Feeling slightly virtuous having used my own veg

[CuriousMama]

I needed lettuce today and it was so good to just pop down to the allotment and pick one I dug up some potatoes and turnips whilst there. There's lots of peas ready to pick, loads of onions. Leeks are doing well as are my tomatoes. They'd do better in a greenhouse but we don't have one as yet.

Do you grow your own veg? Have you found your food bill's gone down since you started? Ours seems around £10 a week lower up to now and we only started our garden this year. Next year we'll be even more organised and have more produce hopefully?

We've also saved cash on herbs as grow our own coriander, parsley, thyme, mint and rosemary now. The coriander's about done but I just froze a load of parsley so that should do us a while, plus there's a lot left.

DH grew some peas carrots leeks and sprouts. All organic if that's what you call leaving them to grow wildly with little attention We had some very funny looking carrots that hadn't been thinned out at all.

Carrots were lovely but the leeks were a lot more strong and oniony than the ones we buy.

Ooo lucky you with the carrots. I've got a few coming up but I left them too late I think? We've been down there for hours today, both got a bit of a tan too. We brought home a load of potatoes, some onions, a leek that isn't ready but dp insisted it was ok and some peas.

Dp weeded my sweet peas!! I'd grown them from seed along the edge of the fence and they were doing nicely. I was tending to the tomatoes and looked over and there was a pile of weeds and no sweet peas He said he didn't know and thought they were weeds.

Ds2 is loving peas out of the pod, he hates them normally. I just gave him some left over pods and his face lit up

Mine do too - I don't like cooked peas but they are lovely raw. DS needs a bit of help to 'unzip' the pod

I nearly started this thread yesterday!

I haven't done nearly as well as you - we have runner beans and sweet peas and some tattoos coming up. We did a lovely walk today and picked blackberries and I have bramble jelly on the stove right now.

Sooo nice to eat food you have grown yourself!!!

tatties - not tattoos!!

Ooo bramble jelly, well jelly

Disclaimer: I never ever say well jel in rl!

DS 2 needs help unzipping and he's almost 12! But to be fair he bites his nails off so low there's nothing there.

We have loads of potatoes too. I say we, like I had anything to do with it - DH and the children did it. We had some beetroot that we pickled but I'm not at all sure it's edible.

The leaves of the beetroot are lush if young. If not you can steam them like spinach. And I'm sure they'll be edible, just remember to use rubber gloves when you peel them.

Courgettes and runner beans are keeping us well fed at the moment. I grew mange-tout this year rather than peas and they were excellent - great to add a few to a stir-fry or chop up in a salad, will certainly grow these again next year.

I was wondering how well mangetout grow? I'll try them next year.

Apparently you can grow winter lettuce? Do they mean in greenhouses/polytunnel?

Been down for another lettuce and there were some more peas, blimey they fatten up fast! I'm about to pickle some beetroot as found a great sounding recipe. We've already eaten the leaves in soup and salads.

*MoaningMWA I see you already pickled yours. Have you tried it yet? I read if it fizzes when you open it then it's off? Something to do with not sterilising the jar properly? I'm doing mine in the microwave see if that works ok? The jar I mean.

I haven't dared try it, or open it. We did it after Christmas I think I sterilised the jars etc in the oven, but I don't want to be poisoned. It looks ok but I may have to get DH to test it first.

If it's unopened and pickled it'll be ok. Put it in the fridge once you open it. Go on give it a try

We're eating courgettes - green and yellow ones, lots of french beans and a few artichokes, too. Need to get going on the red onions.

The warm weather has at last had an effect on my squash plants and they're coming to life.

I love growing veg!

However, we (sort of) grow our own pork and bacon, and have access to lamb and game. So at this time of the year, my shopping trolley looks rather strange...

loo rolls
pasta
chocolate
gin
tonic
wine

...I can SEE you all sizing me up in the queue and thinking 'unhealthy cow'...!

Sounds amazing blue2. Ds1 loves pork he'd be very happy in your house