just planted them all out together.  This bed borders my patio and also has some wallflowers at the front of it, to flower next spring;  I grew a few other flowers from seed this spring, including:  zinnia and French marigold, lupin, echinacea, verbena, aquilegia and perennial sweet pea.  Most of these have already been planted out in the wider garden but I wanted the wallflowers close to the house so we could still enjoy them from the kitchen (when it's too miserable to go out);  the rest of my new flowers bloom in later spring/summer.

Cherries and also not cherries

(The Vegetable Challenge has restarted!  More details next week!) 

It turns out I've not been getting many Kordia cherries or Czar plums off my trees for the past several years because of a pair of pigeons.  They were witnessed in the spring, methodically stripping both buds and young leaves from my trees, meaning hardly any fruits formed at all.  These are wood pigeons (we don't currently have any feral pigeons around);  one of the neighbors has been known to shoot them with an air rifle in his own garden--but in this case I would have been quite happy to shoot them myself!  They're too big for netting:  I don't know if I can protect my trees in the future.

Hiding the few cherries that survived the pigeons, June 2025

Only a few Kordia cherries, but at least they're perfect underneath their cloth napkin, June 2025

On the other hand, my little Morello cherry tree produced a good amount of cherries this year, maybe because the branches are much smaller/thinner (wood pigeons are pretty big birds) and the tree itself is very close to the house.  I fully netted it a little while ago and have been picking red cherries and freezing them this past week.

Already picked a freezer bag of Morello cherries, June 2025

I can only assume the pigeons treated my small Stella cherry tree the same way they did the Kordia as it also has very little fruit.  Its top has died back and it's suffering from aphids in a bad way;  I don't know if it'll survive.  My plum tree, just around the corner (seen a little bit in the top right corner), had a couple years of bad aphids which I think the local sparrows eventually sorted it out;  this tree isn't visible from the house (unlike almost all of my other fruit trees) so I don't know if the birds are helping it this year or not.  While every ladybug and/or larva I find goes onto this tree, other than that, my policy is to not intervene.  I focus on setting up healthy conditions for my little garden ecosystem, a la permaculture;  it's up to the ecosystem to sort out its own details.  If I lose this tree, I can console myself with the thought that it only cost me £4 or £5, and I do have another healthy tree.

Sad Stella cherry tree, June 2025

As an aside:  there are a lot of wild cherry trees at our local country park just a few streets away;  some are pretty sour but others are quite nice.  Just much too small to preserve in any way:  good for eating and spitting out the pits.  At least we've been able to eat cherries this year, one way or another.

Full speed ahead!

Three pounds, seven ounces! June 2025

I thought my first cauliflower was massive, but the one above was a full pound more;  I went on a cauliflower marathon over the weekend where I picked and processed them all (eight in total):  most went into the freezer, heads and greens.  I also made almost 3 L* of sauerkraut with the stems:  I shredded these in my food processor, making quick work of them.  The son also cooked most of one head into cauliflower cheese for dinner:  delicious.

In fact I have so much veg all of a sudden, it feels like I'm in autumn harvest already and it's not even summer solstice yet!  I'm desperately trying to keep up with the lettuces (I'm passing them out at work, even) and the snap peas are suddenly covered, as are the artichokes.  The broad beans too, though these aren't cut and come again like the peas and artichokes--once they're gone, they're gone.

It's also raspberry, strawberry and gooseberry time!  I've started a freezer bag of the gooseberries as we have quite a lot, but the kids are eating up the other two as they pick them.  Also got some redcurrants and blackcurrants;  the daughter (age 5) is taking care of the reds but it's up to me to pick the blacks, something I haven't gotten around to for a couple years in a row:  I need to be on the ball this year.

Right now we're eating what can't be preserved--mainly lettuce and artichokes--and I'm freezing, fermenting and drying what I can:  cauliflower/leaves of course, broad beans, snap peas, some herbs (for winter use), gooseberries.  I'm going to have a chat with the husband about starting the Vegetable Challenge, though I may slightly update the rules (this is my own challenge and I get to set the rules after all).  The only veg he's been buying recently are onions.  I think it may be time. 

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Besides harvesting, I'm actually still sowing some seed for late summer/autumn planting:  spring onions, cauliflower, cabbage.  Although the big push is in spring, I don't stop the seeds until around August/September.  Just planted out my third batch of spring onions (been eating the first, still waiting on the second to grow a bit bigger), and I've pricked out my third batch of lettuce too.  I'll be planting all these out as other crops finish later on in summer.

*Both metric and imperial?  I'd prefer 100% metric but my old-fashioned kitchen scales have imperial weights, whereas all my containers are measured in metric.  Work with what you have, right?

The end of the hungry gap, June 2025

My first cauliflower of the year, May 2025

I picked this beautiful 2.5# cauliflower at the weekend from my kitchen garden;  I have ten plants still growing, hopefully to get just as big (the plants are all huge).  They overwintered in one of the beds nearest the house;  it's about time to start seed for next spring's cauliflowers.  I also want to replant the bed as soon as possible with either leeks (ready to transplant now) or beets (from seed).  I need to get my leeks in as soon as I can, and I have three beds near harvest now:  cauliflowers, broad beans and new potatoes;  the first to finish gets the leeks and everywhere else gets the beets.

I got my garlic at the allotment harvested a few days ago: 112 bulbs.  All but two are a good size and some are absolutely massive.  I washed them, trimmed off the stems and put the bulbs in trays to dry on my patio.  The biggest 12 bulbs will be broken up and the cloves replanted in September or October;  I've been saving and replanting my own garlic for many years now, fully self sufficient in it.  I even still have a small amount of frozen chopped garlic from last June's harvest:  it lasted me all year long.  With this small bed cleared, I mulched and replanted immediately with another five squash.

In addition to the curing the garlic bulbs, I decided to ferment the stems too:  I trimmed away the outer leaves, chopped the tender part of the stems and filled two big jars with them.  1.8 L of just a plain brine (salt and water); and 3.3 L of a water kimchi brine with salt, ginger, fish sauce and gochugaru (Korean chili flakes).  Both jars are bubbling happily on my countertop, waiting for a space in the fridge.

What's more, I'm picking lettuce pretty much every day now:  red and green oakleaf as cut and come again, and butterheads one by one.   Also picking my first spring onions as chives (that is, cutting off the tops to let them regrow);  these are tasty with the lettuce, and also on my scrambled eggs in the morning.

It's so nice to have something fresh, and the anticipation of more very soon.  Hungry gap over?