Allotments 4 All

Hi there peeps,

Just to let you know this week has had a fabulous cropping of soft fruits, including gooseberries and strawberries.

Here is a picture of our wonderful harvest Soft Fruits

How has your soft fruit been this year? As good? better? or even dare we say worse?

This year seem especially good for soft fruit.

News from the plot this week also includes, broad bean harvesting, blackfly removal, liming the waterbutts and the brassicas blowing!!?!?!?!?

Regards
Lottieblogs

great pics - we have enjoyed good crops too

Hi ruff,
Strawberries have been a failure - down to the long 'dry' spell earlier I expect. Only one picking from a 30'/6' bed.
Blackcurrents look amazing, just turning colour.
Goosegogs hit by mildew, second year running.
Hoping for a good rasberry pick?
Winter stuff is looking superb!

Strawbs, goosegogs, rasps, tayberry and figs doing well :)
Blueberry dead from canker :'(
Very little fruit on currants due to drought :'(
Kiwi dead from fungal/bacterial disease :'(
Grapes, loganberry and other stuff mostly alive and doing well :)

Quote from: Si on June 20, 2007, 05:45:53
Strawbs, goosegogs, rasps, tayberry and figs doing well :)
Blueberry dead from canker :'(
Very little fruit on currants due to drought :'(
Kiwi dead from fungal/bacterial disease :'(
Grapes, loganberry and other stuff mostly alive and doing well :)

:-( how sad people are losing fruit right left and centre :-(

Terrible, I've only had a few strawberries, some of my plants haven't produced any.  ???

Well yours is fab Ruffmeister. I love your blog btw. I am lucky duck as I have inherited a fab crop of soft fruit. Had 2 lunchbox sized tubs of redcurrants, more rasps than is possible to count and they're still going, 1 large tub goosegogs (green) 1 small tub goosegogs (red), the blackcurrants not quite ready and one redcurrant covered in blackfly but seem to be doing ok.
I have 2 goosegog bushes that have some kind of lichen on them, they are still fruiting and they look ok. Are they ok to eat? I think they had the lichen as it was a very overgrown plot and they were covered in bindweed.  ::)
Disappointing strawb crop but i had to move them in April and I don't think they liked it much. Still enough for the girls to pick when we all go down though!

our strawberries are brilliant, I have one of those towers from Ken Muir. It is in the garden and I am picking fruit daily!

our raspberries are already fruiting (is this normal)??? but the birds are beating us to them theyu are on the allotment and we haven't got round to buying some more netting yet. They are pretty puney though, in their first year and the canes are only about 1 foot tall with very little leave

no sign of our blackberries yet, though this is early

We have about 10 gooseberries from our one Invicta bush, not sure if we picked them too soon as they are like bullets. No idea what to do with them, if we stew them they will disappear!?!

Wonderful crop!
Isn't it nice to have so many different fruits and vegs this time of year?
I harvested the last of my broadbeans, more strawberries than we could possibly eat, and the ususal suspects: lettuces, endive, spuds, baby carrots, rhubarb.

There will be not so many red currants this year as I pruned them very severly. They were about 1.75 metres high and 1.5 wide and taking up to much space. Not mentioning that my neighbour didn't like de detour she had to make to get to her garden  :-[
The first rapsberries are ripe, but my black currants need a few days more before picking. I was surpised to see that the cranberries showed their first flowers. Just got them for Christmas and I didn't expect them to do anything at all this year.
Last autumn I transplanted my four year old gooseberries to a sunnier spot and this is the first time I can harvest gooseberries. I like the suggestion on your log, to make them into a crumble. What else can you do with gooseberries, except make jam and jellies?

A gooseberry sauce is a really nice counterpoint to mackeral. I make it a bit like a compote but only with a little weeny bit of honey to take away a little of the sharpness and tehn serve with grilled fresh mackeral fillets and salad. I did try it with some other oily fishes once - Tuna and salmon but I think the gooseberry is too strong for these.

I also make a sweeter gooseberry compote to have with greek yoghurt or creme fraiche for breakfast - a homemade muller fruit corner type thingy. All the soft fruit are nice like this as well.

Gooseberry wine!  We made that from our first year where we had inherited a huge bush.  It was OK, I wouldn't make it again, though.  Not really into wine making.

Hi Suzanne
The Gooseberry compote sounds delicious, especially as mackerel is my favorite fish.
Thank you for the 'directions'.

Hi Asbean
Not into winemaking either. And my impression is that gooseberries are not the best fruits to steep in gin, brandy or rum.
But thanks for the suggestion.

there is always somehting you can do with soft fruit whether it be jam, crumble, compot, sauce, etc

lovely stuff

 ;D ;D ::)  Redcurrants (5 bushes) v. good picking daily.
                 Blackcurrant(4 bushes)Still green reasonable crop,bushes only 2-3 yrs old
               Gooseberry(2 bushes) good crop still picking.
               Tayberry  (1 plant)  fantastic crop picked 5lb still picking.
               Strawberry (12 plants) not many fruits, but biggest 21/2 oz plants 4 yrs old,time to change???
              Grapevine(2 in garden) very heavy crop last year, left on vine for butterflies and birds. This year good.
               Blueberry(3 in pots) not very good.
    I don`t have a "lottie" just a garden at the back of a victorian terrace house, but am quite pleased with it all.

Been making smoothies like mad with all the strawberries picked.  :D
I keep thinking, should save some for jam but enjoy them so much this way  ;D

Straws, best we have ever had Cambridge Favourite and Elsanta going mad, fruit juicy and sweet.

Raspberries, Lottie crop fantastic, still picking. No idea what variety is (we inherited them).
At home we have Autumn fruiting Raspberries, again don't know variety, but they are fruiting right now ? 
What happens in September when they should fruit ?
Will we get a second fluch ?

Lottie Rhubarb was fantastic this year, excellent crop of bright red stalks, just turning now, so need to tidy up the bed.

If the veggies produce as well as the fruits we shall be very happy chappies (and chapess  ;))

Garjan - Gooseberry and Elderflower Ice cream.

1 1/2 lb young green goosegogs
3oz sugar
8 tbs elderflower cordial

for the custard

10floz whipping cream
3 med egg yolks
2oz sugar
1 dessert spoon liquid glucose
1 rounded teaspoon cornflour

You'll need a 2 litre freezer box or old ice cream tub.

Place cream in pan and bring it up to just below simmering. While it is heating place egg yolks, 2 oz sugar and cornflour in bowl and whisk till smooth. Add liquid glucose to hot cream and whisk until glucose has melted down and blended with cream. Pour whole lot over egg mixture, then return to the pan and continue whisking over a med heat until the mixture thickens into a custard.
Rinse out and dry the bowl, pour custard back in, cover with c/film and leave to cool.
Top and tail goosegogs with kitchen scissors and place in a pan with 3 oz sugar. Put lid on pan, place over low heat and cook gently till soft- about 5 minutes. place large nylon sieve over a bowl and press goosegogs through.
Next, stir elderflower cordial into goosegog puree and when the custard is cool combine then together. You can either freeze-churn this mixture in an ice cream maker or poyr into tub and freezetill half frozen (about 3/4 hours) at this stage beat the mixture in the box - (electric hand whisk best). Return it to freezer, repeat 3 hours later and after that feeze solid till needed. Pop in fridge for 30 mins before serving. Goes beautifully with goosegog cobbler/crumble/pie.


This recipe is the property of Delia!

Strawbs have been marvellous this year -- another 4lb yesterday, as you see, and utterly delicious...


and the currants are heavy with fruit though it's only just starting to colour. Roll on blackcurrant sorbet!

Had a few strawbs, but have to confess to not looking after the bed properly. Picked the first few raspberries yesterday, but unless I'm confused, I'm sure they were on my Autumn plants rather than the summer ones!

My young red Gooseberry (planted in February)



My trusty old bush, hanging with  them as usual



I have a 17m long hedge of red currants but there are not as many as other years, but still plenty



As you can see the grapes are beginning to ripen



Tomatoes are doing well