Harvest Festival

Well hello there!  Long time no blog.

I seem to be nearly as crap at this blogging business as I am at allotmenteering...  well worse actually as I am still eating loads of fresh stuff and have a freezer packed full of fruit and veggies.  So allotmenteering wins hands down.

Now where were we?  Oh yes, beans!  I have bags and bags of em in the freezer enough to last us for a few months if we have beans once or twice a week!  I must do more (YES MORE) next year and will try and do them more in a successional fashion.   I know that some people have only just finished picking whereas mine were finished all at once in Aug/sept - and blimey they all needed stringing and blanching all at once!

The Potatoes have all been dug up.  Well I say they have all been dug up but I was reeeeeeeeeeally reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally careful doing them (as instructed) and went over the area thoroughly.  YEP all done.  Dug out a few weeds a week or so later... YUP more potatoes...  So last weekend I thought I would give both potato beds a final dig over just to be sure and yep every time I turned around another bloody potato was there either on the ground (as if from nowhere) or more usually speared on the fork.  BAH anyway - I'm not doing it again.  They are all dug and covered with cardboard and they are going to stay that way until I next plant something...

My aubergines produced.... absolutely nothing... What a waste of time.  I will go back to B&Q and buy a grafted one next year.  About £2 each but got loads of fruit so well worthwhile.  Cape gooseberries (Physalis) did well, would have done better I think if I had watered them better but still have lots of fruits.  I may do them again next year but may save the space for indoor tomatoes or cukes.

My spaghetti squash were the stars of the show!  The largest weighing in at 5.5 lbs!  The smallest weighed just over 4 and I have 6 to store for the coming months - I also have about 4 mini pumpkins and a tromba d'albenga and some red kuri.  I loved the patty pan while it was producing (so did the family) and will definitely do this again. 

I have planted out some kale and cabbages for over winter and in an experimental bid to keep the weeds down, I have planted them through cardboard.  Its a bit ugly but.... its working so far so we will watch this space...  I have also got a winter lettuce collection in so we should be able to harvest some of that soon.  :o)

I have made traffic light chilli jam!  The chilli's have been fab so based on an idea from the vine and a recipe I found on the net (like Nigellas but with more peppers for the colour!)

I made the green one mild, the amber slightly hotter and the red one OH MY GOD I'M HOT!  I am going to give them out at Xmas in baskets with some cheese, crackers and a packet of chilli seeds!  Cool, even if I do say so myself!  :o)

I picked all of the remaining tomato's at home yesterday.

I made loads of green tomato chutney last year and still have quite a lot, so having done some googling I made green tomato soup!  A taste sensation!  I will be making the rest up shortly and freezing for a comfort meal in the cold winter months - also highly diet friendly.  So a winner all round.  I will put the recipe on shortly.

I did think that as autumn came and winter started that things may slow down on the allotment (they will) but at the moment I seem to still have loads to do!  I am clearing and pruning and digging - This weekend I am taking some pallets over and hopefully making a tool store.  Get me.  I do hope that some good preparation will put me ahead for next year.  Yes - I am going to do it again...  I will try to bitch less next year about how hard it was... and how I had to do it all on my own etc.  I think I've learned a good few lessons which will help me so here we go. 

Must go and do some work for which I will get paid!  Mind you gardening is more fun and I haven't bought a tomato for months.  GAH - I'm going to have to buy some soon though.

Gadzooks :o(

Chat soon X