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). 

Pak choi, cabbage, onions and leeks

I thought I'd be planting out my Chinese cabbages* in the kitchen garden and sheet mulching over the failed beetroot bed;  I changed my mind and instead transplanted the cabbages into that bed at the allotment.  The son helped me re-weed the bed (recall it was matted with couch grass roots after I pulled the new potatoes), digging out grass once again and pulling some small weeds.  It looks like only about a dozen beets actually sprouted--probably old seed after all.

I managed to get a tray of pak choi in the kitchen garden along with six extra Chinese cabbages.  That bed held my very first early leeks which I pulled, washed and put into the fridge last week, and the long green leaves got chopped and frozen for later stews and stir fries.  I let my two ducks have several days of free range in the kitchen garden ("We're Going On a Slug Hunt");  and after planting out my tender little plants, not only did I net them (sorry lettuce, but you are now big and pak choi is small) but I very liberally covered the ground with crushed eggshells.  Here's hoping the slugs are a) not willing to cross, or b) not there at all.

It's about time to empty the pots of cherry tomatoes at the top of my allotment--I may move them back to the bottom (close to the water supply) over winter and replant with onions, now sprouting up in a pot at home.  I've tried growing onions over winter once before, without success--actually onions in generally have never been a winner for me, winter or summer.  Still, I want to be self reliant in all vegetables we eat and onions are a staple:  I'm not giving up just yet.  

Unlike my onions, leeks have always been a reliable crop for winter and spring harvest for me;  this is the first year I've grown an early variety (Lyon) in addition to my usual late one (Musselbrugh);  I started picking them last month.  I expect the earlies to last until winter before I move onto the lates.  I've been using them as an onion substitute with tasty results:  the long white stalks are very similar to onions in taste and the green leaves are mild like spring onion tops, though a different texture.  The only downside (and really only a slight one in my opinion):  they aren't as easy to clean as an onion, with sand and compost trapped in between the outer layers.  

*First it was going to be cauliflowers, then Chinese cabbage--now I'm aiming for spring cabbage!  Something will go there, I promise.

Finishing and starting

Although it was so much work at the time, I'm sorry my cherry tomatoes are just about finished.  My plum tomatoes are also nearing their end, but while the numbers may be few, the sizes are great--at least ten pounds left I would guess.  And while my pickling cucumber vines are nearly all dried out, the very tips of them are still making small cucs--a couple ounces a week (I'm still topping up a 2.2 L jar in the fridge, not quite full).  I think I should make a second sowing of pickling cucs next year:  the first in mid spring and another in late spring/early summer.  I luckily have two overripe ones ready for next year's seed, and am leaving one of my salad cucumbers on the vine for seed too. 

I'm kind of amazed at how quickly my new fennel and kohlrabi are getting on, transplanted at the beginning of August;  these followed on from my spring kohlrabi.  I wasn't sure if this second (small) batch of kohlrabi would succeed as they were a bit spindly when they went in, but like the fennel they're looking very luxurious.  In fact the fennel itself is already swelling into bulbs;  can't wait to start eating it.

However, my newly seed beetroot bed looks mainly grassy--I can't see many beet seedlings and it's getting a bit late now.  Old seed?  Slugs?  Not sure, as the other newly seeded bed of turnips and winter radishes is growing well--all were sown on the same day.  If it turns out to be beet-less I'll sheet mulch it over winter--I might even drag one of my big pieces of old carpet down from the back of the allotment to try and kill off the grass.

I had originally planned on growing my spring cauliflowers in the kitchen garden over winter, but the plants were getting too big in their pots and rather than potting them on yet again, I put them down in gaps at the allotment.  I hope I don't regret this, as the last time I overwintered them at the allotment they were full of slugs--lots of large slugs wedged in between the inner stems of the heads.  I guess they got in there as little slugs and couldn't get out:  I did not enjoy washing those cauliflowers!

Instead of cauliflowers, I'll transplant out my Chinese cabbages and pak choi in the kitchen garden, though these will have to wait a little while longer until the zucs, salad cucs, early leeks and lettuce are finished.  And of course I have some more lettuce to go out too.

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).