Kitchen Garden Forum

At that time on a Monday night the only speeding motorist was probably our nefarious visitors,.

Sat under the sun umbrella at 7 am this morning with a cup of tea snipping my way though a bucket of gooseberries, topping and tailing a proportion of them with nail scissors to go in our freezer. I'Ve gsthered about 9 lbs of them from two bushes so some of my friends are going to be receiving gooseberries whether they like them or not ! They should be grateful I've only planted two courgette plants this year so they won!t have to flee when a courgette glut comes!

On the plot at 07:30am, got a good dos of water down for a change.

Not sure if it is a sign of things to come this year but was given first courgette this morning by a neighbouring plot.

Pleased with the way my magazine freebies Long Bush competition marrows are coming on.

Peter
Your visitors can not have been great thinkers, hot night to go out breaking & entering, people can hardly sleep so fair chance of them being heard.

I picked my first courgette at the weekend. If I I can continue picking them singly when only four inches long I will be a happy bunny. Picking them by the armful is one aspect of veggie growing that doesn't induce pride and joy as I never know what to do with bulk supplies. Did I mention that new allotment holders of my acquaintance a couple of years ago mentioned they had planted about ten courgette plants. I think it was only at cropping time that they realised why I had burst out laughing at their comment.

I've picked four courgettes off my two small plants last week so not got a glut yet. The cucumbers are setting nicely in the greenhouse and the soya beans look very pretty. I brought a packet of yard long beans back from Thailand last year and they have shot up the canes this week with the heat and sunshine.

The yard long beans are obviously liking this hot weather - more like their normal climate I think than normal English summers. I did think about having a go with them but thought the weather would mitigate against them. PP, You've obviously struck lucky!

Harvested our garlic Provence Wight today because they clearly had rust and I assumed that they would no longer be growing. And they are all a fair size, certainly more than golfball-size and some considerably larger. They were planted at the end of September. The other September-planted garlic Solent Wight is still green (and, I assume, still growing) and the March planted Picardy Wight is still well behind.
Picked some more tender stem broccoli, a kohlrabi and the first sweet peas!
Yesterday's top temperature was 29C but today is just pleasantly warm with an overcast sky.

First dinner with sugar snap peas, pleasant enough, but I think I prefer traditional peas rather than the pods.

I picked a large colander of sugar snap peas this evening after our holiday away last week. I need to train my OH better on what's going on in the vegetable plot (-lthiugh he has inky to walk across the lawn to look and find out!) because on our return from holiday he went out and did a big food re-stock shop (bless hi'!) but what did he buy amongst other things? A pack of mange tout peas! Now I so many to use up I don't know what to do with them all and I don't think they will successfully freeze without spoiling their fresh. Rips ess.


So does anybody have any imaginative idea for meals centred around mange tout peas please? Salady type things would be especially good in this heat!

There's different. In the mist this morning, still quite dark and can only just see beyond the end of the garden. Not damp enough to do any good though.

Thankfully cooler this morning and a welcome breeze. Possible thunderstorms forecast around here this afternoon. May not be needing the patio umbrella! Water butts could certainly do with topping up.

The thunderstorms and "torrential rain" forecast for last night didn't materialise, we just had literally a few drops, but, as with Geoff, it's misty and cooler this morning with real rain to come tomorrow - let's hope they are right.

Same here it looks wet but when I check the pond their is no increase in water level

Proper thunderstorm last night, power cut the lot, warm and muggy today

We had the power cut without the storm!