I went to pull out some of the many hundreds of weeds invading my allotment and this is what I came home with. I'm very pleased because despite the weeds winning the battle I'm still able to harvest a nice amount each time I visit. Next year will be better with the battle against the weeds I tell myself.
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/jessco/jesseveve/harvest31jul05.jpg)
In the photo are lillies, daliahs, courgettes, patty pans, tomatoes, some of the onions that have bolted, gem squash, cabbage, and kestrel potatoes.
good haul ;D
the weeds cant be that bad as the produce looks wonderful
Maybe I should let some of the weeds grow instead of keep removing them. Why?? ;D ;D Well my dahlias and lillies certainly don't look as good as yours. Many thanks for sharing. Lorna.
Thanks everyone :)
I did prepare the ground very well earlier in the year and did manage to keep the weeds under control for a while but with work and family commitments the weeds have run away in the past couple of months. I've been trying to pull out as many weeds as I can but my plot is not nearly as pristine as the others at our site :-[, but I'm still pleased with the harvest, the veg and flowers just seem to be growing on their own, perhaps a bit of neglect has done them good.
Wow wow and wow again! A very very good harvest indeedy! Such lovely flowers! Seeing everyones allotment flowers has really inspired me to put over an area to flowers next year. I have daffs, and I do a couple of sunflowers, but that is all!
Are the gem squash the purple coloured ones? How do you eat those?? All looks absolutely wonderful Jessevieve!
Wowee, Jessevieve!!
That's a very impressive haul indeed!! Beautiful flowers and the produce looks great too!!
Thanks :)
The Gem squash are the dark green round squash behind the onions. Sainsbury's sell them sometimes at a horrendous price. I've picked these ones young so they are fairly soft and easy to cut. If you leave them on the vine they stay around the same size they are here but mature and can be ripened in the sun and stored like winter squashes.
Cut them in half and boil in water until soft (I pressure cook them so the cooking time is only about 8 minutes). Add a thingy of butter and some white pepper and eat, scooping the flesh straight out from the skins, when young the skins can be eaten and the pips because they're still soft.
If you allow them to ripen then they are more difficult to cut in half. I prick each one with a sharp knife and cook whole in the pressure cooker, about 12-15 minutes, longer if you not using a pressure cooker. Cut in half once they're cooked (watch out, they're hot!), scoop out seeds as they'll be tough, add a thingy of butter and white pepper.
They have a lovely taste, a bit like summer squash but with more flavour. I struggled to find seeds in the UK so these are grown from seeds bought in from Oz. Well worth the trouble and I'll be ordering again for next year. :)
Good eatings and pickings there. Interesting stuff about the squash. I've not got that one - got one variety from Oz though (Grey Crown) which Moggle gave me seed for :)
I've got lots of flowers on my plot, mostly big blousy daises, and gaillardia, sweet williams which are growing in the "lawn" area. I have grubbed some of them out and planted them round my shed and put the sweet williams in an old galvo washtub I found (found another one yesterday - yahoo ;D)
Here are my yesterday's pickings and diggings. No dig spuds are better than I thought they'd be :)
Quote from: Jessevieve on August 01, 2005, 09:34:40
They have a lovely taste, a bit like summer squash but with more flavour. I struggled to find seeds in the UK so these are grown from seeds bought in from Oz. Well worth the trouble and I'll be ordering again for next year. :)
Can't you keep seed back for next year? ???
Wow Wardy, great pickings and your shed is fab, puts mine to shame :-[ ;D
Miers, I could have saved seed if I pollinated the flowers and then "sealed" them, just didn't have time this year for anything fiddly like that. Squash will cross pollinate very easily so if I keep the seeds from these fruits they will grow but may very well not be gem squash but a cross between gem and something else. The seeds weren't very expensive to buy and being light in weight the postage doesn't amount to much either. In Sept my father is going to South Africa for a couple of months so I'll ask him to get some seeds to bring back with him, very popular veg in SA.
If anyone else wants to have a go and growing gem squash, put your orders in early and I'll see if he can bring back a few packets of seed. :)
Ta Jess sounds exciting. Just tell me the why's and where's when you're ready. :) :)
pm me your address and if you want a whole packet of seed or prepared to share and I'll add you to my shopping list ;D Not sure how much seed will be in the packet, last one had about 20 seeds.
I'll have some of your seed and will do you a swap. I have an unopened packet of Marina di Choggia. We'll open it next year at sowing time but let me know if you want some. I'll have to give Loz first option as he gave me his this year :)
Wardy
Okay Wardy, I'll add you to the list. If you have any seed left over after loz then I'll be happy to swap. :)
Hi Wardy & Jessevieve
Don't worry about me, I will either buy more or try a different type (which is more likely ::)). I've still got loads left from this year anyway.
Loz