One Potato, Two Potato...Seven Potato, MORE

On 13th July I posted a blog (with photo) about the Desiree potatoes that I planted with the help of my neighbour above me at the allotment.

When I went to dig up the potatoes yesterday I had such a lovely surprise. There are masses of them from each potato plant. They are so easy to dig up and my son and I managed to fill 2 crates full very quickly. Here's a photo of them.

We were getting so many potatoes per plant that we only dug up about one-third of the crop and have left the rest of them in the ground until they are needed. This evening we had some of them mashed for supper and they taste absolutely delicious - definitely repeating that order for next year.

Leek at That

Thought I'd show a photo of my son holding the first leek of this season that we have lifted. It is huge! Smells gorgeous too. There are plenty more (about 50) waiting to be lifted when they are ready, so this year's crop is a bumper one. Good job I have lots of receipes using leeks.

Summer Fayre

The allotment is teaming with fruit and vegetables. The runner beans are producing at least 80-100 beans every few days and almost seem to grow before your eyes, the peas are so sweet that when the children pick them they always seem to make their way into their mouths instead of the basket!

The courgettes are growing rapidly and seem to mature in a matter of days, and the cucumbers are so sweet and crisp. The tomatoes have at least 6-7 fruits per truss and are ripening nicely - not much sign of blight this year thank goodness.

The red and white onions have been more successful than last year, the shallots have been picked and are ready to be made into pickle. The garlic is ready to be lifted and then dried off, it hasn't produced as much as I thought it would and the cloves are relatively small, but they smell very strong and size isn't everything!

Each time I go to the allotment (every few days at this time of year) I stagger up the hill to the car with 1 or 2 crates full of home grown produce that I have picked that day, and I always get a wonderful feeling of great satisfaction that all this has come from a few packets of seed (and a bit of hard work as well of course).

Earth to Earth

Thought I would show a photo of one my kitchen composting bins. It is full of homegrown veg that I have just peeled/chopped/shelled. There are courgette ends, pea pods, cucumber ends, runner bean ends and parts of potatoes that got a bit "sunburnt".

These will all be taken back to the allotment next time I go and chucked onto the compost heap to rot down and then be put back into the earth, so it's like a continuous cycle. Now that's what I call real "recycling".

A Courgette or Two

Courgettes always seem to do well on my plot. We've had the allotment for 3 years now (doesn't seem that long) and each year the courgettes have been prolific. This year they are as good as ever and we have had 3 pickings already.

When I arrive at the plot I always take a walk around to see how things are doing and what needs to be picked at the end of my days work. It almost seems as if some of the courgettes grow about 1" from when I arrive to when I leave. I always try to pick them when they are about 8" long as any longer than that and they begin to look like marrows and are then better for stuffing with mushrooms, peppers and stilton cheese.

I have 6 plants this year and find that this is just about the right number as the more you pick the courgettes the more they seem to grow. Unfortunately the season for courgettes is rather short, and as I love to eat them so much I must find ways of extending the growing season and then we can enjoy them for even longer.

Red is the Colour

The strawberries are doing well. They seem to like their new spot and have thrived in the recent hot and sunny weather that we've had. I netted both rows about a month ago to protect the swelling fruits from inquisitive and hungry birds.

We have had 3 pickings from the plants so far with loads more strawberries waiting to fully ripen to a glorious red colour. My daughter loves to pick them and eat them straightaway - lovely and warm from the sunshine. Once you've tasted a freshly picked strawberry you don't want to go back to the tasteless supermarket variety. They are so easy to grow and the effort is well worth the result at the end. Here's a photo to get your mouth watering!

I picked approx 1lb of strawberries and added 1lb of raspberries (not my own I'm afraid) and made my favourite jam. The receipe is really easy:-

Cover the strawberries with ½lb sugar and leave for an hour or so until the juices have started to flow. Add the raspberries and boil until you have a nice thick mixture (about½ hour), test for setting and bottle in the usual way.

The Onion Family

The garlic I planted in the autumn last year was harvested this week, and although I have never grown garlic at the allotment before I am very pleased with the crop. Most of the cloves have swollen into fat bulbs which now need to be dried off for a few weeks.

The shallots have been harvested too and also need now to be dried off for a few weeks, and during that time I shall decide what to make with them. Last year I used them by making some pickle with Bramley apples that a friend gave me, but this year I want to make something different. Hopefully in the next few weeks I shall have a chance to look at some receipes.

With the garlic and shallots now gone from the plot, it was time to plant the first batch of leeks above the bed that had been vacated. I planted about 30 of them by making a very deep narrow hole with a bean stick and planting the leek plant very deeply and then watering in thoroughly. I used this method last year and we had some excellent leeks, so hopefully that will be repeated this year and we can have them right up until Christmas and maybe even beyond.

I have another batch of leeks to go in in a week or so's time so that I can have a more continuous supply of them and not an enormous glut (well that's that plan anyway).