Tuesday 16 August 2011

Everything Survived

We're back from our holidays and I'm pleased to report that everything survived while we were away. My dad came round every couple of days to water my tomatoes and there were a few ready to pick on my return. We went straight down to the allotment when we got home on Saturday just to have a look how everything had fared whilst we'd been away, but we were short on time so hubby went back on Sunday to harvest everything which was ready. As you can see, I had the obligatory courgette turned marrow ready to harvest, which will be stuffed with mince and tomatoes for a meal later in the week. The yellow dwarf French beans have started producing and were delicious with our meal last night. The cavolo nero is still going strong and I'm still getting small quantities of calabrese. There's loads of beetroot ready to harvest, but hubby left most of it in the ground and brought just four home for the time being. There was a small cucumber ready for harvesting, my first one of the year, they haven't done very well at all. I'm still harvesting first early potatoes from the containers, they've done great this year. I left the shallots drying whilst we were away, these are just a few of those we harvested, there's a bag full ready for use.

The climbing beans and runner beans are covered in flowers and small beans are just beginning to form so it shouldn't be long until we start to harvest those too. We put in another late sowing of climbing beans and dwarf French beans a few weeks ago so I'm hoping there's enough time left for them to produce more beans for us this year.

We had a wonderful time in Cornwall and Devon, though the weather was mixed. It didn't stop us from doing anything though, and we've heard that the weather back here in Yorkshire was worse, all that rain has made the weeds grow at the allotment so I really need to tackle those.

12 comments:

  1. All that rain - you've had lots of rain? Why haven't we? I loosened the shallots last weekend too.

    What type of cucumber do you grow Burpless Tasty Green usually does OK for us outside. Not a very inspiring name but it produces good cucumbers

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  2. Well worth all the effort.

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  3. Glad to hear that you are back safe and sound Jo and that you had a good holiday. It must have been great to come back to such rich pickings :)

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  4. Getting back to your garden after a holiday always gives you a few anxious moments, doesn't it?
    Looks like your harvest was good though. I reckon it has been a bad year all round for cucumbers; everyone I know has reported poor results with them.

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  5. It's always a worry for gardeners when they go on holiday, and such a relief when they get back to see that the garden has managed quite well without them. My cucumbers have been rubbish this year.

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  7. Your cavalo nero looks amazing Jo! I don't grow it in summer anymore - too many caterpillars. I have seedlings under mesh waiting to be planted out for the winter though. Fabulous beetroots also!

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  8. That's an impressive looking haul from your plot, and nice to have waiting for you on return from what seems to have been a most enjoyable holiday. Flighty xx

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  9. We haven't had much rain over here. It's great to come back and find that everything has survived isn't it?

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  10. Everyone told us that there'd been lots of rain here whilst we were away, Sue. The weeds back them up too, they've grown at a rate of knots. I'm growing Prima Top cucumbers. It's a small variety but it's supposed to produce high yields, I've still only had one. I've tried Burpless before, I may go back to them.

    It's definitely worth the effort, Don't unplug your hub. I love this time of year when you get rewarded for all the work that's been put in.

    It's such a relief after a holiday to know that everything's ok, Anna, and very nice to come home to a good harvest too.

    I couldn't wait to get to the allotment on Saturday, Mark, just to check that everything was ok. I've heard quite a few people mention that their cucumbers are struggling too.

    I think plants sometimes enjoy a bit of neglect, Elaine. We do tend to mollycoddle them. Sorry to hear about your cucumbers, I've still only had the one.

    Thanks, Surburban veg gardener. I love cavolo nero and it's done very well for me this year. I've still got loads of beetroot to pull, yet there's only me who eats it. I may have to find a home for some.

    We had a wonderful holiday, Flighty. It was nice to find new things ready to harvest on our return.

    It's such a relief to find everything doing so well after a holiday, Mo. I don't know about rain, I want some sun now to ripen my tomatoes.

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  11. Well despite the dry weather we had at the stat of the year it looks like you're having a great season. I envy your beetroot...mine was a poor crop this year!

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  12. I never got round to sowing any beetroot last year, so I've made up for it this year, Tanya. I've had a lot of successes this year, I'm very happy with most things.

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