The Harvest begins!

[Westi]

All good things come to those that wait!

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The strawberries have gone mad! I've never had this many in one picking before & loads to go of varying degrees of ripening. Even caught the globe artichokes before they became huge. Huge pat on my back for that observation, well more thanks to the dog who missed a catch & her ball went in there, hadn't spotted them until I was that close!

[oldherbaceous]

Well done Westi and doesn't that make all the hard work worth it.....

[tigerburnie]

All my harvests are from the greenhouse so far, radish, lettuce and strawberries

[Primrose]

Well done on a good start to yiur growing year. Doesn,t it make you feel good when you get produce of that quality ! Makes all the hard work, aching backs and creaking joints feel worthwhile ! How old are yiur strawberry plants. Do you replace them regularly to get a crop like that?

[Westi]

These are 2 & 3 years old. When I had just one bed I missed a good harvest every few years while replacing them, now I have a 2nd bed which is smaller by default of the pear tree. The youngest bed gave me the biggest strawberries, the 3 yr old the most! Might have to make a 3rd - what to sacrifice to make it though?

[retropants]

Fabulous strawberry harvest! Our first pick on Sunday yielded a very similar amount, with loads still to come. They are 1 and 2 yr old elsanta.

[Primrose]

Incidentally I know we're all being encouraged to try and give up plastic but I noticed yiur strawberries in punnets and couldn,t help thinking how useful these containers are to we gardeners. I keep a stock of them and find them so useful for sowing and growing small quantities of different seedlings for my vegetable patch when I don,t have a lot of space and only need a few of each variety.

[Westi]

I save the punnets & reuse for all sorts of things as well as sowing & harvesting. Been known to sift compost through them to get the fine layer of compost over little seeds. They only go in the bin when so brittle you can't pick them up without snapping them.

[WestHamRon]

Incidentally I know we're all being encouraged to try and give up plastic but I noticed yiur strawberries in punnets and couldn,t help thinking how useful these containers are to we gardeners. I keep a stock of them and find them so useful for sowing and growing small quantities of different seedlings for my vegetable patch when I don,t have a lot of space and only need a few of each variety.

One use plastic Primrose and even I can usually find another use.

[Westi]

Another 3 punnets this afternoon, same containers re-used & always returned to me washed & sparkling when I give berries to the neighbours & friends at work. Actually I think us gardeners (minus Monty & the professional types), help save the planet in our own little way as basically we can't afford to buy the gadgets & stuff so have a bit of an 'Adapt what available & make do' attitude! It might be plastic but it ain't going into the sea on our watch.

[robo]

My strawberries are at least two weeks from being ripe ,last year we had over 50 pounds we had strawberries with everything I made about 4 ltrs of jam I also gave loads away

[retropants]

Another 5 and a half punnets yesterday! Mum is on the case with jam, and I will be halving and freezing some for smoothies.

[Westi]

Thanks retropants!

Was trying to figure what to do with the glut as actually have jam left from last years 'not so good' harvest. Been looking at puds & relish recipes but forgot the most obvious! Won't be smoothies but Milkshakes to have in the evening in the garden, nowhere as healthy though with 2 scoops of ice cream in each!

[Primrose]

I'm trying to use up last year's strawberries from the freezer too which is a little difficult when they go such mushy when thawed. I,m whizzing them up in the mini food processor and either stirring them into a strawberry jelly mixture with some milk or cream or using them instead of milk on my breakfast muesli.

I,ve still got masses of frozen redcurrants which I find too sharp to do much with without adding masses of sugar. We,re not big jam eaters - a jar will last months in the fridge and only gets eaten with fruit scones. Does anybody have any ideas what else i can do with them? From the look of my bushes this year I'm going to have another embarrassing harvest of them before too long!

[retropants]

Primrose, red currant jelly goes very well in place of cranberry sauce for roast chicken etc.
Westi, I halve the strawbs, then open freeze them on a tray with grease proof paper for a few hours, before transferring them to a freezer bag for easy use.