Bumper Harvests?

[ruffmeister]

Hey guys  / GIrls,

Are you having bumper harvests this year compared to last. We definitley think that we are getter better crops than we thought we were going to get. With large potatoes, runner beans and onions etc.

Click here for pictures of our Bulging harvest basket

How are your doing better? worse? trying to find places for all your veg, or is your lader empty.

Other news this week, swedes are being eaten alive, runner bean harvest, shallots leaves have gone over, and the pumpkins are taking over the world.

Regards
Lottieblogs

[ruffmeister]

[Doris_Pinks]

ruff, worst year yet for me, not really harvested anything of note yet!

Grumpy in East Sussex!

[Mrs Ava]

Doing great mostly.  More French Beans that we can eat.....giving them away, along with the expected courgettes.  Soft fruits have been amazing and the spuds have been huge.  I don't know about the tomatoes yet because blight is prevalent on our site, but so far so good.  Salads have been great thanks to the rain, no bolting!  Garlic has been a total disaster this year, but that is due to the white rot, which we know about.

[kt.]

Been working away so I am a bit behind on my posts.

1. Spuds have been excellent.
2. All Strawberries gone,
3. millions of peas. 1st 2 batches eaten by my kids, third not quite ready and a 4. 4th in the greenhouse ready to transplant.
5. Lettuce was good at the start of the year but slowed down a lot now.
6. No beetroot has come through... never had this before.
7. Sumer cabbages about ready, largest onions I have ever grown - well
8. pleased. Carrots are small but healthy.
9. Just picked 2nd courgette today.
10. First 2 cherry tomatoes ripened today - I had to test them so they ain't there no more....

I have no fruit on my California wonder pepper plants. They are healthy enough but only 14-18inches high.

Overall some has come on well, other stuff has not come at all.

[carolinej]

Potatoes, blight and poor crop.
Carrots, small, poor germination.
Beetroot, verry poor germination.
Squash, lost most plants.
Onions, small.
Calabrese, very good crop.
Courgettes, picked 6 so far.
Peas, eaten,
Strawberries, good.
Blackcurrants, excellent.
Raspberries, few but huge,
Leeks, good but some rust.
Sweetcorn, 1 ft high.
Apple, bumper crop.

Greenhouse.
---------------
Tomatoes, good.
Cucumbers, good at first but none at the mo.
Peppers/chillis One or 2 on most plants.
Aubergines, flowers which drop off.

Yesterday, I found every plant in my home greenhouse had pale brown spots on every leaf. The chilli leaves and flowers drop off by the million when you touch it. Probably naked by today!

cj :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

it's a complete disaster of a year for me; the alliums are good apart from spring-planted onions; the survivors are fine but I lost a lot to onion fly. Apart from that, I'm not sure I'm going to get anything. The squashes might be OK yet, if the floods haven't damaged them too much.

[flowerlady]

 ;D Oh reading this makes me feel so much better !!  ::)

The peas and broad beans grew magnificently ... but it rained for days ... and by the time I was able to go pick them ... they were too tough  :'(

The carrots and beetroot simply did not bilk up  ???

My squash stayed in their pots too long because I did not wish to plant them in a monsoon and so they are absolutely tiny  :-\

The slugs ate my mizuna flat, and my basil, sorrel, chervil, lettuce, and pak choi   :'( :'( :'(

As for raspberries ... well   :-X ... the only good thing so far has been a gooseberry !!!!

Brewing them ... think I will be able to drown my sorrows ....  :-\   ;)

[pigeonseed]

I think it's quite a good year, but more because I put a lot of work.

The lack of sun has meant crops are late. But I think the rain has been good for the allotment generally because normally the plants suffer a lot of stress when it's so hot and dry (likein the last few years)

I can see from the soil surface that it has flooded at times, but luckily the water had drained away without causing damage. But really sorry to all who have suffered with serious flooding.

so yes, not exaclty a bumper crop, but I feel happy with it this year.

[torquil]

Hi went to lottie yesterday  things are starting to dry out at last,picked a row of peas still one more to go. Have found that courgettes are good this year. Potatoes have no blight first earlies good crop, Caulies are covered with  flies, have sprayed them twice but mealy bugs are in nearly all lotties, this year carrots are not good at all . parsnips look healthy waiting for sun to ripen tomatoes Ha Ha . cucumbers good.



                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

[Squashfan]

Have had really good strawberries and artichokes, jersualems romping away, my squashes are just about awful.
Toms happy in back garden suntrap (when there is sun to trap!), parsnips good as usual, and lettuces better than normal. Looking forward to my purple bush beans. Broad beans were ok this year. Cabbages seem pretty happy and fairly untroubled by bugs. Garlic very mediocre, onions better.
The whole lot is weedy as anything - I have had no time to get down there with the hoe.

[sweet-pea]

Having a mixed year so far, partly because of the weather and partly because I've been late planting things out from their pots!
Potatoes are great, best I've ever had, but now have first signs of blight so chopped off the vegetation at the weekend.  Not sure if the tomatoes have been affected yet.
Courgettes and squash have been slow to grow but starting to romp away now so there is hope.
Had first success with peas this year.
Shallots, onions and garlic much better this year.
Other things aren't really doing any different to previous years.

SP x

[Jeannine]

Lost most stuff in the floods as you know but I am completely surrounded by tomatoes now,  all huge and very plentiful so am  making sauces as we speak.We are picking about 10 pound every couple of days.

Peppers are just ripening and are going to be the same.


Beyond that we have nothing really, the odd carrot left in a bed etc but everything else was lost.

Aint life funny !!

XX Jeannine

[flowerlady]

 :o :o :o

WHAT tomatoes !!! They are all bushy things that have gone to riot !!!  :-\ :'(

[Crash]

I've been harvesting courgettes for weeks now... I think I'll have around 100kg by end of season! I'll be making courgette and ginger jam and courgette chutney this afternoon. Already made 1 batch to see how they turned out... Need to get onto Tate n Lyle for a bulk delivery.... Both were yummy!
My spuds were huge (1st and 2nd earlies) main crop is holding up well.
Peas were all maggoty.
Parsnips (all 6 of them, but thats 6 more than last year) are looking really healthy.
Celery is coming along nicely. Didn't grow this last year so looking forward to trying it.
Pumpkins.... Well I planted a seed by mistake when we were doing the tom seeds. It came up and I put it out far too early. It's now taking over the field and I have about 6 of them the size of footballs.
Runners and broad both did/doing well.
Carrots were crap again.
Beetroot did well and I'm onto my 2nd planting now.

All in all I'm really pleased with my 2nd year on the plot. I've still got loads to learn but I enjoy it.

[Crash]

Nearly forgot...
Sweet corn, 1st planting almost ready to eat. 2nd planting about 1' taller but nowhere near eating stage.
Loads and loads of green toms down t'lottie. 1 ripe tom at home, we're going to cut it in 4 tonight and try it :)

[Susiebelle]

Just returned from lottie where I was chatting to my neighbour about this very fact BUMPER  crops whats that our site will certainly not have bumper anything this year - very dissappointing I tell a lie the spuds are giving a good crop although far more slug damage than usual. Crash that Courgette Chutney sounds good do I find the recipe our recipe site?

[Crash]

So long as I don't get a call for overtime in the morning I'll type it out for you tomorrow(Courgette chutney). You have to try the jam too.

[gwynleg]

I love the sound of the jam - please do put it on here! thanks
Gwynleg

[lin]

Well this is my list, although looking at my orchard today, all fruit is doing incredibly well...
Victoria plum so heavy with fruit have had to prop brances up. Damson tree overloaded and ripening fast. Both apple trees huge crop. Pear tree loaded down. Gooseberries provided masses for freezing.
Now for the rest... sad ones mostly...

Potatoes, dug down and they are developing slowly but no sign of blight.
Carrots, much smaller than last year and being eaten alive by bugs.
Beetroot, poor germination but the ones that have come up are good.
Squash, less than usual but enough to keep me in soup.
Onions, small but okay.
Purple sprout broccolli, just starting fingers crossed for a good crop.
Courgettes, picked quite a few of these but less than last year.
Mange tout and petit pois pretty good crop so far,
Strawberries, good but not a huge amount.
Raspberries autumn variety so just coming on now,
Leeks, good amount but not very thick yet, hoping good for autumn.
Sweetcorn, first time I have grown these and very weedy little things.
Parsnips, excellent germination, and loads which I won't pull till the frosts.
Salsify quite small but tasty.
Brussel sprouts have all fallen over due to the wet earth, will probably all blow.
Kohl rabi are small and all seem to have developed root problems.
Cape gooseberries are small as yet but appear to be fine.
Beans very poor germination this year and have kept sowing but no luck.
Garlic has not bulbed up and think it is going to be a dead loss this year.

So all in all, veg poor to average and fruit excellent!
Lin

[Crash]

As promise dmy 2 winning recipes for courgettes....
Courgette Chutney

Pickling spice (the recipe doesn’t say how much to use, I just put about half a Scwartz packet in.)
700g courgettes
250g raisins
250g dried apricots
¾ tablespoon salt
250g sugar
500ml white wine vinegar

Tie spices in a muslin bag.
Cut courgette into cubes. In a large preserving pan, combine with all other ingredients and tie muslin bag to handle so that it dangles into the mixture. Leave it for 24 hours.
Stir over a low heat to dissolve sugar gently.
Cover and simmer for at least an hour, pressing the bag of spices from time to time, until the pieces of courgette are translucent and the liquid is golden and syrupy.
Pour into warmed sterilised jars and cover.

I found that it took around an hour and a half to get the liquid syrupy.


Marrow and ginger jam.

1kg Marrow
Juice and grated zest of 2-3 unwaxed lemons
8cm piece of root ginger
750g granulated sugar
1pkt lemon jelly
1 sm tin pineapple, thinly cut and drained.

Peel the marrow, remove seeds and cut the flesh into cubes. This is long cooked so there’s no need to bleed and salt.
Bruise the piece of ginger and pie in a muslin bag.
In a large bowl, layer the marrow with the sugar, lemon juice and zest, and put the bag of ginger in so that it hangs over the side of the bowl. Leave the mixture steeping for 24 hours.
Place it all in a preserving pan with the ginger again ties to the handle and stir to dissolve the sugar gently over a low heat. Add the lemon jelly and pineapple, cover and simmer gently. Press the bag from time to time.
Simer until the pieces of marrow are translucent and the liquid is golden and syrupy. Pour into warmed sterilised jars, cover and seal. You can use this straight away, but it will store unopened for years.

I took a jar into work and wouldn’t tell my fellow dockers what was in it till they tried it. All enjoyed it and one keeps asking for more!