The ups and downs and ins and outs of growing your own, 2018

tootallulah

zafiro1984 wrote: »

That's made my mind up - I'm going to get an apricot this Autumn and put it in the polytunnel as there's loads of space. I spend an absolute fortune on fruit so at the back end of this year I'm going to invest in more types and try to become self sufficient as far as possible. I already have apples, blackberries, blackcurrents, blueberries, crab apples, gooseberries, medlar, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, rosehips, hazelnuts, sweet chestnuts plus melons and passion fruit in the polytunnel. I know it sounds a lot but I will have to increase the amount of some of the fruit eg I've only 15 strawberry plants so I'll need more of those. I've made an ambitious list so depending on cost will be how much I buy. My argument to DH will be I've saved a lot already this year on veg so 'what's the problem'

On the veg front, I've already harvested or I'm picking on a regular basis. New potatoes, dwarf beans, cucumbers, salad things, kohl rabi, baby turnips, rocket, basil, courgettes, shallots, onions, garlic, fennel, beetroot, gerkins, carrots, peas, mangetout, asparagus and celery, parsley. Loads more things to come and I'm already planning the winter stuff.

Last weekend I did a complete home grown meal (well almost) roast turkey thigh (home grown turkey) carrots, potatoes, mangetout and the last picking of the asparagus followed by strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a meringue nest (own eggs) I only needed to add sugar and cream. Not only has my food shopping dropped hugely but the temptation to spend has gone because I've not much need to visit the supermarkets.

Somewhere on here I said about being ill last year. Pleased to say I had my four month check-up with the heart specialist last week. The 11hr op earlier this year was a complete success and I'm rapidly getting back to normal - growing veg etc has given me a focus and apparently it's one of the best exercises/hobby I could have.

Fantastic health news, onwards and upwards. I have been freezing fruit and making compote (also frozen) for the last two weeks. I usually get enough to see me through November to April. Nothing is better than stewed fruit and custard in February it is the smell of summer. Even this year I have made 10 bags of stewed apricots. My absolute favourite is raspberry and redcurrant - delicious.

zafiro1984

tootallulah wrote: »

I have been freezing fruit and making compote (also frozen) for the last two weeks. I usually get enough to see me through November to April. Nothing is better than stewed fruit and custard in February it is the smell of summer. Even this year I have made 10 bags of stewed apricots. My absolute favourite is raspberry and redcurrant - delicious.

redcurrents are on my list, do you grow whitecurrents as I quite fancy them?

Finished picking the blackcurrents, I've frozen 12lb which hopefully is enough and I've another 6lb in the fridge which I want to use for jam/jelly There are loads left on the bushes but quite a lot are starting to shrivel because of the lack of rain. I've taken the netting off them so the birds and deer can enjoy the remainder.

Has anyone pickled gherkins? I've got two plants outside and they are very prolific and seeing as I love pickled gherkins I thought I'd give it a go. Recipes say to salt them first but I stay away from salt. I pick the gherkins when they are small and still hard so I wondered if it would work if I just put them in pickling vinegar - help.

unrecordings

I netted my blackcurrants this this and got a bumper crop. We tried to dry a batch, but after nearly a week in the dryer, they were nowhere near, so they went in some scones (which turned out fantastic). I'd just try the vinegar route, I think salting is used to draw out moisture

tootallulah

zafiro1984 wrote: »

redcurrents are on my list, do you grow whitecurrents as I quite fancy them?

Finished picking the blackcurrents, I've frozen 12lb which hopefully is enough and I've another 6lb in the fridge which I want to use for jam/jelly There are loads left on the bushes but quite a lot are starting to shrivel because of the lack of rain. I've taken the netting off them so the birds and deer can enjoy the remainder.

Has anyone pickled gherkins? I've got two plants outside and they are very prolific and seeing as I love pickled gherkins I thought I'd give it a go. Recipes say to salt them first but I stay away from salt. I pick the gherkins when they are small and still hard so I wondered if it would work if I just put them in pickling vinegar - help.

I have more white currants than anything else I don't think the birds can see them. They work really well with strawberries. I do like them and would always grow at least one bush but I have got to the point where I have too many red and white currants and almost no black currants and nothing is better than them so in the autumn I am grubbing out all except one red and one white and planting 3 black currants. have never pickled gherkins but I do like the idea.

zafiro1984

I've five rows of black currents I'm sure they are Ben Connan, far too many, so like you this Autumn I'm grubbing up 3 rows (or rather DH with mini digger is doing the job) I'm going to plant red and white currents plus blueberries and gooseberries. They will all be together so easy to net.

Spent the morning on the plot as it was a bit cooler, finished weeding the last bed so I can put the rest of the leeks out tomorrow. Started to prune the raspberries that had finished and to tie in the new growth for next year, the Autumn raspberries are looking OK but we do need some rain. I was looking online and Alan Titchmarch suggested a lazy way was not to cut down the Autumn raspberries when they had finished but to leave them to form a hedge about a foot wide. apparently you get a small Summer crop followed by a much larger Autumn crop. I'm going to give it a go as I'm all for doing less.

Picked a couple of cucumbers, and courgettes, some rogue potatoes from the weeded bed, and I've enough beans picked yesterday so they were all used at lunch and teatime -happy days and I didn't do any food shopping this week

Suffolk_lass

So many gooseberries and blackcurrants this year! My third freezer is already stuffed and apples are months away.

Dizzy_Ditzy

Something, or someone has had most of our gooseberries this year :mad: they've been netted but we are wondering if something has managed to get through anyway. Has happened to all the gooseberry bushes on the site so it's not just us

Plot 3 is coming along nicely - we have been digging and yesterday got some winter cabbages in, under blue pipe and black netting. I'm so excited just to have planted something :j we started digging at the bottom of the plot as that was the least troubled by bindweed and as we are moving up the plot, we are finding bindweed roots in the surface underneath the thick black plastic so hopefully we won't have too much trouble as we get further and further up.

Harvesting nicely from plot 2 - beetroot, onions, potatoes, garlic and green beans. We have some rhubarb chard too which will be shared with the chickens

We had some very good rain on Friday yet still had to water today :rotfl:

The courgettes aren't plentiful in number but my goodness they're plentiful in size! 616 and 761g our biggest so far. That'll make a cake or two :rotfl:

zafiro1984

Dizzy_Ditzy wrote: »

We have some rhubarb chard too which will be shared with the chickens

Dizzy Ditzy, I've grown some chard this year but find it tasteless and it goes sloppy when I cook it. What am I doing wrong, how do you cook it?

Such good intentions for today but did absolutely nothing, didn't even water. I'll pay the price tomorrow

unrecordings

Still too hot for me outdoors, though rain is promised later. I've made do with stringing up some shallots & onions

Out,_Vile_Jelly

zafiro1984 wrote: »

Dizzy Ditzy, I've grown some chard this year but find it tasteless and it goes sloppy when I cook it. What am I doing wrong, how do you cook it?

I grow a lot of rainbow chard, mainly because it's so easy, looks pretty from my kitchen window, and as a vegetarian I use it in curries and stir fries. Like spinach, it only needs to be added to a dish at the very last moment, and just cooked for a minute or so.

I've got a full-on blackberry glut, seems ridiculously early.