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

Very worried about foxes. Their proper run isn’t up yet and I think it was more secure than temporary one as the foxes never got in. Heard a fox in the early hours last night .

Hi Volterra

Well, I have hit a fairly quiet patch at the plot, mainly just weeding at the moment. I have dug out about half my potatoes and lifted my onions and garlic. Got a glut of cherry tomatoes which are drying in a low oven a la Nigella as we speak.

My raspberries, which are autumn fruiters are usually in full crop right now but there is next to nothing, there are some flower buds but still tightly closed. Never had such a bad year for them (been on the plot 9 years). Must be the heat and dryness. Other people on the site are saying the same.

The plot next to mine became vacant a few weeks ago, they are small plots and this one would be fairly easy for me to maintain as I know it well already (and half of it is fruit bushes) but I asked if I could have it and the council said no, they had offered it to someone else. But no sign of anyone and it hasn’t been touched. I’m really not sure if I want it now, in theory I will have more free time as DS is off to uni but he needs a lot of support so maybe I will still be busy. I wouldn’t take any other on, just this one because its next to me.

Tomatoes and garlic

Impressive haul @EquallyDivided ! I see what you are saying about the next door plot, I guess see what happens and if you do end up being offered it then it is meant to be. I think my DS will need a fair amount of support settling in so any big projects are on hold until next year .

Have been really m.i.a this summer with other things going on but having a great tomato harvest at the moment. Courgettes were a huge failure this year and my runner beans were annihilated by aphids but are still giving flowers. Pumpkins have grown and ripened already and aubergines are doing well.

It’s the fruit that’s really good in our garden. Yesterday’s figs and mulberries. I except to get the same at least every two days for the next few weeks

For anyone who bought a handful of seeds from Real Seeds, don't forget to collect and save seed for next year 😊

Any pickling experts here with a good pickled cucumber recipe please?

Also if you're pickling say green chillies and they are only ready a couple at a time could you just add them to the pickling liquid daily as you harvest?

This is my favourite cucumber pickle

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/bread-butter-pickles

Not sure about the chillies though.

These are my tomatoes once they had finished their stint in the oven

Beautiful photos on here, I’m going to make the pickles.

@EquallyDivided thanks for the recipe, that's just what I needed!

How do you make the tomatoes? Is it to replicate sun dried? What sort of oven temperature and baking time and are they just in olive oil? They look delicious!

I halved the tomatoes, put them on a tray and drizzled them with olive oil, dried oregano and salt and pepper. We have an Everhot range cooker which is always on like an Aga, one of the ovens isn't on at the moment but picks up some heat from the other, so I put them in there for 24 hours, before putting them in a sterilised jar covered in oil. Oven was probably about 40-50°. It was based on Nigella Lawson's moonblush tomato recipes - put them into a hot oven, turn it off and leave them overnight without opening the door.

Thank you! That's also a good use of the oven if you've already cooked something at a high temperature and then can bung in some tomatoes after. Especially with everyone watching the pennies right now ☺️

Yes, and once you’ve used up the tomatoes you can use the oil in the jar for cooking and it has a gorgeous tomatoey flavour too.

I've got a load of cherry toms ready soon so definitely trying this! I can already taste that tomatoey oil with pasta and salad 😂

We harvested our first red chilli the other day; have picked a few cherry tomatoes; nearly picked all the blueberries. DDs green bean is producing new flowers but not sure how much more it can do.
Picked up two plum trees reduced from a local garden centre - hoping they do ok in pots in our garden. Not had plums before.

@Volterra
Lucky about the apple tree. We have one (Bramley) and it's been the best year I can remember in terms of quality and quantity.
We stew them down and freeze in for Winter
In 1 litre tubs.
Courgettes have picked up again and corn has been a success. Runner beans are doing well as are the lettuces.
Still so many weeds to sort!

@Gingerwarthog , we are lucky ! I’ve started picking them and have lots on the floor which the chickens are enjoying.

My bit of rhubarb has survived the move. It came from original allotment and then to two more before going to old house and now this one. I got someone to come and spend a few hours clearing garden last week and he is coming to build the shed. Have been watching which bits get sun so I can start thinking of how I am going to squeeze in as much as possible.

Is anyone else having fertilisation problems with tomatillo? I've successfully grown them in a greenhouse in previous years, but this year they're sharing space with physalis (aka pineapple gooseberry aka groundcherry), and on 7 plants of 2 varieties I have a whole 2 fruits developing. Plenty of flowers though. Probably a bit late but I've just gone round with a little brush to hand pollinate. Fingers crossed.

P.s. the physalis is doing just fine!

@Agapornis can't help with the tomatillo problem but I've been growing pineapple groundberry for the first time. Very productive but the fruit is pretty small. How big are yours?

@PoseyFlump no issues there, same size as the supermarket ones really - though I've only harvested a couple. Mind you, that's compared to having grown them in a pot on a balcony, so I'm excited about the bigger plants. I've never seen them fill up the husk like tomatillos can, though.
Maybe the prolonged lack of rain and my harsh watering regime did the tomatillos more harm than I thought. I went by the theory of its Spanish name 'miltomate' meaning field tomato i.e. it's supposed to do well neglected in a field...

I've got 2 tomatillos and although I'm further south in France, they are outside in some shade. I'm getting a really good harvest with about 1 in 4 lanterns with nothing in them. I've got a green one and one that I think is really a Ground Cherry as it is yellow and so sweet. I'm going to be trying to get hold of some of the new varieties of ground cherries, esp that triangular one, it looks so good.

It really does look rough in the day though, and perks up as the sun goes over the trees. It doesn't like the fierce sun but it is so hot here I'm not surprised.

I'm probably not going to post on this thread again until a fresh one is up and running as it will not post anything whilst I'm in the garden or out and about [too long - it just sits there] and I have to repost it all over again when I get in and we are away for a few days so hopefully by the time I get back from Bordeaux [whoop whoop] we'll have a new one.

Ah interesting - I have a very hot garden in London so probably not that much cooler than where you are, but perhaps the pollinators here haven't learnt yet.

Btw I propose we use the scientific names for any future discussion on Physalis species or cultivars I thought P. peruviana was groundcherry, but apparently that's cape gooseberry, and P. pruinosa is groundcherry - but opinions may vary! Unhelpful for a seed swap...

I know and suppliers don't always get it right anyway.

In my world:
purple or green - tomatillo
yellow and sweet - ground cherry
Golden and smaller - Cape gooseberry.