August garden update
We have been having a very mixed summer here in the UK with both very hot and fairly cold weather as well as some high winds. I am just wondering if I need to water tonight as it feels like it will rain.
Our tomatoes have done well this year even though I did not really stake them well enough. They have grown a bit out of control, but there are plenty of fruit on there. I have picked a few small yellow ones. Just need these big ones to ripen.
The recent rain seems to have done the raspberries a lot of good. I am able to pick a handful every couple of days. I cut the plants right down at the end of the season and they come back strong.
Courgettes (aka zucchini) are sneaky plants. One day the crop will be tiny and a couple of days later they are huge, or maybe they were just hiding under a leaf. I am not sure I noticed this one before today.
Lots of people go out blackberry picking at this time of year, but we can just reach over the fence. The garden next door is neglected and totally wild. You could not get in there, but we can reach lots of berries. Tons more is only accessible to the birds. Picking them is tricky as the plants are so prickly. I had to hack back a load of long branches that were trying to invade our garden. Thick gloves are essential for that job.
Some of the apple trees are doing well. This one over the chicken run has bigger apples than usual, but another seems to have no fruit at all. Our newest tree has some good apples, but they are very high up and some were blown off before they got big enough. Our big cooking apple tree had to be taken down this year as the roots were thought to be damaging next door.
I thought the strawberries had finished, but I found new fruit today. I hope there will be more than one.
The rhubarb is very reliable and productive. We give a lot away.
The chickens have not been so productive lately with only a couple of eggs each day from the five of them. Some may just be getting too old, but we let them live out their retirement.
The plum tree did not do so well last year, but is making up for it now. We have given lots away, but I will be picking some to eat now and may freeze some. Lots have fallen off and some just rot on the tree. I have seen quite a few wasps around them, which may be a good thing as wasps seem less common these days and they are valuable predators to have in the garden.
I am not a great gardener, so it is nice to have so much coming from the garden. It tastes better when it is so fresh.
Live well!
A lot of variety, that is good for a garden. Raspberry picking season is almost over in Alaska, we were fortunate this year in that a friend told my wife she could come by and harvest their patch, so we were able to get enough for one batch of raspberry jelly. One of these years we will live where we can enjoy a garden again, for now it is friends places to harvest and what little we get from the containers on the deck, zucchini, regular and yellow, and some strawberries earlier.
I think anything you can grow for yourself is a bonus. We have the space to be more self-sufficient, but lack the skills to make use of it fully. I think we do okay anyway. Great to have it so fresh.
A lot of stuff you have growing. Jam is great from those blackberries, we have some wild ones around the back, along with plenty of wild nettles too. Every had nettle tea? I heard it's OK.
We are not jam makers and would not eat much anyway. I know some people preserve everything, but we tend to just use stuff whilst it's available.
I am not a tea drinker and have not tried using nettles at all, although we have plenty. A friend has some in a tub by her back door for tea.
Wow. Nice garden. The berries look nice.
Looks like a good crop, I just made pasta sauce from some left over tomatoes this afternoon. Nothing tastes better than fresh veggies from the garden.
Definitely. From plant to mouth in seconds sometimes.
You have loads going on there Steve! My mum has a productive plumb tree and makes some great jam from the fruit.
I've a deep love of blackberries. My nan used to make lovely blackberry juice and yougurt from the berries my grandad grew on his allotment. That must be some 35 years ago. Its amazing the things you remember.
We're not into making jam, but others are welcome to take plums. We just wouldn't use enough for it to be worth while. I like crops that just come by themselves, but I would like to plant some other things for variety.
Our apple tree has done really well this year, or as my niece once said “your apple tree has gone bananas”. I guess you’ve had very similar weather to us down this way. A few weeks of very hot and humid days, and just recently more than our fair share of the wet stuff. It really brought everything on, including the trees around the Forrest.
I think the heavy rain made a big difference even though we had been watering some plants. Enjoy the harvest and have a !BEER
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BEER.Oh my! Soooooo many fresh fruits. I feel really healthy just looking at them. This looks like a great deal of work though. Not sure i have a green thumb anywhere. How do you preserve them? ?
We are not too good at preserving. We will use and give away as much as we can anyway.
Oh okay. That is mighty kind of you.
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Cheers. I am no great gardener, but I get some enjoyment from growing my own food.
Absolutely love raspberries and blackberries and with the apples and strawberries you have a serious jam factory! I read you don't eat a lot of it but self-sufficiency is also about selling some produce at local farmers markets and jam and preserves always go down well!!
Garden looks gorgeous mate. I'm extremely jealous :-)
Everyone says we should make jam, but we've not got into it as yet. One of the neighbours always has produce out front for sale, but I hear his garden is really productive. It depends on what you are into.
Having a garden is nice, but it is a lot of work.
Wow, nice job! That is a pretty impressive garden. I know what you are saying about the Zucchini. I had to manually pollinate my plants and almost overnight I suddenly had a couple of huge zucchini laying on the ground. It was crazy. My tomatoes are producing a lot, but the leaves are all turning brown and dying. I am not sure how much longer they will be able to hold out.
We have a few zucchini plants close together, so maybe the insects pollinated for us. Hope you get some tomatoes. I need to check on ours today.
looking good.. LOADS of goodies, sweet and savoury.. Fresh raspberries are so good.. as are the rest of your fruits! have a good feast! ;+)
It is very satisfying. I do like the easy crops that don't need much maintenance. Of course they taste better than what you can buy.
We can never rely on the weather here especially in the north east, we are expecting a few days of heavy rain.
It rained most of the night, after I did some watering. Looking like it will be wet for a few days and more high winds too. Take care.
Typical UK weather :)
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