The Vegetable Patch Mark 2

[MereDintofPandiculation]

A continuation of the thread for those of us growing edibles, to share triumphs and failures, swap expertise and solve problems

I'm planning a courgette cake with some of mine as we're going away with family this weekend.

I have courgette envy :o

I did see an idea (in GW magazine) for courgette, halloumi and chilli savoury muffins which sounded delicious so I may try making those.

Kalettes - I was intrigued and decided to buy a pack of seeds from Wilco back in Feb. Have never grown them before but we had kalettes at Christmas and they were beautiful - more tender than kale which can be quite tough and flavoursome. I planted the seeds in March and I've now got what amounts to a trough full of purpley green leaves but no sign of any kalettes.

I'm glad I checked on YouTube as I was going to throw them on the compost thinking they'd grown too big and I'd missed the window of opportunity to harvest them. Nope, they need to continue growing until at least October like Brussels sprouts. I'm going to plant them in the ground as I don't think the troughs are suitable - too shallow.

anyone have any experience of growing them? Hopefully some success stories!

Those muffins sound scrummy, @ThreeRingCircus

Wish I could say same about my courgettes! Picked one and a few are coming through but no male flowers for miles among my 3 plants, they flowered ages ago leaving just females now.
Think they’ll shrivel

In that case, pick them young with flowers still attached, dip them-in batter and deep fry. Delicacy in countries with too many courgettes.

or use both the immature courgette and the flowers in salad.

will leave to Dh who wastes not!

he did a pasta using the lone courgette and broad beans including the pods 😳

Question for chilli growers..
I pinched mine out early on to make them bushy but one variety seems to have gone leggy anyway. Even though it's a big plant now can I still snip off the central stem to make it more bushy or do you think that ship has sailed?
Thanks!

Sounds the sort of thing I’d do. As long as there was herbs in there and a bit of oil it should have tasted good.

It’ll bush out from where you nip it off. I don’t know whether you could cut further down to get it to bush out lower, I wouldn’t have the nerve to try!

Cut from the same cloth you both!

and yes, despite the crunch of the pods it was lovely,

What could be responsible for chomping off the growing tips of my French beans? (And half a larger leaf). 1 happened a week or 2 ago and now the second. Slugs and snails? Can they do ok still by growing side shoots? They were climbing up poles and have a number of leaves. Thank you.

Raspberries in full swing now.

I've got fruit set on my tomatoes at home now so need to dig out my tomato feed.

French beans have lots of foliage at the moment but no sign of beans yet. Seem slow, I'm sure normally I have mange tout and French beans arriving at the same time.

My butternut squash seems to have taken off but my pumpkin and a patty pan squash are still tiny/sickly looking.

Yes, lots of raspberries here too and my rhubarb is back on form after a poor June. The broad beans have been good and I picked my first courgette of the season, so will make a broadbean and courgette risotto tomorrow.

Also picked the first courgette here.
Got gifted some black currants. We may have had black currant meringue pie for dinner yesterday.

I grow kalettes alongside sprouts and kale. They are a late autumn/winter veg for us. We boil, roast or stir fry them.
They grow about 3 foot tall and like sprouts, you need to pick from the bottom of the plant. Get them in the ground and firm the ground around them for best production. They’ll probably need staking and netting to keep cabbage whites and pigeons away.

We're well into courgette glut territory now. Will be making some fritters and a courgette cake to use some up. Both freeze well.

First french beans picked this evening, they've gone straight in the freezer.

I think some of the currants on our plot are actually pink currants. I'm not sure how you know when they're ready to pick?

I just may have overdone it with the courgettes this year. I picked up an emergency plant because mine didn't look so great...

Courgette fritters, courgette risotto, pasta alla Nerano, fried courgettes as a veg. Not much else going on at the allotment, tomatoes, aubergine, sweetcorn and cabbages still weeks away, especially with the weather we’re having now. Have had a good run from the dwarf french beans and the lettuce but they are running out of steam now. Cucumber and beetroot might be ready to pick in a week or so 🤞

I have a courgette glut here too, the rhubarb has been doing well and the french beans have been good although seem to have finished now.... I've planted some more french beans and am keeping my fingers crossed for a late harvest (SE England.) I've taken to freezing everything as we can't eat it all now.

I lifted my garlic yesterday. It did ok but not brilliantly but was in pots rather than the ground.

The sun is out finally and hopefully my tomatoes will appreciate it. I've one just turning but the rest are very green.

Still picking plenty of raspberries, courgettes and french beans every time we visit the allotment.

Similar situation for my toms @tizwozliz although growth seems good.

My peppers are finally turning and having only had courgettes, the patty pans are now getting going. I sowed a load more dwarf beans earlier in July only to find that my existing plants are now getting all lush and flowery again. So combined with the climbing beans I might reach enough to have a whole meals worth in a day!

I can pelt ALL my enemies with tomatos right now

they are delicious though, especially the yellow pearshape ones. (remember, the ones with the weird potato leaves).

Have I remembered correctly that you're not having to battle the British weather @greenacrylicpaint ?