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Post by Ann on Jul 27, 2004 22:34:21 GMT
It's a year of "firsts" in my vegetable patch. I picked my first ever homegrown broccoli the other day. New heads are now forming in the sideshoots and are about ready to harvest.  But the other first is that, after about 3 years of trying, I have my first courgette! My problem is that I only ever have 2 plants. You need a male and a female flower in bloom simultaneously and the flowers last for less than a day. Until now, I've never managed to get synchronicity, but the other day it happened! I grabbed a soft haired brush, performed the delicate operation of pollen transfer and it worked! Rest assured, pics will follow when the courgette gets a bit bigger! (Did you doubt it?) In the meantime, I'm picking mangetout, have harvested 4 pots of raspberries, eaten my first picking of this years spinach and am looking forward to the runner beans. The first cabbages are also ready now. Only the sugar snaps have been a disappointment. How's every one else doing? |
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Post by Lesley on Jul 29, 2004 2:58:32 GMT
ann, thanks for the pic. the kids were asking today what broccoli looks like in the garden. they were impressed with the size of the leaves (me too).
great job.
we just have several rows of potatoes (thanks to my pushy father). and garlic that really needs to be dug up. i'll get to either sooner or later.
i love beans - no room this year - maybe next if i can keep my father out.
lesley
oh and 2 apple trees that are only in their 2nd year in my garden (5 or 7 total years i forget)
i check on them often - they only have a dozen apples each - the birds have pecked a few -
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Post by Edda on Jul 29, 2004 14:38:38 GMT
Great pic, Ann!
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Post by Chalmers_Cats on Jul 29, 2004 17:35:47 GMT
our garden has been very productive in fruit and veg. we got a greenhouse at easter and it was filled with plants right away. weve had 4 courgettes and there are still small ones still growing. there are 4 tomato plants ladend with toms-the first one is starting to go yellow. Weve had raspberry bushes for a few years and this year had been our biggest crop yet. Weve also had a big crop of strawberries. they are starting to finish off now but at one point we were out every 3 days picking massive amounts of fruit. weve also had large amounts of lettice and spinach.
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Post by Ann on Jul 29, 2004 19:07:13 GMT
Lisa,
I had a good raspberry crop too - I grow them in a really big pot in my front patio. I still have 2 small tubs of puree in my freezer. Another tub got converted into raspberry icecream the other day. I also had a very good crop of strawberries in theory. In practice, the birds got nearly all of them.
My second courgette is starting to grow and 2 more flowers, one male, one female look like they'll both be flowering tomorrow. I'll be there with my brush!
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Post by Ann on Jul 31, 2004 10:17:33 GMT
As promised (or do I mean threatened?!), here's my very first home grown courgette. Shortly after the pic was taken, I picked it, sliced it, fried it in butter and was part of the dinner Jen and I ate when she came over yesterday evening.  |
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Post by Catnip on Jul 31, 2004 18:57:43 GMT
That's a good head of broccoli there, Ann! And congratulations on the courgette! That's one thing we don't grow as neither of us like them, but we have practically everything else! Runner, broad and French beans, peas (finished now), potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes (also finished), beetroot, carrots, cabbages, etc.
We had a poor crop of strawberries, but a good one of raspberries and gooseberries, and the rhubarb is coming along nicely. On the trees we have pears, apples, plums, peaches (though not as many or as good quality as last year), figs (which seem to drop off every winter!) and a couple of almonds! (a first!). I haven't checked the cob nuts but they usually do well. We still have some left over from last year actually though they must be well dried out by now!
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Post by Daisy on Jul 31, 2004 21:14:38 GMT
I'm afraid there's only one thing to do with raspberries - eat them straight from the cane, can you think of anything more delicious? They've that lovely tang to them, so fresh. My Mum stews them to have with custard and is always offering them to me - no, no, no. That's a hanging offence, raspberries are the only perfect thing in the world (apart from Siamese cats of course - oh alright and lots of other cats as well). They need nothing else apart from your taste buds.
Marion, sitting here drooling as we can't grow fruit and veg, only clay pots.
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Post by Ann on Jul 31, 2004 21:59:01 GMT
Sue,
I grow everything in very small quantities. My runner beans are nearly ready to start picking, the mangetout have been the best crop ever, but the sugarsnaps very poor. I have about 7 parsnips, a row of carrots, 2 potatoes, 4 or 5 cabbages, 2 sprouts, 3 spinach, 4 tomato plants and there were 2 broccoli plants, now finished. I began with 3 courgette plants, but somebody's been eating one of them and it's looking rather sorry for itself. The other 2 are flourishing however. I'm going to get a good crop of apples this year. I didn't get any flowers on the blueberry bushes again, and the strawberry crop would have been excellent if I could just have got to them before the birds! I've also planted a couple of seeds which are supposed to produce baby sweetcorn. They're looking quite sturdy, but there's no sign of any sweetcorn yet.
It's amazing how much you can grow in very limited space. Even with as few plants as I have, I often end up giving surplus away.
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Post by Maria on Jul 31, 2004 23:51:02 GMT
Ann - the brocolli looks amazing, and well done on the courgettes. They are one of my favourite vegetables and I like them just as you describe - fried in butter. I can imagine that when they are fresh from the garden, they must taste even better.
Alas, I've not grown anything edible this year.
Raspberries are a favourite here too, although I've never grown my own. My dad used to (among many other things) and I used to 'steal' them before they had a chance to be harvested. As you say Daisy, the best way to eat them is straight from the cane. I used to do a lot of fruit picking as a teenager and I confess that I ate more than I earned.
Living in Kent probably makes me a little lazy with fruit growing. We have lots of 'pick your own' farms, farm shops and roadside stalls selling local cherries, strawberries, raspberries, vegetables etc and they are delicious (especially the cherries...the area where I live is well known for them.)
Maria
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Post by Catnip on Aug 1, 2004 21:05:23 GMT
Ann,
You certainly manage to grow plenty in your small plot! It sounds very productive! I don't know why we grow as much as we do in our garden because we can never manage to eat it all even when we have given loads away! There's only so much will fit in the freezer!
Marion and Maria,
I'm a raspberry fan too - definitely my favourite fruit! However, I am always compelled to wash mine before I eat them - the cats have been known to spray up the canes and I've seen tiny maggots/grubs inside the berries too! (We don't use any insecticides on them.)
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Post by Maria on Aug 1, 2004 21:15:43 GMT
Sue - I found a grub inside a raspberry once when 'stealing' them straight from the vine. The worrying thing was that it was the first time I'd seen one....and had eaten many raspberries over the years without checking. Eek!
Maria
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Post by Maria on Aug 1, 2004 21:17:06 GMT
PS- there is a country lane near here called 'Raspberry Hill Lane'. Isn't that sweet?
Maria
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