The Vegetable Patch

[MereDintofPandiculation]

Now bookbook has sadly left us, and stirred into action by @DobbleDobble, I think it’s time to start a general thread for those of us who try to grow edible produce, fruit, veg, herbs, to share successes, failures, questions and answers

The great courgette glut of 2022 has begun!

Not much to do here other than keep on top of the watering. My self watering systems seem to be working well with the tomatoes, previously I'd have to give them a midday drink.

My cordial making was not a success, I now have jelly in a 750ml bottle!

I harvested 10 courgettes yesterday and pickled them last night. My trombocinos I'm leaving on the plant and will cure them for winter eating as there are just so many. It's gone mad and I'm enjoying it from my new hammock.

The great courgette glut of 2022 has begun!

We're having courgette fritters this evening. This week I've made courgette & ginger jam and courgette brownies

roasted courgette pesto has been a hit
courgette and orange loaf cake
grated courgette with chicken and cheese quesadilla
grated yellow courgette in omelette ( good for fussy children)

Do you have a recipe for the roasted courgette pesto @Caspianberg

@tizwozliz - just sainsburys
www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/recipes/mains/roasted-courgette-pesto-pasta

I swap the pine nuts for sunflower seeds as they are much cheaper.

Despite being watered this morning my courgettes were looking very sorry for themselves when I dared to go outside to check on them this evening. They seem to have perked up after some water. Some of my peas and beans don't look so great. It's been windy as well as 40 degrees so it's been really drying. Hope everyone has fared ok.

Lovely harvest of fruits yesterday, so much work today preparing them all to freeze. If any remember my ‘should I move my blackcurrant bushes?’ Thread, I decided I had to as workmen building a new wall they were growing against. So glad I did, they would’ve been ruined. But now anxious wait to see how they cope with the move. They look all wilted today but I guess that’s to be expected, how long til they perk up if they are going to? I don’t know if I should have left any foliage on (I did), or prune right down?

Netted up the raspberry bushes today.
Harvested the last of the gooseberries (made into crumble with my rhubarb and apples).
Also picked the last lot of broad beans.
Runner beans doing well, as are the sweetcorn, courgettes and rhubarb.
Potatoes not so great this year.

Oh wow @tizwozliz your courgettes look great. Mine have been a complete failure this year. Both varieties which I grew have given sooo many female flowers and a million fruit but not a single male flower to pollinate them. I'm going to uproot them today as it's clear they're a flop and are taking up valuable space. Aphids also annihilated my black bean crop and have given them some sort of disease. All the pods have turned black and dried up. Those too will need to come out.

Pumpkin, tomatoes, and aubergines are all doing well. Lettuce and spinach are coming through now and peppers and chillies are also coming along nicely.

I am amazed at the speed at which aubergines grow! Do they double in size every day or something?!

@greenerfingers You can buy seed of parthenogenetic courgettes which don’t need pollinating.

You can cook the unfertilised female flowers with the flower and courgette attached, dip in batter and fry. The tiny courgettes are edible, either cooked or raw, the flowers are delicious, eg added to salads.

@greenerfingers To control blackfly on broad beans, nip off the tops of the stems. If you manage to do this before infestation, you can cook and eat them. Try also either planting very early or very late.

Thanks @MereDintofPandiculation. My timing was definitely really off this year with the broadbeans. They were planted in peak blackfly time. Next year hopefully I'll be more on it. Being pregnant with a toddler this summer I'm just grateful I haven't killed everything 😅

More courgettes and one giant purple french beans. Plenty of other beans on their way but this one was way ahead of everything else.

I think my mange tout have succumbed to last week's heat. Debating whether to pop some more seeds in.

Courgette on the way here (and have had 1st few cherry tomatoes). Just back from lunchtime walk and managed to pick a bowlful of blackberries… I’m planning to fill up the freezer in the next few weeks to get a good supply in for winter

Being pregnant with a toddler That’s the way to do it! Cut out the baby phase and all those sleepless nights (sorry, couldn’t resist. I do understand what you mean)

I reread this 3 times 😂😂. Just further highlights my current state 🤪

I'm new to vegetable gardening. Please what seeds can I plant at this time of the year? I've got quite a big raised bed, no greenhouse. Thank you.

@Dreamqueen Swiss chard, it’s a bit late but kale, purple sprouting, Japanese vegetable - Mizuma etc - winter lettuce. Later on you can sow some varieties of broad bean to overwinter and have a good start next year, though if you’re in the north it may not be worth it .

Tomatoes and courgettes this weekend. French beans appearing very sporadically so going straight in the freezer one at a time.

Most of my other tomatoes are a long way off being ripe

@tizwozliz - my French beans are being very slow this year too. Runner beans - climbing and dwarf - are coming in abundance now. But French are just producing the odd one here and there.

A nice little variety of veggies right now.

butternut squash have gone crazy

French beans are doing well, runners are still at flowering stage. Tomatoes just beginning, and just finished first cucumber. Still picking strawberries, raspberries, tayberries every day, though they’re coming to an end, and it doesn’t look as if ill get a break before harvesting mulberries every day.

Thank you .