Produce coming out of my ears!

It really is hard work trying to keep up with all the harvesting at this time of year, I feel like I have produce coming out of my ears!

So as not to waste any I am cooking at least as much as gardening – which doesn’t always make me happy if the sun is shining outside.

The freezers (yes two) are filling up fast! Luckily we had an old one of my mum a couple of years ago and honestly I don’t know how we ever managed without it!

It’s true though that you don’t miss what you haven’t had, but once you’ve had it you would really miss it!

Grow your own Sunday Dinner!

Back to the harvesting, a couple of weeks ago we harvested all of the ingredients for our Sunday Dinner. Well at least the vegetables!

The last of the new (purple) potatoes crossed over with the first of the carrots, combined with beans, courgette for roasting and shallots to put in with the meat.

We could have cut a cabbage too but there wouldn’t have been room on the plate!

Shallots

I ordered shallot sets last autumn and planted them immediately in individual pots in the greenhouse. They grew away happily and overwintered in there. When they were planted out in early spring they grew well, but because it was so dry a few started to bolt.

With a bit of extra watering they did well, and when I finally pulled them all to make way for the courgette plants, they made two long plaits that are hanging in the garage.

I snipped a few off the plait, sliced them up and put them in with the pork to cook.

Potatoes

The purple potatoes were planted back in April and we harvested the first few in the middle of June. We don’t eat a lot of potatoes so we’ve just been eating a few at a time since then.

I only grow one big container full, but rather than harvesting them all in one go, I pull just one plant up at a time, I furcal around with my gloved hand and get out as many as I require. The rest of the potatoes keep happily in the compost until I’m ready for them.

I’d left one last plant in and so I knew there weren’t many left, but hoped it would be enough, and it was.

Carrots

I only sowed the carrots a few weeks ago, but with all the rain we’ve had combined with warmth, they’ve grown really well.

To see if they’re ready, I push a little soil away from their top and if the carrot feels wide enough I pull it.

This variety are called rainbow carrots as they are multicoloured. The seed is all mixed up and I particularly love the purple ones but this sowing has been mostly orange.

Beans

At this time of year it’s, beans, beans, beans. They have absolutely loved all of the rain, as have quite a few of the vegetables.

As ever I am growing the dark purple ‘Blauhilde’ as they taste delicious; are always reliable; and I love their purple flowers.

Also ‘Borlotti’ beans, which taste similar to runner beans, with the added benefit of storing the dried beans at the end of the year.

Courgette

As we didn’t have any parsnips to roast we made do with roasted courgettes.

They are such a prolific cropper and we are constantly inventing more dishes to use them in, but as with most homegrown veg, they are delicious on their own just simply griddled or roasted with salt.

Our Sunday dinner plate full of homegrown produce was both delicious and highly satisfying.

Harvest, harvest, harvest!

In the last two weeks the harvest has reached it’s peak and I now feel torn between wanting to spend time in the garden when it’s at it’s absolute best and having to keep turning all that delicious produce into ready meals. Which of course I will be grateful for later in the year.

It gradually sneaks up on me, one minute I’m picking my first few tomatoes, raving on as I do every year about the flavour of homegrown tomatoes – which incidentally can’t be beaten!

Before I know it we have more than we can eat and the freezer cooking goes into overdrive!

Cooking, cooking, cooking!

Tomatoes are turned into simple tomato sauce, tomato salads, lasagne, and lots and lots of curry.

Cabbages into coleslaw, sweet & sour braised red cabbage and simply fried with onions and garlic.

Beetroots into tarts and chillies into sauces.

As for the fruit, that mainly gets baked into cakes and crumbles.

But the real joy is going into the garden, and picking fresh what you want for any particular meal.

First thing in the morning going to get raspberries for breakfast; lunchtime, tomatoes, gherkins and salad. In the evening when you’ve finished work getting vegetables for dinner.

But best of all, is when it’s actually warm enough to eat out there too!

Happy gardening!