Chris and Steve's Weblog - City Chickens » harvest

Windy Sunday Morning

Chris — Sun, 08 May 2011 12:15:19 +0000

We had a good couple of hours at the plot today. All the tomatoes are now in place in the lean to. The courgette plants are in their bed. Rob earthed up the potatoes which had put on a lot of growth following the torrential rain yesterday. We also topped up the potato bags.

We came home with a cabbage, some spring onions and a bunch of raddish.

A Bit of a Squash

Chris — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:30:39 +0000

Our squash harvest has been better than we anticipated. We had low germination but those plants that did make it have given us plenty enough fruit. Even our favourite butternut squash has been prolific with more fruits still growing on the plants.

Jams and Jellies

Chris — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:28:27 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Time to pick the fruit and make the jams and jellies. To date I have made four jars of red gooseberry, one of yellow gooseberry and six jars of blackcurrant. I have already used up all my saved jars and freezer boxes and there is still a load to pick. I think I may have to invest in some bought jars but they are so expensive to buy the decision is yet to be made.

http://www.citychickens.co.uk/2009/07/29/currants-black-red-and-pink/

Heatwave Conditions

Chris — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:57:42 +0000

We have had weeks of hot sunny weather meaning we have had to do a marathon with the watering cans but the results have been good with lots of salad, vegetables and strawberries to eat and freeze. This has been a very good year for cauliflower and cabbage but the peas have been few and far between as have the early carrots.

At home the roses have been good and the fruit trees are showing a bit of fruit too but all could have been better with a little rain.

We have planted the last of the leeks Real now. It was a disappointing germination and only fifteen plants have gone in out of forty seeds.

The runner beans are forming with the Scarlet Emporor being the first to show. The sweet peas are a picture and smell lovely. The squash plants are romping away now with the exception of our favourite the butternut, which, for some reason, did not germinate well.

We have picked loads of strawberries but again they have suffered from the lack of water. The fruit cage is full of currants and berries ready to be harvested and frozen or turned into jam. All I need is time.

Strawberries, Salad and New Potatoes

Chris — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:36:48 +0000

Once again I have brought home a large bowl of strawberries and a couple of massive butterhead lettuces. I also managed to get enough potatoes Sharps Express for a meal tonight. The potatoes have been slow to grow as we had a cold start to the season followed by a very long dry period. The tops are looking green, lush and healthy but few potatoes up to now which is bad news in one way but good news for my belly because I can’t resist freshly dug potatoes.

Late Autumn Harvest

Chris — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:41:13 +0000

We surprised even ourselves when we came home with two trays of goodies on our last visit to the plots. I gathered a few tomatoes from the lean to and have left the plants intact as they have quite a bit of fruit still green. I don’t suppose they will ripen but we will give them a chance. The last of the cucumber had shrivelled so those plants are ready to come down.

We brought home three cabbages, a Savoy and a Ballhead plus one red for pickling. One of the sprout plants had fallen over so we pulled it and harvested the sprouts. They were quite small but made a tasty meal.

Brussel sprouts are a great source of vitamins A, C, and K. They contain iron, fibre, potassium, and B vitamins. They also contain folate, protein, and beta-carotene.

Next I pulled four leeks which were ready to eat and a few sticks of Chard. The surprise find was a beautiful if small Romanesco.

We are bringing the pumpkins home one at a time as they are heavy and they should make some tasty soup for us over the Winter with the left over flesh and seeds going to the chickens and ducks.

Reaping the Rewards

Chris — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:50:14 +0000

It has been good growing weather just lately. Warm and wet. The plants have loved it and we had a near miss from the Blight according to Blightwatch which is wonderful. We popped to the plots this morning and dug up a good harvest of Kestrel Potatoes. We have already dug up and eaten some Swift and some Vivaldi, both of which were very good. Today we ate one of the cabbage Kilaxy and it too was a success.

The soft fruit has been great this year. We have eaten loads, given loads away and the freezer is full too. The strawberries have been producing like mad as have the red currants, red and green gooseberries, black currants and rhubarb. I have found recipes for redcurrant tart and redcurrant jelly and am planning to have a try at them next week.

We brought home the first of the courgette, a few more red and white onions, peas, broad beans, pak choi, spring onions, carrots and red lettuce. The difficult thing is keeping up with the eating.