The ups and downs of growing your own dinner 2016...

zafiro1984

Fruittea wrote: »

Hi Everyone
I'm not buying fruit this week as I'm focusing on using up the frozen - so I can defrost the freezer.

I'm doing the same, getting a bit fed up with frozen courgettes. i think this year I'll have to make cakes with the surplus and freeze them that way. Loads of blackcurrants to use - ice cream??, loads of blackberries but I've run out of apples!!

This week I've used from the garden new potatoes, strawberries, salad leaves, and the beginnings of french beans, updated my signature accordingly.

Netted the courgettes today - rabbit problem - (the little pests ate some of my new emerging leeks last night :mad:) Still not sure about my parsnips as to whether or not they have germinated

Hope it stays dry tomorrow

Kantankrus_Mare

Very impressed with your pickings both of you!!

Hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to start getting some pickings of my own. Still have brambles in the freezer so ought to start using them before this years crop arrives. Also got lots of homemade bramble and elderberry wine in the cupboard. This improves with time but I generally use it for cooking.

Fruittea

Morning Everyone
Wet and overcast here in Gloucestershire. All this rain will get the weeds growing. I've had the aubergines (3) out in the rain as I'm sure this will benefit them. Decided to keep 1 in the greenhouse but I really don't have room for more - so they'll take their chances. I was hoping to get the leeks planted out as I think they would like the rain but I'll see. Anyone have an opinion as to whether peppers will survive outside in an average Summer? Sunny south facing front garden.
Well done Zafiro - it all adds up doesn't it?
I still have apple and pear butters and some bottled apple from last year and tonnes of gooseberries frozen. When this years come and they look pretty big now - I'm going to try to sell them at the gate as I don't eat that many and since I learned how to prune them! They are very prolific!
Yesterday and todays breakfast was bubble and squeak as I wanted to used up some frozen cabbage. I never freeze courgettes as I thought they get a big soggy - I usually turn them in to ratatouille or roasted veg and them freeze. I wonder is there a technique to it?
I think I'll be adding a couple of punnets of strawberries to the list next week as they seem to be doing very well I the towers.
Have a great growing day everyone.

Fruittea

Thank you Kantankrus
The wine sounds good - it's something I'd like to have a go at. Here's to your future pickings.

Kantankrus_Mare

Fruittea wrote: »

Thank you Kantankrus
The wine sounds good - it's something I'd like to have a go at. Here's to you future pickings.

If you ever need the recipe........just yell!

Fruittea

Thank you - that would be very nice of you. I can plan to give it a go in the Autumn.

zafiro1984

Kantankrus_Mare wrote: »

Also got lots of homemade bramble and elderberry wine in the cupboard. This improves with time but I generally use it for cooking.

made me smile, recipe please if you can :):)

moneyistooshorttomention

Just watching the "crops" with envy a bit at the moment.

Well - I've had my first 2 strawberries:rotfl: - oh well....give it a few weeks.

Dug up some chard plants that have had it and found the "bed" at groundlevel that they are planted in seems to have "something hard" down underneath the roots. Darn - I had a gardener friend help me with a few hours digging in another of these existing "bed" things and she found bricks/concrete block/etc (ie previous owners never dug it properly in the first place). Horrible feeling same thing applies to this one. Right now - cant tackle it (as dealing with other matters). Cursing previous owners again:(

Wooden raised bed kits are here (various hassles later) and another friend was due to help me assemble them (2 person job) earlier in the week - but there has been a problem with one person that knocked onto another that knocked on to another and it knocked back to me by my friend being pretty unavailable for foreseeable future because of Person No. 1 in the knock-on queue. There's my earth all ready to put them - and starting to grow weeds again just since they were due to be sitting there done. The plants that were in that earth are in very temporary containers indeed waiting to go into those raised beds.

You'll have to excuse the moan....:(. It WILL happen....think positive...think positive...:cool:

moneyistooshorttomention

Update

Thankgawd for friends eh....just had an email from another friend and they are going to come round shortly and help me with the raised beds.

Aw!:T:)

Kantankrus_Mare

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Update

Thankgawd for friends eh....just had an email from another friend and they are going to come round shortly and help me with the raised beds.

Aw!:T:)

See!! Always a reason to stay positive!

Hope you get all your raised beds sorted.

I am going to the plot soon and someone has given dad some more potatoes. Not sure what they are and also a fellow allotmenteer has given him a couple of cucumber plants. Will have a route in my seed box and see what else I can sow.
Husband just come back from tesco and said rhubarb is £2.50 for 4 stalks :eek: I picked twice that yesterday so will start my pot at a fiver.

Have just made rhubarb muffins. Not had one yet but OH says they are good!