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

weather is just as shit where I am.
18 degrees and showers today.

This evening's courgettes are sautéed in olive oil and dry vermouth, then seasoned with dill, fennel and parsley.

The novelty will wear off in about 4 days

That's good growing weather (for courgettes)

I do worry that the warm wet will lead to blight on the tomatoes.

@AdventFridgeOfShame Last night we had courgette and halloumi fritters along with vegetable skewers containing more courgette.

Think I might bake a cake tomorrow

@tizwozliz it is a little bit like an endurance sport.

Tomatoes, these are the best. No idea what they are called, we save the seed. A few decades of experimentation and the right sort of beef steak wins.

It was 14 deg in our kitchen the night before last. Even in winter we managed to keep it at 16.

DH has acquired an enthusiasm for raw courgette dipped in hummus.

I respect your witchcraft.

DH is all about crumbles and cobblers at the moment. Plum, blackberry and rhubarb being today's offering.
AKA, there was just a bit of various stuff and not enough of anything.

AKA, there was just a bit of various stuff and not enough of anything. I remember going into a restaurant with a friend and being told today's soup was something like broccoli, pea and French bean. Friend says (to me, not to the waiter) "sounds like yesterday's leftovers to me".

I have had a steady flow of courgette, luckily we have pets that eat vegetables, I did put courgette into lasagne tonight and am planning to make courgette cake.

This is my first year with a plot and I have to say I am pretty pleased with what I have grown. We had loads of peas and mangetout, then came the purple dwarf beans (so many beans), loads of beetroot and now the runner beans are going crazy, freezer is full and we are eating beans every evening. Spaghetti and butternut squash are growing like mad and the cabbages are getting big. Only possible disappointment is cauliflowers (no heads yet).

Just another 6 courgettes this evening!! Plus berries, potatoes, spinach and french beans.

Just another 6 courgettes this evening!!

Given the time of year, we have a new thread title.

moussaka type bakes work well with courgette.

my family like mince & courgette (like an italian pasta sauce just with courgette instead of tomatos.

I don't have a garden and courgettes fon't work well in pots. but I happily relieve my beighbour of part of her glut

courgettes fon't work well in pots They appreciate having absolutely the biggest pot you can manage. If you can manhandle the pot when it’s full of soil, it’s not big enough. Also good to have a parthenocistic variety so no need for pollination. Make every flower count!

or better: my balcony can't handle a pot that big. both for size and weight.

Yep, you don't have a hope!I've got 5 plants atm, two in big tubs, 3 in pots about 9inches across (because I can never bear to throw away surplus seedlings) and I'm haveing a steady supply, not a glut.I'm not having to resort to turning them into cakes or jam.

My strawberries and raspberries are going mouldy before they ripen. That doesn't normally happen until October!

I’m really worried about my tomatoes. I actually dreamt of blight on them last night.

I've got a fair amount of courgettes, I learnt how to freeze them so that they didn't turn to mush last year so I'll be doing that with mine today.

Chop and oil, and either saute for 5-10 mins, or pop in the air fryer for about 5 mins.

Tip out and let them drain and cool, and then freeze in silicone muffin tins.

When you come to cook them later, they don't go to mush for some reason. Muffin tins for easy portioning later.

I've lost 3 tomato plants to blight already, it's been so much cooler here than last year when we couldn't even go into the garden between 10 and 7pm due to the extreme heat.

I’ve picked 15 cucumbers since Monday, from 6 plants and lots more smaller ones to come. I have given some away and will be batch making dill pickles this weekend.

Weather here today has been lovely, breezy, temp in low 20s, sun out most of the time, hoping it stays this way but I don’t think it will.

Reasonable picking today. Potatoes in grow bags have not done well. Won't bother growing them in containers next year, too much compost/water required for not great yields. And the slugs seem to get to them too in a way they never do the ones in the ground. First patty pans today! Need to get my brassicas covered. And something keeps pecking my leeks out the ground! Probably pigeons. Grrrr.

I definitely need to start doing this. I'm so lazy I've just been chopping courgettes and freezing them but you're right, they do turn to mush. I've just been chucking them into bolognese/chilli/curries so it doesn't matter if they're soft but properly preparing them would make them more versatile.

The weather this year seems to have been good for blackberries. Just back from picking another huge tub full. They're enormous, almost plum size some of them.

Oh yes @Oysterbabe we have also been getting magnificent blackberries.
Made a crumble tonight with rhubarb, the last of the blackcurrants and lots of blackberries, I may also have eaten loads whilst picking.

More courgettes and lots of beans. Off for two weeks holiday so expect to come back to a few marrows and beans that will be dried for winter.

We've had a weekend away, only a couple of overgrown courgettes to greet me on my return. Lots of beans, more raspberries and blackcurrants and some apples. I'm just freezing berries and beans at the moment.