It was a mixed bag weatherwise last week. There were some summery spells, some cold days, some gloomy days and some drizzly days. Fortunately, the strong winds didn’t return. The weather forecast kept threatening or promising – depending on your viewpoint – heavy rain but none of the rain clouds decided to position themselves over our garden or allotment. Maybe they were teaching us a lesson for complaining about all the rain earlier in the year.
Until our soil is treated to plenty of the wet stuff, there is a limit to what we can do at the allotment. At least the onions have dried off so I spent some time cleaning some of them up. They will spend winter in boxes in the summerhouse. It’s amazing how long it takes to tidy them. I spent an afternoon on them and only finished about a quarter.
We grew a few pink onions this year which is a first for us. They are described as having a sweet taste.
Our bed of Crown Prince squashes is on the edge of our plot and the fruits look rather tempting so I detached a couple and moved them into the middle of the plot – just in case!
We managed to harvest a couple of sweetcorn despite their battering. It was really a test to see if they were ripe. They were but the kernels were smaller than usual.
School holidays having ended and drizzly weather meant Nostell was quiet last week.
One of the cygnets was making the most of the peace and resting on the edge of the lake.
Back in May, the cygnets had just hatched. Don’t they grow quickly?
At first sight the coots looked to be standing on top of the water.
A closer look revealed that they were actually standing on floating branches.
Of course as always, Ruby was desperate for a game of chase. She missed out earlier in the week as it was haircut day for the people in her life. She enjoys a visit from the hairdresser as she is spoiled by being given treats.
She can never get enough of chasing her ball and is off like a little bullet even before the ball leaves Martyn’s hands.
After the last run it’s time for a drink and a short rest..
Onto a couple of last week’s meals. No links this week as the recipes have disappeared from the Internet.
I made a vegetable bake using our courgettes, onion, garlic, tomatoes and potatoes. I also added celery and mushrooms. red wine was added to the vegetables and cheese was grated on the potatoes.
I made another bake – this time with pasta and turkey mince. Into this went more onion, garlic and courgette. I also added mushrooms and topped with grated cheese.
As always until next time stay safe and well.
Again I am linking to Dave’s Harvest Monday post on his Our Happy Acres blog.
Excellent onions and that vegetable bake looks delicious!
It was Belinda
Your onions look gorgeous. I am never so diligent but mine harvest is small and they are used quickly. How many inches of rain is your usual, annually?
Still lots of onions to tidy, Sue. If I don’t do it the rot gets them
Your weather sounds a bit like a Dickens novel – the best of times and the worst of times! Those onions are really lovely. Mine never get that big, and I’ve not had any luck with red ones.
It is like that, Dave. We always have to grow red onions from seeds as the sets just don’t work for us.