Friday 14 August 2009

Fruits of my labour.

I was away for a couple of days, and got back late this evening, so I had to go up to the plot to water the plants in the greenhouse. I have cucumbers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and all sorts of chillies growing in there. They are all thirsty plants that need lots of water, and were so dry it took me ages to give them a good soaking.
Whilst up there I picked french and runner beans and tomatoes and yellow courgettes. I swapped the beans with a friend who has masses of blackberries on her plot and her raspberries are always earlier than mine, so she said to pick what I needed, great swap !! my raspberries are just beginning to ripen very slowly.
As you can see by the photo's below I have lots of squashes around the plot. The only trouble is there are so many too close together and I don't know what some of them are.

The plot looks very full now and a bit untidy everything has grown so tall



Florence fennel just starting to to swell nicely.



One of the squashes

The sweetcorn has grown to well over 4 foot tall, you can see the squash I planted underneath it just rambling through.



Nice and ripe and this one is ready to pick.



The squash beneath the sweetcorn.




Munchkin squash

Pumpkin



I don't know if this will ripen as I grew it from a seed I saved from a squash I bought from the supermarket last year which was grown in Cyprus, so we may not have enough sunshine to ripen it.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Mo, I love the fact that you have grown your squash under your sweetcorn - like the 3 sisters ancient method! I am glad it works - I might try this next year (without the beans) as your squashes look so good! I have grown butternut squash this year and they are going mad - will take pics at the weekend. Come & visit soon x

Pam said...

Your plot looks wonderful - wish ours looked half as good.
Hope you had a good time with the wee ones.
P x

allot of veg said...

Your standards are very high if you think that's an untidy plot! How do you use your squash? Any favourite recipies?

Prospero said...

Well, doctor, the thing is - you're the vegetable expert.

But just for the sake of comparison, my fennel is 4 feet tall, unwanted, and has a tap root 3 feet deep. That's Bermuda for you.

My corn is long gone, my tomatoes and peppers have exhausted themselves....

You, on the other hand, have a heavenly bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables. I'm so jealous! I should really boycott your blog but probably won't since I love it dearly).

Maureen said...

Hi ALI, yes it's the 3 sisters method, but without the beans. I prefer to grow those up a wigwam.
I think I might try the whole thing next year though, but just the 3 plants on their own,in a little cluster somewhere on the plot just to see if the beans really get support from the corn.

My butternut squash didn't even take off, the plant is still OK, but hasn't grown, I think I should write to Prince Charles and complain ha ha! as it's one of his Duchy seed packets. bloody Royals !!
.........................
Hi PAM, my plot doesn't look that great honest ! I've just taken photo's of the nice bits, although I have been tidying up over the last 2 days so it is looking better. The sweet peas were looking ragged so they have all been pulled up (I saved some seeds for you ) We had a great time with the little ones.
...........................
Hi ALLOT OF VEG, I guess my standards are high, I am hard on myself really, although this year I am a bit more laid back about the plot. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only an allotment and not my garden.
My favourite way to cook squashes is to roast them with other veg, with a little olive oil, salt & pepper and garlic and herbs. I also love to roast them and then put them in a soup with onions, 'Kallo' organic veg stock cube, any fresh herbs to hand and add some potato to thicken it and then whizz through the blender when it's cooked and cooled down a bit, but leave some chunky bits behind. Lovely with fresh crusty bread.
..........................
Hi PROSPERO, well I'm glad your not going to boycott my blog as I would miss your comments. How come my fennel doesn't grow a big tap root? they can be dug up easily here. The bees love the fennel flower. It smells lovely when I brush past it too.

GYPSYWOMAN said...

hello maureen - oh, dear, i must confess to how i love dropping over to your luscious place filled with breathtakingly beautiful veggies and flowering plants and little buggies and lots of green and all the wonders of nature for which i am so "homesick" right now - it's such a refreshing visit here - thank you so much for having me - and please come around one - or all - of my places - while i cannot offer you the bounty of fruits and veggies and flowers out of the earth, perhaps some of my bloglands will be of interest to you - hope so! see you soon! jenean

Maureen said...

JENEAN, thank you so much for the lovely comments, it's nice to hear from you again. I will check out all of your blogs. I don't know how you manage more than one.

Renaissance said...

Everything looks wonderful and all that produce, well it made my mouth water...

Jo said...

The plot's looking great, Maureen. You're getting a great harvest from it, and it looks so neat and tidy, I'm so jealous.
I've only got one squash variety on the allotment, but I think I will have a go at more next year.

Anonymous said...

a lovely harvest.. i especially love the sweetcorn!
x

GYPSYWOMAN said...

well, you've caught me still again, creeping over here to your beautiful lush veggies and plants - can't get enough - while i don't have many outdoor plants now - a few hostas out front and a beautiful little crepe myrtle i do have a few indoor plants which i absolutely relish in - one of a 25 year old ficus tree that has been passed back and forth between my daughter and i more times than i can count - it originated with her in 1990-ish in louisiana - in any event, my other favorites are a couple of gorgeous pony tail palms - anyway, thanks so much for allowing me to browse around over here vicariously - have a wonderful day!