My beans have been(!) great following their difficult start earlier in the year and I have decided to grow more borlotti and canneloni next year. I'm not going to bother with Scarlet Emperor again, they seem to just be feeding the compost heap.
I made some lovely soup at with Ken's swede, a red onion (from Morrison's, not Michelle's lottie unfortunately), sweetcorn, borlotti beans, canneloni beans, garlic, courgette, veggie stock and potatoes.
I'm wondering whether to make Borscht with my lovely beetroots. I harvested 750g at the weekend - I've still got about a third of the original crop left in the ground, but they are still quite small. I'll leave them be for a bit and see if they do anything. Perhaps I'll fleece them, although from memory they don't mind colder weather.
The nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping, but here is my valient Avalon Squash. It is now as big as my hand and is very plump. I'm starting to nervously watch the weather forecast for any hints of frost. I'm in two minds as to whether to cover it in fleece (but don't want to deprive it of what little sunshine, albeit weak, is left). I'm already making plans for it and as I only have the one it has a lot to live up to ...
A little mouse has moved into the greenhouse - obviously preparing for winter. He has been doing some major excavation work and helping himself to a few tomatoes. Finally, I've got a decent harvest of tomatoes and am thinking of making some tomato soup. I seem to recall that Jamie has a nice recipe.
I lost patience with the sweetcorn and decided to try some at the weekend. For some reason the cobs have only half matured - I think someone said that this is because they haven't been pollinated properly. It was very yummy and sweet in the soup. My second variety are much smaller, but the cobs feel fuller. I hope the meeces and ratties don't find them.
The Jerusalem Artichokes are just about to flower .... some of them are now twice as tall as me. I have a great recipe for soup somewhere, I must try and find it. For some reason the side effects are reduced when they are eaten in soup. We celebrated a special family birthday last weekend in London at Fortnum & Mason's St James Restaurant - not only was it absolutely fabulous, but OH & I had a gorgeous artichoke risotto. Ironically OH had dandelion leaves for his starter - I wonder if they need a regular supplier :)
My salad is growing surprisingly well and looking very pretty as some of it is in flower again. The leaves are quite sharp and lemony in flavour. I've forgotten totally what they are:
The blueberry bush has gone a gorgeous colour, I guess its heralding the arrival of autumn:
The autumn rapberries are in full swing, but they are half the size of the summer ones. I really must try and find out what variety they are and get some more - I think one of my work colleagues gave the summers ones to me when I first got my lottie. I managed to harvest enough to make raspberry & chocolate muffins ... yum :-P
No sign of any baby frogs hopping around the pond, although I'm sure I'll find lots once I start my winter dig. The iris seed heads have finally burst open.
oh, remember my cute little kitten ? Here he is now, at 7 months old - he is enormous:
What were you saving the HGR for, seed? Looks like the cat could see off anything that might be eating stuff on the allotment, you should take him up for a trip out ;>)
ReplyDeleteI can recommend Borscht. I have made both the hot and the cold beetroot soup this Summer - I love both.
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