Thursday 7 August 2014

A Bit Of An Update

I thought I'd give you an update on a few things, some which are doing very well and others which aren't doing quite so well.

First off then, my plum tree. This is growing on dwarf rootstock in a container so is never going to produce a huge harvest but I'm very pleased with the fruit it's given me this year. The variety is Czar, a culinary plum, but it can be used as an eating plum if the fruit is left on the tree to fully mature as the flesh becomes much sweeter.


These are a few of the plums I've harvested from it, they're very sweet and juicy. They look like shiny, polished jewels once they've been washed.


Most of the potato haulms are dying back now.


I harvested the above container which had been planted up with four tubers of Anya, a second early. This is my very favourite variety of potato, but I've found it doesn't produce the weight of other varieties. I don't know if other people find this too or if I've just been unlucky with them, but I don't mind as the quality more than makes up for the weight I'm harvesting. Actually, this tub contained a decent haul, 1320 grams.


The courgettes are still producing much quicker than we can eat them. Unfortunately, my mum and dad don't eat them so we have to find other people to take some off our hands. Our next door neighbours have been given a bag full and Mick's been taking lots to work, people there seem to be very pleased to take a few home with them.


I've been wondering whether to plant my apple trees in the ground rather than growing them in containers. They're growing on dwarf rootstock so they're only small, I think they'd be fine grown against the fence so I've decided that I'll definitely go ahead with this idea. One of the reasons is that my Golden Delicious tree hasn't done very well at all. This photo doesn't show it very well, but the fruit is very small and lots of it is misshapen and deformed. The leaves too are curly and don't look very healthy at all. I shall have to read up and see what could be the cause.


My Gloster tree is another matter, this seems to be doing quite well and is bearing a number of rosy red apples, I can't wait to try them. The fruit seemed very small for quite some time but has grown a fair bit just recently.


My little peach tree is still hanging on to its fruit, but the peaches don't seem to be growing at all, they're very small. Perhaps I was a bit premature in thinking I'd have my own peaches to eat this year, time will tell. Surely they should be nearly ripe by now though.


I'm harvesting plenty of cherry type tomatoes, they've been ripening ever since we returned home from holiday, but I've only harvested one salad type so far and the beef tomatoes are nowhere near ripening yet. There's a few more salad types on the turn though now.


Most of them are still stubbornly green.


The blueberries have done really well this year and there's still lots to pick. As you can see by this photo, they all ripen at different times. I go over the bushes each day picking those which are ripe and by the following day, lots more have ripened again.


On the whole, most things are doing well but there's always some disappointments in gardening.

40 comments:

  1. Most of your crops are looking good. Have you ever tried making zucchini cake? It's very nice and I also have a good recipe for a savoury dish made with it grated and eggs, a bit like a frittata. You've had a fair bit of sunshine this summer, so your tomatoes should be ripening. I "love" blueberries. Take care.

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    1. I haven't tried courgettes in anything sweet but I've heard good things about courgette cake, I suppose I should give it a go really with so many courgettes at hand. We have had lots of sunshine, I'm surprised that my tomatoes are taking so long to ripen.

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  2. It's mostly looking, and sounding good. It might be worth growing some Anya potatoes out on your plot next year as you like them so much.
    It's been a pretty good year so far. Flighty xx

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    1. I've grown some of each of the three varieties I'm growing this year on the plot as well as in containers, I thought it was worth a try, they might not be as bad as the slug eaten ones I grew on my last plot. Unfortunately, I've mislabelled them and I don't know which are the Anyas, but I've dug up some Arran Pilot and some Pink Fir Apple so far and they're looking good so I'm hoping that I won't need to have quite so many containers in the garden next year.

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  3. Most of our tomatoes are still green as well.grrrrr. I love blueberries and we have a bush on the allotment but not one berry.

    I love your updates the most as your not far from me and I know my growing should be roughly the same.

    I'd be happy with getting to the allotment at the moment x

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    1. What a shame about your blueberries, still, as the gardener's saying goes, there's always next year. I hope your back's better soon, it can't be much fun lying there in pain while you're thinking of everything that needs doing on the plot.

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  4. I have just one plum on my plum tree!
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. You must savour it. This is the first year that my tree has borne fruit so I'm really pleased with the harvest.

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  5. My goodness, what a bountiful garden you have. I'm so jealous. Gorgeous, gorgeous place

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    1. It's wonderful at this time of year when all the harvests are ready. Home grown food is the best.

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  6. Looking good! I love harvest time, when you can finally go "THIS is why I make all the effort!"

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    1. That's so true. It can be a bit of a slog in March and April but so worth the effort when harvest time comes round.

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  7. Everything's looking good!
    Have you tried Ratte potatoes? we prefer them to Anya!

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    1. I've never tried Ratte potatoes but I've seen them mentioned on a couple of blogs and they look good, I'm definitely going to look out for some to try next year now. Thank you for the recommendation.

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  8. Courgette chocolate brownies are very nice, I will make some next week. My tomatoes are still green and nothing on the blueberry bush, but I was not expecting fruit on the first year. Gooseberries on second year is still bare. Like you it's a mixed year.

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    1. The courgette chocolate brownies sound good, I think I'm going to have to try courgettes in sweet things. You win some you lose some every year so the failures don't really bother me, just so long as I'm getting some successes too.

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  9. Such a great fruity week! I love to see so colorful fruits that you get. The plums and red apple look so striking. I'm so interested. I hope I could take home any courgettes from your garden too... :)

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    1. I'd be only too pleased to pass on some of my courgettes to you, there's far too many for us. I'm looking forward to trying my lovely red apples, they do look tempting.

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  10. hi jo,
    your garden looks good.my tomatoes are still green .harvest time is the best time.zucchini pickles are wonderful.
    wish you a nice time,
    regina .

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    1. The tomatoes seem to be taking an age to ripen this year. I'm not really a lover of pickles but I suppose it would be one way to use up all those courgettes.

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  11. All looking very good, the courgettes look lovely fresh and shiny, you certainly grow lots of varieties xcx

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    1. You know what they say, variety is the spice of life. I like to grow plenty of things, something will always come good then even if something else fails.

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  12. I think you are doing incredibly well, there's always a hiccup or two....the plums look amazing and the red apple tree looks great too.
    I'm having the same problems with my beef toms, still green and my peaches are as small as yours and a little withered as I had peach curl on my tree.xxx

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    1. I'm really pleased with the plums, I didn't expect quite so good a harvest on my little tree, though actually the tree was absolutely laden at the start of the year but many tiny fruitlets dropped off. I suppose the tree will only carry the fruit it can support. My peach tree hasn't had peach leaf curl so I'm not sure what's wrong with my peaches.

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  13. Replies
    1. None whatsoever so far, thank goodness.

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  14. Blueberries look great Jo.
    Plums look amazing from a dwarf tree.........I have some steeping in brandy and sugar. Should be ready for Christmas.

    It is amazing how many people do not like courgette and marrow. I can never get my husband, children or Grandchildren to eat them.
    I love them especially grated and made into fritters











    Love post, full of colour.
    Plums are amazing from your dwarf tree.....I have some steeping in Brandy and sugar. Should be ready for Christmas :)

    It is amazing how many people dislike courgette and marrow. I love courgette fritters, saw a recipe last year and kept it. My husband hates courgettes but eats the fritters :)

    Great post, enjoyed seeing all your lovely produce.


























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    1. I'm pleased with my blueberries this year, I've had a few lean years where blueberry harvests have been concerned so it's great to have a good year again. I suppose it depends how you prepare courgette as to whether you like it or not. My family won't eat it on its own but they enjoy stuffed courgette so that's a regular on the menu at the moment.

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  15. My apples are similarly struggling this year, except for one variety. Two at home and one at the allotment have small fruits that haven't swollen. I think it might be a fungal thing, I'm hoping next year it won't make an appearance. Your blueberries look good. A family of blackbirds have had every single one of mine this year. Plenty of courgettes though! CJ xx

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    1. There's always something waiting to attack our crops, if it isn't a pest then it's a disease. The local blackbird population will love you, blueberries seem to be their favourite.

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  16. Swings and roundabouts Jo, as ever. I've done really well with beans and peas this year, and cherry tomatoes, but the potatoes have been a disaster.
    Your plums and blueberries are looking really good.

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    1. I've had mixed fortunes with beans this year, the runners and the purple French beans have done really well but the slugs got my green French beans so there's only a couple of plants which have given us a meal or two. Sorry to hear about your potatoes, I started growing mine in containers as the slugs got to the lot when they were planted at the allotment but I've had another go at growing them in the ground this year with me moving to a different allotment site and so far so good.

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  17. I know what you mean about the courgettes producing more quickly than you can eat them Jo. It seems to have been a bumper year for them. Do try cake:) Those plums looks delicious.

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    1. I don't think my courgettes have ever produced so well, there's a bag full to bring home every day or two. I shall have to try cake I think. The plums really are delicious, it's been nice to take some for my mum and dad too.

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  18. This post is ample evidence that diversity is important in the garden. Every year some things do well, and others don't. I've not had much luck with fruit trees, but then mine are in the soil, which may not suit them. My soil is dry and sandy, so the trees tend to suffer from Bitter Pit, which is caused by inability to absorb calcium, which happens when the growing medium is too dry. I may have to try growing some fruit in containers like you.

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    1. It's great that patio fruit trees are available which are especially suited to growing in containers. I'm not totally sure that my apples are happy though, I think I'm going to get them planted in the ground and see how they do there, they shouldn't take up too much room since they're growing on dwarf rootstock. The plum tree seems happy enough though, it's given me plenty of fruit this year.

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  19. That seems to be a really good harvest from a small plum tree. Lots of courgettes! Looks like you have lots of good eating this month.

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    1. I'm very pleased with my plum harvest, I wasn't expecting quite so much fruit from a small tree. I think July and August bring the best harvests, plenty of variety.

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  20. There are successes and failures every year and you certianly seem to have had many more successes. I think some plants have struggled this year because of the dry weather in July. I'm not a great fan of top fruit in pots simply because they dry out so quickly. Even my apple planted in the ground has suffered. I'm so jealous of your plum crop. ;)

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    1. I think some of my plants have struggled because I wasn't here to give them the attention they needed when it was so hot, it was the time I was away on holiday. I've had mixed results with fruit in containers but my plums have certainly done well.

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