Wednesday 14 August 2013

A Surprise Harvest

The first bean harvest has crept up on me this year. I saw that my bean plants were flowering but didn't realise that there were beans anywhere near ready for picking. Hubby discovered them when he made a trip to the allotment on Sunday evening, yet none of us had noticed them when we were there in the morning. The runner beans are St George, a variety with both red and white flowers, and the French beans are Cobra, a variety I haven't grown before but decided to give them a go after reading about them on Mark's Veg Plot blog. Here they are with another freshly picked courgette. I have to say that both varieties are very tasty and I'm looking forward to the next harvest.

My squash are doing much better this year than they did last year. The patty pan variety, Sunburst, just seems to be getting going, but the winter squash, Crown Prince and Queensland Blue, are fruiting. I just hope that I manage to nurture some through to maturity this year. Last year, they fruited so late that I didn't get to harvest any of the winter squash, and only a few patty pans.

The Corno di Torro Rosso peppers seem to be doing well. I had five plants but unfortunately, one came to a sticky end, so I'm now left with four. They've fruited well this year, there's quite a few peppers on each plant, so they just need to ripen now. It's a bit of a waiting game at the moment with the tomatoes and peppers, I'm watching them daily waiting for them to show signs of turning red. A little more sunshine would be good.

26 comments:

  1. I grew St George a couple of years ago & they are lovely beans. I can't remember which variety I sowed for this year but we had our first harvest last week & they were lovely.

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    1. I'm impressed with St George by what I've tasted so far. They're definitely a contender again for next year.

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  2. Beans seem to be especially leafy this year, must have been the spring rain. It's easy to miss the crop, says she having done just the same!

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    1. I'm glad I'm not the only one, they seem to have crept up on me this year. I'm really pleased with them though as germination was especially patchy with my beans this year.

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  3. We grew Cobra as mark raved about them too and like you we found a good picking quite by accident. They had been growing secretly near the base of the plants. We have also grown St George and two other varieties and like you our squash seem to be growing well although I haven't searched for the fruit I have seen some. Last year we didn't even manage to get squash to germinate.

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    1. I think this year seems better all round compared to last year. I'm especially hoping that my squash comes to fruition as it's a veg which all the family will eat. It can be tricky sometimes when there's picky eaters in the family.

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  4. I've been picking plenty of runner beans, also St. George, for a couple of weeks now. I'm impressed with them so will probably grow them again next year.
    Fingers crossed for your squash and peppers. Flighty xx

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    1. It seems that St George are a favourite this year. I'm also impressed with them and may grow them again next year. It would be lovely to get a good pepper harvest, and just a couple of squash would be an improvement on last year.

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  5. Not a sight of a single bean on my runners yet. I live in hope!
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. I'm sure it won't be long until you're harvesting them. They tend to grow like weeds once they get going.

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  6. You're right about the need for a little more sunshine. It would make a huge difference I think. I'm going to try Queensland Blue next year, so I'll be interested to see how yours does. The beans look good. I find the first few are always a surprise!

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    1. No sunshine here today at the moment, it's rained heavily overnight. I haven't tried Queensland Blue before so I hope I can nurture some to maturity, I'll let you know what they're like if I do.

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  7. Have grown 'Cobra' for a number of years Jo and they've always done well apart from last summer :) Must sow some runners next year! Fingers crossed for your squashes.

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    1. I think we can excuse last summer, it really wasn't a year for the gardener. I'm pleased with Cobra so far, I'm just waiting for the next harvest now.

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  8. I'd better have a good look at our runners and see if we have any to pick. Our winter squashes are doing well too, just need to put some weight on for winter.

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    1. Beans can be tricky to see sometimes, they hide in all the foliage. My squash are a long way off yet but still doing better than last year.

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  9. When beans come they come in abundance don't they. Enjoy ;-)

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    1. They certainly tend to. I'm hoping for a decent harvest to make up for last year.

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  10. Wonderful bean harvest, hope you have some freezer space for the spares! It's turned a bit chillier here in London too, although on Monday I was gardening for my mum in hot sunshine (she kept commenting that I wasn't wearing a hat! Bless!) . I too hope that we haven't seen the last of summer sunshine - it will otherwise have been over too quickly!

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    1. I'm hoping I get enough spares to freeze this year, last year was a bit of a washout in that department. I always need to wear hat in the sunshine, my head tends to burn otherwise. No need for hats here today though unless it's a rain hat.

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  11. Your beans look tasty. I had hoped to have patty pan squash this year but my plants must not have germinated so I've none. I really enjoyed the small harvest I had of patty pan last year. I also think this has been a better year for cucurbits.

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    1. The beans were really tasty, I'm looking forward to the next batch being harvested. I only got a small harvest of patty pans last year but enjoyed them so much that I really wanted to grow them again this year. I haven't harvested any yet, but I'm still hopeful.

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  12. Isn't it fantastic when you are surprised by a harvest....one of the best bits about gardening I think.

    Oh my.....they do look lovely! xxxx

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    1. I thought the beans were a long way off producing, just shows how wrong you can be. They tasted as good as they look.

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  13. That's the whole thing with green beans, they just melt into the green leaves and you really can't see them until you actually realise that you are looking at them.
    My peppers aren't even flowering yet so don't know what to expect. I'll wait and see...

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    1. It's really hard to find the beans sometimes, I often come across a couple which have grown to huge proportions. It's taking a while for my peppers to ripen, but a couple are on the turn.

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