BS: Garden Harvest

Subject: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 15 Sep 13 - 09:47 AM

What have you harvested from your kitchen garden this year? And what varieties of plants did you try as well as want to grow again.

We didn't do as much as we would have liked but nevertheless it's been really nice to grow and cook with herbs and vegetables from the garden this year.

Earlier on we had lots of broad beans, mostly harvested and ate them when they were young and tender but we do have a few bags of them in the freezer harvested when they started to get more mature.

Runner beans we've grown for a couple of years now, but have decided that they're not really a favourite vegetable and we might as well grow a different type of bean altogether next time. Last year we grew a dwarf French yellow wax variety which was lovely, so will try to source those again for next year.

Potatoes were a bit disappointing, we've decided that the only ones worth growing again are the more pricy salad type potatoes like pink fir.

Courgettes were lovely, I grew an Italian heirloom variety called Genovese, which is pale green and when eaten raw is mild and buttery in flavour, with no bitterness. Am saving seed from this for next year.

Onions were huge, and really strong. Nice big crop too. Still not so sure it's worth growing ordinary white cooking onions as I go through so many. Next year may focus on salad varieties. And more colourful ones.

My bell / sweet peppers have been great, and produced lots of fruit, most of which are still green on the plants. Unsure right now whether to get them in in case of frost.

I lost all but one of my butternut squash plants to frost, and despite thinking that nothing much would come of the poor stunted wee thing, it's really gone bonkers and there are now three mature fruit and four smaller fruit currently on the vine.

Two types of chilli, one hot windowsill variety and another 'cayenne'. The cayenne are lovely and fruity as well as having a nice hot kick. The small ones are pretty hot. We use them in our curries and baked beans. I want to make a chilli sauce with them and then will freeze the rest. Will grow chillies again for sure!

My beef tomatoes, the French 'Marmande' variety are really tasty as beef tomatoes should be, but cool nights have affected the fruit causing 'zippering' and other surface imperfections. I want to grow them again as Marmande are the nicest tomatoes I've eaten, but as we don't have a greenhouse we'll have to use fleece hoods at night to stop the affects of night-time cold on the fruit.

Spinach beet / Perpetual spinach is a trooper, never stops producing and it's even reseeded itself this year.

I've grown loads of herbs including: several varieties of sage, parcel aka 'celery leaf', lemon balm, fennel, hyssop, rosemary, bay, several varieties of mint, flat leaf Italian parsley, sweet basil, angelica, sorrel, chives, Oh I forget what else!

And lastly but not leastly, our little Braeburn apple tree is loaded with rosy apples!

What about you folk? What have you harvested from your garden and which varieties have pleased you the most?

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 15 Sep 13 - 11:29 AM

Last year was my good tomato year; I got a few large ones this spring (I planted quite late) and have a fall crop started now (I need to excavate the garden from the grass that is tall - the only place the grass grows this time of year is in the garden.)

Peppers need to be picked - several varieties. Lots of herbs, several of them are year-round. Cucumbers are finished, pickles and relish made, and I gave away tons of them. Eggplant are reviving for a robust fall crop. Some of my okra was killed by a pest in the spring, only one poor plant out there that isn't doing well. The grasshoppers were awful this summer and damaged it. Cantaloupe was looking better until a friend watered while I was away for a week - he over-watered the cucumbers and cantaloupe and they were immediately clobbered by aphids. In a hot climate one needs enough water, but too much is as deadly as not enough.

Here I plant my onions and peppers in the fall to harvest in the spring. Same with garlic. It's past time now to get broccoli and cauliflower planted, but I'll still put in a few.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 15 Sep 13 - 01:35 PM

That reminds me, must get some garlic to sow this autumn, we use lots of it all the time, so it would make sense to start growing it. Must research the type, as I hate messing around with fiddly little cloves.

Next year I'd like to try a couple of different heirloom squash. Must also grow some red lettuce too, as it's the only kind the slugs round here won't destroy!

Can't imagine growing okra here, far too cold, though I believe Bob Flowerdew of Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time, grows all kinds of exotics in polytunnels, even coffee!

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Sep 13 - 06:26 PM

We grow Cobra, a climbing French bean rather than a dwarf one. We also grow a taller pea these days - Alderman.

Never had much joy with bell peppers - usually only getting a couple on a plant and never the size of ones Tesco's have. we've grown Topepo Rosso for the past couple of years. We found Hansel aubergine at the same time as the pepper and I've been very pleased with it.

I don't think main crop potatoes or main crop onions are worth growing. You've probably got these in your "etc." but I'll mention Charlotte and Anya for potatoes. For your onions next year, you might like to consider shallots.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: open mike
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 12:06 AM

We tried the Three Sisters style of native American garden where corn, beans and squash are planted together. Not very successful though we did enjoy some corn and the squash are producing some summer and winter varieties.

the tomato crop is in full swing just now...not many large ones, more romas and cherries (4 varieties of small snack types...red cherries, yellow pear, small golden orange cherry types called Sun Gold, and a chocolate cherry type too)

the peppers have been discovered by a deer and most are pruned back beyond bearing fruit, but i did get a few jalapen~os and did a fresh "Pico de Gallo" salsa with tomatoes, jalapan`o peppers, oniions, garlic, celantro and lime juice.

Zucchini squash have been producing well, along with some mystery varieties that came up out of the compost pile. Apples and peaches are ont he trees and the pears will be avaialbe soon...a neighbor has had success with melons...cantelope...but we have not . luckily he shares, so we can enjoy them! we had some peas....and then i planted beans on the same trellis after the peas were done.

My favorite garden project, though, is the lavender which i have a dozen or more varieties...Provence, Grosso, Madrid, Otto Quasti, and more....they are planted all around a circle the center of which is planned to be a labyrinth....

also the Zinnias self seeded from last year. the roses have been damaged by the deer. the iris had a hard time as they are difficult to water due to being far from the hose. i did have some sunflowers, and Crocosmia and The Dahlias are blooming now....also basil, celantro and parsley...Italian and curled....

I plan to try a couple of native herbal plants ... White Sage and Sweet Grass and have plants ordered.. they should arrive soon!

Nice to hear what others have growing....wish i could visit your gardens they sound delightful! we ar ein northern california in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. We do get frost and snow but not yet this year...it is still summer for a few more days.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 02:05 AM

"Nothing grows in our garden but washing"
Dylan Thomas (Under Milk Wood)
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 06:12 AM

GUEST, thanks for the suggestions. I'll look up Anya and Charlotte. Shallots too sound like a good idea.

This year we grew 'Californian Wonder' bell peppers the plants have produced about seven decent sized peppers a piece, if I had some kind of outdoor shelter I may have been able to pot them up earlier which might have encouraged earlier fruit.

Aubergines haven't done much this year despite heat, I didn't however pollinate any fruits on any plants, I will try again and try to be more hands on. THis is the one I'm getting next time: Aubergine 'Listada de Gandia' As it's cited as a patio plant, and we don't have a greenhouse. I doubt that without a greenhouse we will ever grow aubergines, but am willing to give it one more go.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 07:01 AM

Openmike, love the sound of your lavender labyrinth! What a great idea to plant a herbal labyrinth. Our garden probably isn't wide enough for such a project (though it's long by UK standards - like a large allotment)

Two things I'm excited to try next year are organic methods of pest control and fertilising.

We have a food waste bin that the council provided, but as all our food waste goes on the compost it's currently redundant. However it is the perfect size to make a comfrey liquid feed in, which is just the thing to feed plants instead of buying stuff. The bin also has a seal, so no stink! Has anyone tried doing this? More here: How to make liquid comfrey feed

The other thing I need to try is homemade Pyrethrum pesticide. I"m not big on killing things if I can help it, but I don't plan on spraying the whole garden, just those individual plants badly affected by the crawlies. The upside is, pyrethrins don't appear to harm bees. So first you grow your Pyrethrum daisies, and then make your pesticide from the seed heads: Homemade organic pyrethrum pesticide Has anyone done this?

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 08:25 AM

We have a couple of small greenhouses, CS. I don't think we've tried aubergines outside but I think I will try a couple next year.

Sounds like you do a lot better with bell peppers outside than we were doing in the greenhouse!

I forgot about tomatoes. Ailsa Craig seem as good as anything to me as a salad variety for the greenhouse. We also grow Roma VF, a plum tomato. Outdoors we usually have some hanging baskets (Tumbling Tom this year) and Ferline which has good resistance to blight.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Bobert
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 08:37 AM

Here in North Carolina we had two months of rain, rain and more rain which took it's toll on our veggies... We are now in drought...

But given the lousy growing season we harvested enough tomatoes, corn and green peppers to freeze and hold us thru the winter... We had a decent spring crop of asparagus... We couldn't keep our cucumbers going like we usually do... Getting lots of okra...

Fall crops (spinach, lettuce, beets, arugana) to go in soon)...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 09:38 AM

I was out walking in our local hills (Aire Valley, N Yorks) the other day and, wandering down a nearby lane, I happened upon a plum tree with a massive amount of unpicked plums on it. a few yards further down a very nice lady, who had seen me admiring the crop, gave me a bag full of plums and apples from the trees I had been admiring in her garden. Lovely they are too. She did comment that it had been the best crop she had ever seen. So, in this neck of the woods at least, I expect a bumper harvest with fruit and veg. a-plenty.

I do expect shops to lower their prices accordingly of course:-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 09:46 AM

Jon, I've never considered growing plum tomatoes before, I presume you use them for pasta sauce and preserving in bottled sauces and so-on? Nice idea, will definitely make a note to do that. They'll have to be a variety suitable for outdoor growing. In the East of England here btw, with a South-West (luckily) facing garden and quite a lot of concrete that gets good and hot, though can be a bit of a wind tunnel.

Bobert, really must plant some Asparagus! Love the stuff but it's not terribly cheap to buy. I've read that once you prep and plant, you don't have to worry about looking after them much and they just keep cropping each year.

With reference to garlic above, I read a rave review of this French variety: Garlic 'Albigensian Wight'
They look like a nice size too.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 11:43 AM

Yep cooking and tomato sauce. I haven't tried growing them outdoors. I'm also East of England (Norfolk) btw.

We've got a small bed of asparagus. It takes a couple of years before you can pick it and the harvesting season is only a few weeks but I think it's worth while having and having your own to pick is nice gardening highlight in Spring.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: sciencegeek
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 11:52 AM

unless you count the volunteers (ones that planted themselves all over the place) this was a dismal year for a number of reasons.

But... I've invested in some grow tunnels and small greenhouse that should get me thru the frosts and drowning rains without too many losses. fingers crossed for next year... lol.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Rumncoke
Date: 16 Sep 13 - 01:44 PM

In my tiny garden I have a couple of apple trees, with scab, but they are destined to make cider or apple wine so no problem there.

There are blackberries gone crazy this year, gooseberries weren't bad, mint, rosemary and a couple of other things without labels which smell good, probably thyme and savoury, a few strawberries and the feral rhubarb - and there is a grape vine in there somewhere but it so rarely produces edible fruit it should be put into the greenhouse.

One thing I will grow next year will be tomatoes. They are so expensive to buy these days, and in the South of England they are easy to grow outside most years. Where we are, on top of a ridge and in sight of the sea they need shelter from the wind, but that is no problem.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 18 Sep 13 - 03:57 AM

Grapes! Yes we planted on of those on our south facing fence. Hoping it will actually fruit in that location.

As to my south facing fence, it's long, and I'd love to hear anyone's suggestions for other fruiting climbers / clingy things I could plant along there. So far I've thought about planting a *Fig* and maybe *Cape Gooseberries* any other ideas?

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 18 Sep 13 - 04:38 AM

The grapes we first planted produced plenty of fruit but they were small and bitter. We replaced one of the vines last year but it has yet to fruit.

If we had a good south facing wall, we would try apricots again. We have tried them in other locations but it hasn't worked.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: sciencegeek
Date: 18 Sep 13 - 08:45 AM

I've been wanting to try the small kiwis... need both male & female..
they climb nicely... but need an area safe from the critters - sheep & cows do love to browse.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Rumncoke
Date: 18 Sep 13 - 11:10 AM

Fruiting climber with astonishing flowers - passion fruit

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: Penny S.
Date: 18 Sep 13 - 03:39 PM

Shallots to last the winter, grown from sets. Runner beans - I sometimes eat them with a pasta sauce liek carbonara, if there's a lot. Cougettes, still doing well.
Tomato plants which are so happy they haven't fruited. Some popped up from compost.
I am not growing any brassicas again - the molluscs like them too well, and this year was a good yesr for cabbage white butterflies (I've seen two females fighting over a cabbage to lay eggs on.)
Cucumbers a glut of - they make good soup, fortunately.
Blackberries as usual doing brilliantly.
I've a butternut squash plant which I thought would do as well as the courgettes and the cucumbers, but it seems to have developed end rot.
I haven't harvested the potatoes yet - should have done it this week but I've had someone staying unexpectedly and haven't got round to it.
I've got leeks for the winter, swedes and turnips.
Celery has done badly, as it did last year year, after two good years.
This year I started a lot of things off from seed in my spare room, but they took a long time to get going and then didn't take off very fast when planted out.
Peas did quite well, but I need far more, and the succession sowing didn't grow.
I've found a good product for keeping the slugs and snails off seedlings - pellets made from sheeps' wool - and definitely the daggy bit round the back. But it doesn't work later, as they find their way up other ways.

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Sep 13 - 04:02 AM

CS - form won't submit with the 'From' box filled out.

Thanks for the tip about sheeps wool pellets Penny! Will look into those.
Celery would be good for me, I'm always using it in 'miripoix' (sp?) for soups, stews and ragouts!

Rumncoke - or anyone - have you eaten the fruit from your passion flower plants? Is there a variety that\s best for the fruit?

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 19 Sep 13 - 08:41 AM

I've had an allotment for the first time this year but didn't get it till mid May and thought I would produce very little .... BUT....

I've shallots and red onions hanging in the shed. I've got jars and jars of pickled red cabbage and beetroot and a freezer full of carrots, runner beans, broad beans and sweetcorn.

I've got potatoes,white cabbage, savoy cabbage, leeks, swedes, parsnips and celery still in the ground together with a late crop of peas. We(or the hens) have eaten lettuce, pok choi, raddish and the last the tomatoes will be collected soon.

It's been beginners luck big style!!

Subject: RE: BS: Garden Harvest
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 20 Sep 13 - 05:04 AM

Raggytash, that's lots of veg! I'm impressed :)