Another good harvest

I'll start with today's harvest:
Foremost potatoes
2x Courgettes
and a Cucumber.

I dug up the potatoes around 5pm and by 6:30 a few were in my tummy, you cant get fresher than that!

In the Greenhouse:

Here is the Cucumber I picked.

Still in the Greenhouse: 
The Plum Tomatoes are nearly ready, we will be making plenty of tomato sauces with these.

The climbing Borlotti Beans are doing well, they have reached the top of my 6ft wigwam and the pods are forming well, you can just see the mottled red/green colour starting.

The Coxs Orange Pippins are looking good too, the tree is laden with sweet apples.

This heritage variety 'Woodbrook Pippin' has 3 apples, last year we got just one! So hopefully its now happy in its new location.

I just love these Echinops, the bees love them too when in flower, like this one. 
The blue colour is stunning.

So I managed 3 hours today, between the showers, the sun came out and it was lovely, but the sky went very grey and it rained soon after I arrived home to make my dinner.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian (& Jo on holiday)

Day after Open Day

 Sunday was our annual Open day when we open our gates to the public, have stalls selling Fruit, Veg, Jam & Cakes, we have a Tombola, Raffle and cook food on site, its a great fund raiser for our society. A local radio station did the music for us as it is our centenary year.

 So I got busy neatening up our plot, cut the grass and pulled up loads of weeds. 
I dug over this patch, removed mainly grass and some persistant weeds! It's now ready for some winter crops, like Kale, Spinach & Onions.

We had lots of visitors, as all plots did, folk loved all the flowers we grow, especially the Poppies & Lavender.

Today, Monday, I returned to finish off some digging & harvested all this, another bumper harvest.
Potatoes, Cauliflower, Courgettes, Kale, Peas, Broad Beans, Blackberries & Sweet Peas too.

I displayed the Canada flag for open day, we have Canadians in our family so was very appropriate.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

A mega harvest today !

 Such a lovely day to get busy. This end of the plot is a haven for Bees with all the flowers we grow, in fact flowers feature all over our plot. 
I was busy at the other end clearing lots of weeds and getting to the Damson so I could remove all leafcurl diseased branches, which we burnt.

This is the Goosberry bush, sadly it has suffered from swordfly attack. 
So we decided to harvest all the fruit and freeze it, so we can decide what to do with it later.

So here is the final crop, approx 9lb.   
Although we have already harvested some, Jo added a handful to Jumbleberry Jam she made, I'm hoping to make wine with some and even expriment with adding other fruit for wine too.

So time to dig up more early potatoes, these are Foremost and very tasy they are too.

 These are Pentland Javelin, also a nice early potato.

 These are our favorite, Charlotte. 
They are a waxy 2nd early but have a lovely flavour and cook really well.

Jo's been busy!
A trug full of Peas, Broad Beans & some French Beans too,

Here is the Cougette patch , there is Beetroot too & in the back the Leeks I put in a few weeks ago. 

So a bountiful harvest today: Cauliflowers, Potatoes, Peas, Beans, Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Raspberries, Strawberries, Beetroot, Gooseberries & Sweet Pea flowers.

Yes a lovely day, we got lots done, weeding & harvesting. We had Cauliflower cheese, with New Potatoes, Peas & Beans for dinner tonight, only harvested this afternoon & very tasty it was too.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

Lots & Lots done

The Cauliflower is ready to pick. 
We will have Cauliflower Cheese for dinner soon.

Tomatoes doing well in the greenhouse. 

I'm managing to water them regularly as its so hot at the moment.

We have Cucumbers too.

Still lots of Peas, they are filling out nicely. 
We have had lots so far and still loads more to come.

All of the Cara potatoes are in flower, the Picasso, planted a week earlier havent flowered yet.

Last week I showed the Pheasant nest, so neatly arranged amongst the Broad Beans. 
But sadly a few days after, we found the nest had been raided and all the eggs gone, we are sure it was a Fox. 
So Jo continued clearing the Broad Beans and tying up any that weren't.

The Apple trees are laiden and the June drop has happened, so we are expecting a bigger harvest this year.

I cleared around the pond, pulling out lots of Ground Elder, Nettles and Comfrey. 
You can see it now & while I was pulling all those weeds I could hear the Frogs plopping into the water. 

So another great harvest, lots of fruit this time and the Blackcurrants are ready, so Jo picked a punnet full.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

It's clearing & harvesting time again!

 Last week these Borlotti Beans were 2/3 of the way up, now they are almost at the top, just a few more days and I'll nip the tops off, to allow the beans to form.

Ooh exciting we have the beginings of a Cauliflower, it's the first we have grown for a few years.

 The Peas are filling out nicely, we have had some already with our dinner, and there are loads more to come! 
I even ate a pod full myself they were so sweet. 

Had to take this photo, of all the Poppies, the yellow ones are California Poppies. 
It's the view from our rest spot while having a cuppa & lunch.

Another cracking harvest: Charlotte Potatoes, Peas, Broad Beans, Strawberries, Raspberries, Loganberries & Sweet Peas. 
A Turnip too was found while clearing weeds in the Broad Bean patch, a surprise too! 

So while Jo was weeding the Broad Beans, she disturbed a Pheasant that flew off, later on Jo unearthed a nest among the undergrowth with 7 eggs in it. 
So she stopped and re-covered the nest in the hope the Pheasant will return, I'm sure it will.

Anyway we got lots done, even had a bonfire to burn some of the weeds we have pulled out and dried, there are still plenty more weeds, so another bonfire will be needed!

The pond is here somewhere, it's a bit overgrown again and will need clearing next time we are down!

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo

A weekend of weeding & clearing! Picking crops too.

On Saturday, after clearing around the back of the plot, I harvested some Raspberries & lovely they are too. 
Also got some Strawberries. 

On Sunday Jo did loads of clearing around the plot, mostly pulling out nettles, ground elder and more! 
But these Strawberry beds needed a big clear out of weeds and look a lot better, straw addded to prevent mud splash.

I thought it would be a good idea to weeds the potato patches of horsetails, poppies & nettles.

I then earthed them up, might be the last time I get to do it as the main crops are getting bigger, must be all the rain we are having!

The peas are looking great, loads of pods, some with peas swelling, wont be long before we get the 1st harvest.

These beans are climbing the canes, almost 2/3 of the way up now. 
When they reach the top we will nip off the growing tip to stop them growing but will encourage the beans to grow.

With all the clearing, this cheeky Robin was getting lots of bugs we uncovered, this one wasn't frightened of us as it got so close to us.

Anyway, as you can see from this photo, it went very dark and rain was in the air, so we packed up and headed home, not long after it poured down! 

But before we left I did dig up some more Pentland Javelin & Foremost potatoes, Jo got some Rhubarb too.

Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo.

A few days between the showers

Sunday: We only visited our plot to do a bit of harvesting, as you can see it was a good haul. Rhubarb, Potatoes x2, Strawberries, Raspberries, Pak-Choi, Broad Beans and Salad leaves.

First early spuds dug up, first of many too. 
I wont dig them all up, as they store well left in the ground and will dig up as needed. These are Foremost (yes spelt wrong on my labels) also dug up some Pentland Javelin, to compare.

Wednesday: We noticed on Sunday that the path needed another trim, as the rain had made the grass and weeds grow! 

So fired up the petrol strimmer again and looks a lot better for it. 

Will do it again I'm sure.

As the Onions I planted last autumn are starting to go to seed its time to lift them and leave in the greenhouse to dry before storing.

Well its been a lovely day, lets hope summer is finally here.

Will return Sat/Sun to do more weeding & strimming.



Thanks for reading/returning. Ian & Jo