Harvest

I’ve been away from home for a week or so, walking and swimming in the rain. We had a bit of a plum glut just before we left, so we took the plums with us.

I also made an emergency supply of plum jam the night before we left, rather than doing any packing, getting my priorities right, as I was worried they wouldn’t survive till we got home. Some of the tomato crop also joined us on our holiday, including a double Costoluto Fiorentino and the first of the impressively coloured but decidedly small ‘Indigo Blue Berry’ and a couple of rather unimpressive San Marzano.

Am I the only one to take my veg on holiday with me? Anyway, now I’m back I’ve been checking what’s been growing in the garden and allotment. Everything seems to have enjoyed the rain so there’s a lot going on. I harvested the first marrow – they’ve been a bit slow this year so I’m not sure how many I’m going to get, but one is good to be going on with (secateurs for scale).

A second crop of peas has also finally got going. No flowers yet but I’m every hopeful.

The tomatoes in the garden look as if the Tigerallas and Costoluto Fiorentino are going to be quite productive – there are even a few more of the blue berries so it may, in the end, justify the £1 that I paid for the plant -see here for info on that.

I was pleased to see that the sweet peas have recovered from the dry spell and are now racing up the runner bean poles, with some healthy looking bean flowers still coming along too. This variety is called ‘Earl Grey’. I rather like it.

A sunflower in a pot has survived the molluscs – a first possibly for my garden as sunflowers seem to be a favourite for the slimy beasts.

Down at the allotment, the climbing French and runner beans have been loving the wet weather and I harvested an entire bucketful (not sure how I’m going to use them but we’ll get through them somehow). The courgettes are being slower than usual but there was one monster.

The tomatoes at the allotment are, so far, avoiding the blight with all three varieties doing rather well (Costuluto Fiorentina, San Marzano and Tigeralla). I picked this little collection, including a few nearly ripe ones just in case.

Excuse the mud – it was raining.

So everything looks as if it is going to be ok and there should be some more harvesting to come over the next few weeks, including the wondrous Howgate Wonders. I’ve had a few windfalls already but there are lots more giants to come.