We are now at the stage where the allotment beds are emptying and our main focus is clearing and tidying beds. We are still waiting for some rain so that we can dig the beds over and then leave them until next spring. Where we have been watering crops the soil although very dry is workable. The soil where the potatoes were planted is hard and lumpy. For now, until we get some decent rain we can only leave those beds.
A few crops are still growing, one being the crop of leeks. We seem to have a plant with variegated leaves. It looks more like an ornamental plant. I’ve never come across a leek with leaves like this before – have you?
I’m sure that the beds aren’t usually so bare in what, I guess, is now the very beginning of meteorological autumn.
Although we have been busy, clearing and tidying hardly make for interesting photos but we have done lots of harvesting too.
I found the two potatoes when I cleared the pea bed. They were just laying on the soil so goodness knows where they came from.
We have cleared all the sweet corn and now it is safely bagged and frozen. Stripping the kernels was quite a long job and I was wondering what type of machine they could use when preparing corn on an industrial scale. We didn’t expect any cobs to have been fertilised, as there was no sign of pollen falling when I brushed the plants, but in the end, we had a good harvest.
We have also been pleased with the red onions which we grew from seed. The bulbs haven’t grown very big, but there again, this year, neither have the onions grown from sets. None of the onions have bolted this year and only one or two had signs of any rot.
The red apples are a variety called Tickled Pink; their flesh is red to the core.
We found a stowaway on one of our Egremont Russet apples. Has anyone any idea of what type of spider this is? Its legs were really long, although it seems to have lost one, and it has some quite ferocious looking palps.
We removed all the peppers from the plants in the garden greenhouse. and they were prepared and frozen. It was a mixed packet of seeds and there has been more dark maroon peppers than any other colour.
We are still harvesting lots of ripe tomatoes and, as our freezers are just about full, so I have been delivering tomatoes to our neighbours.
As usual details of our harvests are posted here.
Away from the allotment, there were some very colourful sunsets last week. The photos below were taken on an evening walk with Ruby.
Last week at Nostell, we had a much closer view of the family of swans. Despite the cygnets being well grown, the parent birds are still very protective of them. The male swan was very aggressive towards any ducks that invaded their space.
I don’t think that it will be long now before the cygnets leave and go off in search of somewhere else to settle down.
We went back to Wentworth Castle last week as we wanted to explore the deer park. Visitors are allowed access to the park but have to keep to the grass paths and mustn’t approach the deer too closely. Ruby hadn’t seen deer before but was unfazed and just watched the deer with great interest.
Two species, fallow and red deer live in the park.
Ruby was puzzled by the chain that kept visitors away from the rotunda. She is drawn to flights of steps and couldn’t understand why she wasn’t allowed to run up the steps.
Near the end of our walk we had to negotiate a stile. We did wonder how we could get Ruby over the stile but, as we approached it, we noticed that there was a doggy trap-door. The door had to be raised using a rope handle and Ruby was coaxed through. I don’t think that she was overly impressed.
Once over the stile we had to cross a field of sheep. Another first for, Ruby. One sheep stared at Ruby who stared back. Maybe the sheep mistook her for a lamb as she also has a woolly coat. I did try for a photo but most of my photos were overexposed as my camera had accidentally been moved onto the wrong setting,
On to meal-times.
One of last week’s meals that used home-grown ingredients was a vegetable orzo dish that used, garlic, courgette and carrot. I forgot to take a photo but the recipe is here.
I made a turkey and vegetable stroganoff that incorporated our peppers, courgette, onion, garlic and parsley. The recipe has disappeared from the Internet but other ingredients used were, turkey, mushrooms, chicken stock and paprika. I also used coconut yoghurt as an alternative to natural yoghurt.
I made a chicken stir fry with pineapple and cabbage. The recipe has also disappeared off the Internet. I used our peppers, cabbage and garlic along with fresh root ginger, stock and, although the recipe called for soy and fish sauce, I used Worcestershire sauce. Basmati rice was cooked in stock and stirred into the stir fry before serving.
That’s all for this week – as always stay safe and well.
Once again I am linking to Harvest Monday over at Dave’s Our Happy Acres blog.
Aah, that last photo of Ruby is adorable 😊
Your spider isn’t a spider, it’s an opilione or harvestman. They eat other insects so not necessarily unwelcome on our plots.
Your huge harvests are amazing, as always. Funny that you seem to have variegated leeks. We had some variegated patty pan leaves and a plot neighbour has variegated runner bean leaves – I’m blaming the weather (for most things this year!)
I did think it could be a harvestman, Belinda but according to the article that I read they will eat fruit too. Maybe it was bagging the apple. That is strange about the variegation. I think Ruby thought she was being sent to the guillotine.
Some great crops despite the dry season Sue. I hope that perhaps you will get some of the rain that has been coming down on us this last week. Your peppers look so colourful. Do you freeze them? Not much in the way of gardening here as Covid finally caught up with us last week ☹️
Yes I do freeze the peppers, Anna. Hope that you get well soon.
Goodness, what strange leeks! A splendid harvest though. Loving the swans and deer, but that harvestman/spider!!!
Lovely meals. Bless little Ruby.xxx
It is strange, Dina. I wonder what the shaft will look like.
your spider might not be a spider, but a Harvestman.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/spiders-and-harvestmen/harvestman/
I did wonder if it might be, Deb
Those Peppers are a work of art!
no I’ve never seen a spider looking like that before, and I’m not sure I want to! Would you mind if I copied the photo and I can put it on my Twitter feed where there might be somebody who can help identify it?
Those Peppers are a work of art!
no I’ve never seen a spider looking like that before, and I’m not sure I want to! Would you mind if I copied the photo and I can put it on my Twitter feed where there might be somebody who can help identify it?
Go ahead, Deb
Those peppers look like a work of art, not so keen on the spider though, urgh! We’ve seen a deer twice in the field at the top of the road since we moved house, it’s nice to see wildlife nearby that we don’t usually see.
Lovely that you have deer close by, Jo
Those are bountiful harvest Sue despite the trying weather. I have seen devices for cutting corn off the cob but people I know who have tried them say they don’t work as well as a knife. I get corn everywhere when I do it though!
We prepared ours outside for that very reason, Dave
Pretty amazing harvests given your difficult conditions. May the rain come soon and evenly next season.
We had some short showers today Sue. Not enough to make a difference though