Fruit Day on the Plot
Our sweetcorn, there are at least 2 large cobs on all the plants and 3 on most! The size in relation to my hand, don't look at the nails!Lots of heat and sunshine would be good to ripen them but today it is raining, hopefully moving away this evening
The sweetcorn bed which has 12 good plants and one which though growing has never caught up with the others.We had a visitor to the plots on Mon.who showed us how to check if they are ripe enough to pick by peeling back the leaves and 'popping' a seed with a nail, a milky white liquid shows they are ready but the one we tested was still quite clear.The tassels are turning brown which I thought showed they were ready to harvest.
Our experimental bed with dill, coriander and celeriac.I have been using the dill and the coriander is producing seeds. We tried to save the seeds last year but it was so wet they rotted .A word of mouth recipe for stuffed tomatoes with pureed courgette, breadcrumbs and some coriander green seeds.
Close up of the celeriac, I have scraped away the soil to show the bulbous root.I don't think they will grow to the size we see in the shops and an online search for info on when to harvest is in order.If they could be left in the ground to pull when needed would be ideal.
There were 3 rows of turnips here but we decided it would also be the ideal site for our 2 Goji berry bushes so 2 rows got transplanted , I left one row in situ 'just in case'.The Goji berry bushes are small so I don't think they will notice the turnips for a few months.
This was the garlic bed where 3 rows of swede turnips are now in residence.Brassicas follow alliums in the scheme of things?
Our wine bottle edging to the patio and our two artichokes which have 2 heads nearly ready to pick and about 6 more smaller ones.
Big boy is turning a blush!
I was coming home from the plot on tues, and spotted blackberries along the pathway. I stopped to pick a few into a small container which I had with me.I also picked some Japanese wineberries which are a relation to both the blackberry and the raspberry.They have gone wild on an untended plot and Zwena said to pick them instead of leaving them go to waste.They are delicious and from reading about them very easy to propagate and grow.Zwena said I could have a few of her cooking apples.
Finished jam, not a lot but I only had 300 grms of fruit not counting the apple.
There is also a plum tree on the same plot which has not produced plums of any quantity for years, this year the branches are laden down!I picked 1 kilo and found an excellent recipe on Cooks United.1Kg of Plums,stoned and chopped
700 grms of sugar.
No Liquid
Leave to soak for 8 to 10 hours, I left mine overnight
Put the whole lot into a saucepan and cook for around 20 minutes,this gives a lovely soft set jam which is delicious!
I had the gingham and saw the jam pot cover idea over on Ann's blog
Something completely different, Aoife had this strange plant growing up through the netting, we thought it was something just gone to seed. It turned into this beautifull poppy flower!
Comments
All of your produce looks so good.
Ours finished up long ago and Jack, Betsy, and the goats are enjoying eating the weeds and the left over stalks.
Just as soon as it cools down a little more I will be planting the fall greens.
Oh yeah... your fingernails look just like mine. I like them just like that, too!
Have a great day.
Pam
The gingham jar covers make the jame look special don't they - which it is of course! I had to buy some jars, no one seems to save them these days, since recycling, except one friend who is a hoarder thank goodness, and she gave me all her spares.
Pam,Your crops were way ahead of ours so they are bound to be finished now, all canned and preserved too I should think!
Lynda,we grow a large variety but not a large amount of any of them.I did'nt know either about checking until I was shown how, not that we have had anything worth checking in previous years!
Jo, Goji berries are one of the 'new' super fruits, I don't know a lot abot them either until I do some checking.I love artichokes ,much like asparagus here they have a short season if you want to eat them in season and not imported ones.
Matron, thanks for the commiserations!
Ann, I have become the recycle bin for everyones jars! We always have lots of them under the table in the tea room on the allotments, I don't know hwo brings them in but they are apppreciated.Thanks again for the jam cover idea!
Cheryl, nothing more relaxing than out picking blackberries on a sunny day and the smell of them cooking in the kitchen later!
And the slugs here took a great fancy to my turnip seeds so no sign of mine.
Have fun foraging and jamming :o)