Friday 4 October 2013

Trimmed And Tidied

The sweetcorn which I showed in my last post looked so much nicer once they'd been trimmed and tidied, in fact, they don't look half bad. It just goes to show how things can be spruced up. As I said in my last post, they've been blanched and frozen for future use, though I doubt they'll last very long, there aren't many of them. Sweetcorn is one veg I will persevere with as home grown tastes so much nicer than shop bought. This is because the sugar in the cobs start to turn to starch as soon as they're harvested, so the sooner they're cooked after harvesting, the better. I like to eat my corn on the cob but the kernels can be removed and eaten that way too.

I'm really pleased to see my crocosmia flowering. I've had the plant for a number of years, and although the leaves have looked really healthy, it's never flowered before. I'm not sure of the variety, I know some can become a bit of a thug, so I hope it's going to behave itself.

We've had some miserable weather over the last few days, torrential rain on Wednesday, dull and damp yesterday, and so far today it's grey and drizzling. I'm hoping that we're going to get some nicer weather over the weekend as I want to get the garden sorted out. I think it's about time I pulled out the tomato plants, they're looking well past their best now, and the green tomatoes which are left can be ripened indoors. They've definitely done their job for me this year.

26 comments:

  1. The sweetcorn does look really good. We've yet to harvest ours, it was a bit last going in so we're trying to give it as long as possible. We've earmarked next weekend to do a proper garden tidy up though, so I'll guess we'll just have to see what we've got.

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    1. I'm sure we'll get some more good days yet, so I hope your sweetcorn takes advantage of every bit of sunshine available. I'm quite happy with my sweetcorn this year, I've definitely had worse years.

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  2. Hope that you enjoy eating your corn!

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    1. I'm sure I will, you can't beat the taste of home grown sweetcorn.

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  3. Presentation, presentation, presentation!, eh?
    I'm wondering whether I ought to have another go at Sweetcorn. My earlier efforts were a flop, but that may have been because I tried to do a 3-sisters bed, and they may have been over-crowded, and overshadowed. Certainly the pollination was not good.

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    1. I once had a go at a three sisters bed and was unsuccessful, definitely give them another go, you won't regret it if you manage some cobs. Home grown is the tastiest corn I've ever eaten.

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  4. They look mouth-watering, enjoy.
    I've got two clumps of crocosmia which didn't seem to flower much this year. They've certainly expanded over the years so I may have to curtail them soon.
    Similar weather here but it's looking better over the weekend and into next week. I hope that it's the same there. Flighty xx

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    1. I definitely will. I think if you've had your crocosmia some years, it may need dividing to keep it flowering. I'm really happy that mine has flowered this year, I was giving up hope. I haven't seen a local forecast, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for some better weather.

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  5. Enjoy that corn and I agree, it IS so much better than shop bought stuff.
    I once read that a few seconds in the microwave gets all those hairs off for you but I've never tried it, sweetcorn is just too precious to experiment with.
    Hope the weather picks up for you soon, we had terrible rain here yesterday but other than that we've had quite an Indian summer - in Caithness too, who'da thought it!
    Mine is all finished now as I have to grow it in the PT here.

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    1. I've never heard about the microwave trick but those hairs can be so annoying, they can take a while to get rid of. The wind is getting up here, I do hope it doesn't last in to the weekend, there's lots of jobs I need to get done. I can imagine that your climate is quite testing to say the least, it's good that you have a polytunnel to help things along.

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  6. I've been valiantly persevering with sweetcorn but have never managed a decent crop. I harvested 6 cobs yesterday but only 2 of them were fully pollinated. So I simply cut all the usable kernels off and they're now in the freezer for winter use. I do like the plants though, so I shall probably sow more again next year. Your harvest looks very appetising!

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    1. It's definitely worth persevering with sweetcorn, even if you get a small harvest, I think it's worth it. There's really no comparing shop bought with home grown. Glad you managed to harvest something from your sweetcorn, it makes a big difference when all is not lost.

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  7. That sweetcorn looks great Jo. Maybe this summer's sunshine gave your crocosmia a kick start. Forecast for the weekend looks as if it will be brighter. Hope that you have a good weekend :)

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    1. I'm fairly happy with the sweetcorn this year, it's the best I've managed on the allotment so far. Perhaps it is the summer's sunshine which kick started the crocosmia. To be fair, it could probably do with a sunnier spot, I may have to move it to make sure it continues to flower. We could do with some sunshine here, it's quite bleak at the moment.

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  8. Lovely sweetcorn. I didn't grow any this year, but I'm thinking of trying the three sisters thing next year.

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    1. I've tried the three sisters and variations of the three sisters without success. It sounds great in theory though, I hope you get it to work.

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  9. Get those corns cooked now!!!! And send them to me!!!

    I know what you mean about the weather, ours has been exactly the same....sighs....

    Yes, it's time to throw out the toms.....I gathered a load the other day and roasted them with home grown courgette, peppers, spring onion, chilli and garlic for a hour and a half. The house smelt like an Italian restaurant and they tasted gorgeous. I had some over pasta and even some on toast.....xxxx

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    1. Sorry, they're all safely tucked away in the freezer now. The day has dawned much brighter today, perhaps we'll have a nice weekend afterall. I'm doing a similar thing with my tomatoes and other veggies, it really does make a delicious dish.

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  10. That corn looks delish! Hope they taste amazing.

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. The corn I've eaten so far has been delicious, I'm sure the rest will be too.

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  11. Crocosmia has been a real problem here. The previous owners let it take over and now I'm constantly digging it out. Keep an eye on it!

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    1. I intend to. I know there's some varieties which are invasive and can become thugs but there's others which aren't so bad. I'm hoping that mine is the latter.

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  12. We have been away in Somerset for a few days and the weather was grey early morning and very wet travelling Thursday but it brightened Thursday afternoon and was lovely each afternoon while we were there.

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    1. Glad you managed to catch some good weather while you've been away. It brightened up here on Friday afternoon and it's been a nice weekend.

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  13. Glad you will finally get to enjoy your sweetcorn Jo. We have missed the bad weather although it's not looking to great outside right now. And I still have so much to do!!

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    1. It's taken a long time to get anything anywhere decent enough to eat, so I shall savour this. We've had some decent weather this week, but it's set to turn now. It's quite dull outside at the moment and it's definitely much cooler than it has been.

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