Ms

[Matthew]

Two 'becky' halloween pumpkins... not quite as big as I had hoped but have got two medium sized orange fruits ready to harden off

 

[chickencam]

We've only got one big one this year and it is still green, I am hoping it will ripen before it rots or gets eaten by slugs.

[Matthew]

I've a massive 'hundredweight' pumpkin growing.. its about 20" across now and still growing.... we have an allotment pum'king' competition.... am going to be there or thereabouts unless some of the old boys get busy with the sodium chlorate

[Lesley]

The slugs ate my two pumpkins whilst we were away

 

I harvested hops today - before the rain

[chickencam]

sweetcorn better late than never.

 

really tasty

[Lesley]

We only harvested all ours at the weekend Liz

I now have 60 corn cobs in the freezer and all the odd cobs were cooked and made into a Picalilli Sweetcorn.

 

We're still picking loads of green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears, crab apples a few raspberries and strawberries.

[Guest]

I have been gathering all the salad potatoes I grew for those summer salads. The potatoes weren't ready in time for August, but then we never quite got the weather for summer salads either!

[Matthew]

Two gorgeous Crown Prince Pumpkins and a sole turks turban....

[Guest]

Two boxes of apples - but the tree looks as if I haven't collected any! How am I going to pick them all soon enough? And what will I do with them???

[Lesley]

Some varieties will stay on the tree quite well Ginette - may give you time to pick them?

 

You could put them in a box outside your house? - Free To a Good Home? - someone in the village does that, and they all go.

[Guest]

Later on this month the tree will be covered in Starlings - at least 100 of them on one apple tree! They eat all the apples I haven't picked.

 

Stinge that I am, I don't want to give them away. I want to make stewed apple which I can freeze for apple crumble all year round. And I want to make lots of apple jam. Apple sauce maybe.

 

DD3 is making apple flavoured fruit leather at the moment. I hope it works!

[Lesley]

I'm making Apple and Blackberry Leather at this moment as well!

 

Stewed apple is very versatile Ginette - good luck with picking all those apples.

[Egluntyne]

I gathered 2 buckets full of apples yesterday. I shall be peeling and stewing today.

[Guest]

Is your tree as full as mine? I have picked loads of apples but you'd never guess because the tree is laden - still!

 

Apple jam cooking now!

[WitchHazel]

Hi everyone. I've been a bit tied up and haven't had much chance to browse the forum.

 

Apple mad at the moment, like so many others.

 

We've made 60 litres of cider so far (about 100kG of apples), and have just tried pasteurising some apple juice which worked really well.

 

Dh has been apple picking again today, and we've 3 crates of apples in the kitchen waiting to be processed. I'm going to turn a lot of it into juice and pasteurise it so it'll last through the winter and next Spring.

 

Also picked 3 butternut squashes last week.

 

DH picked loads of beans, he's drying them.

 

Courgette plants have finally stopped producing, and I think we're just about to harvest the last of the tomatoes.

 

Dug up some very small potatoes. Our potatoes haven't done well at all this year.

[Christian]

Nearly my own body weight in crab apples at Lesley's. (yes, really, that many)!

[Lesley]

.....when are you coming back for the rest?

[Christian]

I think I have enough for a couple of hundred jars

[FORENSICA]

Two cucumbers and possibly 15 tomatoes all made into salad

It was completely dark (8pm), so I used torch to see and when I turned arround, two of my chooks stood behind me to see what I was up to at the garden They were rather drowsy but still begging for a tomatoe or two

[chickencam]

Had a lovely afternoon at the allotment on Saturday and picked all of our pumpkins, they were not quite ripe but I was worried about frost they are sitting outside my front door and ripening by the minute. They were more ripe where they were in contact with the soil

 

Loads of carrots, a swede, three small cauliflowers, loads of sweetcorn, and some turnips, and few late raspberries as a snack between planting

 

We also have sprouts nearly ready to pick and some cabbages, the rain has made it possible for us to grow brassicas well this year for the first time

[Valkyrie]

Yesterday OH picked some huge beetroots that I had forgotten about - the chickens drew his attention while they were busy scoffing the leaves (oh yes, they have discovered the veggie patch). He boiled them and they are now a pretty yellow and pink colour.

[Valkyrie]

PS - the beets were boiled, not the girls!

[Matthew]

what a weekend...

 

folks over so we put up the greenhouse I had bought of ebay..

 

Dug up a row of Golden Wonder

 

Harvested 10 butternut squash and 10 harlequin squash

 

Final lot of borlotti beans.. cut the plants and they are now upsided down in the greenhouse drying out

 

Some brussels to give to the folks and a lovely brussel top for my step dad his favourite

[Lesley]

These are the mushrooms we picked from our field on Saturday - Shaggy Ink Caps or Lawyers wigs.

 

We wiped them clean and then sliced and fried them with garlic. They need to be young when picked because they are just slimy if they are old.

 

 

I'm off to pick the next crop this morning - before Jazz jumps all over them

[Daphne]

a huge butternut squash that grew itself having been eaten last year, seeds/skin composted, come through the compost bin, been spread on the veg patch, germinated, grown a single solitary beastie of huge size and all by accident and for free. I've checked it and its edible (I believe they can be bitter if you save seed). Hurrah! Roasted veg for tea tonight.