a plate of vegetarian home grown food

How satisfying it was to sit down tonight to a plate of home grown vegetables, all gathered earlier today straight from my allotment, apart from the small spuds that were out of storage! (oh and the cheese on the cauliflower was actually from Sainsburys but everything else I grew myself).

Self sufficiency

These photos show just how busy my allotment plot still is even at this time of year, when many around me have cleared their plots and started digging in manure before leaving fallow for the winter.
What a waste of space!
The brussel sprouts are swelling up well and we had our first meal off them last week, with many more pickings to come over the next month or so. By that time those spring cabbages will be ready for eating, and I have plenty of red cabbages to last all through the winter as well. We have already cooked plenty of red cabbage and frozen it for use later when other fresh vegetables may be scarce.
The lettuce is also growing well and providing some welcome winter salad.
And those carrots I sowed only 4-5 weeks ago are producing the first edible thinnings - with the promise of some lovely roots to follow soon.


But these are just a few of the vegetables I am harvesting at the moment. To add to the list are spinach, swiss chard, parsnips, beetroots, leeks, celeriac, jerusalem artichoke, and a little late fennel that the frost didn't catch! Not bad for a stony field that 3 years ago no one imagined would come to anything at all!

Summer holiday time

One of the problems of holidays is that the garden and the allotment grow apace and there is much catching up to be done on the return home.

Luckily it seems that whilst I was away there was an adequate supply of rain, and no searing temperatures to desiccate the crops.

The rain of course means that the weeds grow, but it was exciting to come home and see that the cabbages, lettuces and carrots I sowed before I went away have all shown a healthy germination. I am hopeful that the lettuces and carrots will mature before winter sets in. The cabbages are winter and spring varieties so there should be no problem there.

What is most exciting is the sight of two tiny melons on the plants I grew in the greenhouse. Melons are difficult to grow in England outside. Last year they came to nothing on the allotment. But they respond, apparently, to warm soil, and the greenhouse soil, under a black fabric, should provide the right conditions. I really hope I can grow at least one to an edible size. Watch this space!

Note on the photo of sweetcorn - not my favourite vegetable; it is after all used for fattening cattle in other countries, but we seem to be obsessed with eating it ourselves. One trick to make it more palatable is to ensure it is eaten really fresh, as close to picking as possible. Otherwise store in the fridge until use, to slow down the conversion of the sugar to starch and to maintain their sweetness. But it's all those bits between the teeth that I really object to!!

More harvesting and seed sowing

Driving home from the allotment the distinct aroma in the car was of beef casserole. This came from the red onions I have just lifted - the leaves are well dried and died down and the bulbs look nicely formed and fat. I have therefore brought them home to finish drying off on the back patio and then I will make the smaller ones into ropes, in the same way as garlic. The larger heavier ones will be spread out in the frost free and dry garden shed for use throughout the winter.

The white onions need a little longer to mature for harvest.

The soil now released by the red onions is dry but nicely friable and I have lightly forked it over and raked it to as fine a tilth as can be managed bearing in mind the stones. The larger stones have been picked off and put on the paths within the plot.

My gardening book tells me that in a 4 year crop rotation plan carrots and other root crops can follow on from the onions. This is rather convenient. I think I have mentioned that my carrot crops have really failed this year - the plants look miserable and tiny and definitely not showing much sign of forming any half decent carrots for the kitchen. I am therefore going to sow the rest of the carrot seeds I have in my collection. The packets say sow until the end of July, so given the warm soil, then as long as I give the seeds plenty of water I hope I can grow a late crop. Let's see. I'll report back later!

The red cabbages are really looking good. I have never grown these before and am perhaps having beginners' luck. Some have a little caterpillar damage, but most of them look as near perfect as they can. The wire netting has kept the pigeons off, and in any event they seem to prefer the green brassicas, given the choice. Even pigeons can apparently have dietary preferences!

Harvest

The plot is probably at its most productive at this time of year. The runner beans are offering their first picking, there is plenty of lettuce, perfect beetroot, courgettes and marrows, the butternut squash are swelling nicely, the broad beans were splendid and the surplus frozen, new potatoes are in full swing and the main crop ones look good. In addition we are eating cauliflower and asparagus peas, and the rhubarb is still going strong.

Not everything has been successful. My carrots have been a disaster this year and I'm not sure why. Perhaps I shall do a pH test and see if that throws any light on their stunted growth. Could I have over limed for the brassicas last year?

But just look at these shallots.

I've never grown them before and this could be beginner's luck! Hard to believe that one tiny "seed" shallot planted only 3 months ago could produce 10 more! Not a bad investment return.
As soon as we have the prospect of a few dry warm days I shall lift them all and leave them for those few days on the soil surface to dry before taking them home to finish off and to store like onions for the winter. I could pickle some. Apparently if the summer has been wet (which this one hasn't!!) then shallots do not overwinter well and have to be pickled to preserve them for any length of time.