Allotment?Veg Patch Thread 10 - Plotmenters busy into summer ! and loving James Wong

[bookbook]

Last thread has filled up so quickly! Thought I had better get one up and running before I get off to the plot.
Busy, busy people, just waiting for the harvests to start, fighting the bugs, slugs and weather :)
Last thread here
THREAD 9

Grouchykiwi Apples are ready when you take them off the tree with just a gentle pull. I live in the South East and we normally do pick your own coxes in about mid September. They almost fall into your hand when they are ripe.

DH came back from work the other day with 3 courgettes that someone had foisted on him. We are not growing courgettes because we don't like them much! So we passed them onto the in laws who are going to foist them on a friend who likes them. We didn't have room for them in our freezer. I did ask why he took 3 courgettes but I think he just wanted to be polite!

We're off on holiday at the weekend so will do a last pick of beans before we go and everything else will have to wait until we get back.
We harvested our main crop potatoes on Sunday. They were not a bad size so we're pleased about that. No sign of the blight we had last year - not even in the extra plants that are growing among the beans in the bed we had them in last year.

I second the fried green tomatoes suggestion. Delish!!!!

We used a couple of our courgettes in some lovely fritters yesterday for dinner (along with some saag aloo using beetroot leaves as the 'saag' bit). Got the recipe in waitrose magazine - www.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes/recipe_directory/s/spiced-courgetteandcarrotfritterswithraita.html The raita bit of the recipe I will definitely make again - most delicious raita I've ever tasted - uses courgettes instead of cucumbers

Our cordon apples (planted January 2016) are looking great. A few dozen good sized apples growing on them and it is only 2nd year! We planted a few different heritage varieties suitable to our area. Can't wait to taste them!

Afternoon!
well, it has been warm and sunny today :)
So - the morning at the plot. Every bit of water tank full to brimming, if not overflowing in fact.
A good day to pull out bindweed and couch grass. Just finishing an area to sow mustard green manure.
Dug up the last of the poor row of peas - there were a few on. Then picked purple, green and the first runner beans. Picked a courgette ( sorry Grouchy) and a couple of sweetcorn. Also picked sprouting Brokali , calabrese and as I said upthread, the first of the autumn PSB ( even the other plant, same variety has a tiny head starting...) A few autumn raspberries too - looks to be loads on , but these early ones are a bit small and squidgy - only good for cooking. Suddenly remembered to go and look at carrots - should have picked them ages ago - probably all woody. Ah well , they will go in a soup.
clara - we eat a lot of raita , so will try that :)

I'm joining the customers at 'The Whistlestop Cafe'

oh dear elephant ?

The raita was good. We had it tonight with tamarind beetroot, veggie curry, pickles, chutneys and salads. DH is happily full and sees no need to ever go out for an Indian again.
I've been batch preparing food. I have loads of courgette and other top drawer stuff puree freezing. Another batch of beetroot and carrot sweated in pontac sauce. And a large tub of threatening to go to seed leeeks with all the odd / sorry looking onions and kohlrabi. The freezer will be stuffed with half cooked food.

Fried green tomatoes book

ah ! I was thinking of the book , but didn't put two and two together....brain fade
Mine are only just staring to ripen, had four so we had pasta sauce made with tomatoes/onion /green pepper/courgette and a few peas sauce

My huge Marmande tomatoes have succumbed to blight. I have literally pounds of green ones. I will have properly sort through them tomorrow but hopefully I can get them up and stop it spreading to the Alicante. I know the advice is to burn the plants but what do you do with the damaged fruit? I don't want to put them in the compost green bin that gets collected neither do I want them to go to landfill. Apart from that I have so many cucumbers and just caught the lettuce before it goes to seed so lots more soup making to be done, luckily the DCs really like it and making bread and butter pickle. Dd and I picked a pound of blackberries and a few loganberries, we have pureed them ready to make ice cream tomorrow. Beans, courgettes and potatoes are ticking along nicely. I have neglected the plot a little over the last couple of weeks due in part to weather, decorating the bathroom and trying to coordinate medical appointments for the DCs. Do I usually work full time as well?

are the fruit actually damaged? or just the leaves/stem. If not I seem to think you can use them , but maybe check. If they are showing on the fruit , then no . How incredibly annoying for you. Sounds like everything else is doing well though.
The weather has been awful for August - and our central heating clicked on this morning - thermostat set on 12º !

The stems and the leaves are fine, just a bit of die back on the leaves. The green fruits are ok mostly, it is the riper fruits that are showing the damage. they are also being eaten by woodlice. I will post a picture tomorrow and hopefully a few of the other plot holders will be around to give me advice too. Thanks Book and sorry you didn't get the reference!

I also have some woodlice damage on the toms from the 4-stem one. because it's not upright the lower toms are touching the ground. the fruit are fine though.

I'm searching for a new blackberry recipe to try. We're out of room in the freezer, I suppose I could just stop picking them...

bb ice cream. This the one we are having a go at tomorrow. I have borrowed the ice cream maker from school, but this one does say you can do it without. It also recommends it being eaten quickly. Four egg whites will be frozen and the rest made into meringues. I am madly trying to use up from the freezer to create more space.

Jam - make it very soft set and it works really nice under a sponge pudding :)

we make instant ice cream with frozen fruit.
just cream (or joghurt), icing sugar and frozen fruit. blitz in food processor.

but if you are running out of freezer space jam/conserve is the obvious answer. it's probably nice with roasts as well (instead of cranberries).
or cordial?

Cordial is a good suggestion. I don't really like jam, which is a shame as I like making it.

If you make cordial make sure you label it clearly so no one gets it mixed up with your red currant wine.

I have one red tomato and a few nearly there. Finally! The stripey ones are looking pretty too.

I have run out of space in my freezer. I went over yesterday afternoon and picked every ripe bean and more blackberries then had to try and shove them into the freezer. I think our runner beans are almost over. The french beans have more flowers coming so hopefully there will be some ripe ones when we get back from our holiday.

We've had so many blackberries - we've not picked nearly as many as there are and one plant is just starting to ripen up now so will probably miss those while we're away. I was feeling a bit bored of picking them yesterday but spurred myself on by thinking of apple and blackberry crumble. Or pie. Or jam.

Tomatoes are getting eaten by the snails and possibly slugs. But they're waiting until we go on holiday to ripen up. We've only got two plants and they usually succumb to blight eventually so I'm not too bothered.

Blackberry gin!!!!! Make it every year with wild ones (brambles). Nom nom nom....

Our heating clicked on this morning book. Also have thermostat dialed down to lowest setting!

Drown berries in brandy or another spirit and have rumtopf for Christmas. Can be done in any size kilner jar.

Today is peak fig day. Making chutney, can only manage to eat two a day and they don't keep long if ripened on the tree.

I don't like gin either, or any sort of flavoured spirit tbh.

I have no wine to get mixed up with cordial so should be ok on that front.

Clafoutis, made with plums from our garden :)

Quick question: is this potato blight?

I went to the plot this morning and the guy who does all the maintenance etc, confirmed to me that it was tomato blight and showed me where to put them so he would ensure they will be burned. So I spent a couple of hours pulling and sorting. I have a slow cooker full of the next batch of tomato sauce and snacking tomatoes. I have tomatoes hopefully ripening and I have a load of 'OMG what am I going to do with this lot!' Some may ripen but if they are obviously showing signs of blight I now know where to dispose of them.
That clafoutis looks very professional, have you got a big jug of steaming custard to go with it? ElleDubloo. I hope someone with more knowledge of potato blight will be able to help you Gin but I thought that you could only tell by digging a few and seeing if they have gone mushy, or that may be in the later stages.