Broad Beans and Jam

I have spent most of the day in the kitchen making jam and freezing broad beans. It takes so long to pod the beans, blanch them briefly then prepare them for freezing, but it had to be done as I didn't want  them going soft and having to compost them. I shouldn't have harvested them on Sunday as I knew I didn't have time until today to freeze them. But they were fine.

The Beans podded and before blanching, some were kept back for dinner this evening and were delicious, especially the red ones. Green beans are 'Bunyards Exhibition' Red beans are 'Red Epicure'
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I harvested a huge basket of beans but the  amount of beans you get after podding doesn't look much, but then there's a huge pile of pods for the compost bin, so it all goes back into the earth again to enrich the soil for next year.

I had harvested most of my green gooseberries as they were trailing on the ground and going a bit soft.  I gave some away, but had so many left over I decided to try and make some gooseberry jam.  It turned out very good and had a great set. I also had loads of red gooseberries and wasn't sure what to do with them all. I  had frozen strawberries in the freezer from last year, so after looking through my preserve book I decided to make Strawberry and Gooseberry jam.  It's such a lovely combination and the colour is lovely.

I made three and a half jars of the gooseberry and five jars of strawberry and gooseberry. A good days work I think, now for a glass of wine !!!

I've grown too much AGAIN !!!!

Last year I vowed not to grow excess amounts of veg on the plot this year, but I'm not sure how it happened but I have done it again.  Although it's lovely to share with the neighbours (which I did today !) but it all takes time to look after such vast amounts of plants. Trouble is I can't bring myself to compost healthy plants so even though I give away lot's of plants every year, I still have way too many.

I had a good harvest today and It's scary to know that although my fridge is full there will be more to harvest on my next visit. Next year I have to get it right !! how do you manage to just grow enough ? or do you also do as I do and grow too much ?

Here is some photo's taken on the plot today, it's all looking very lush. I dug up some garlic from the second bed  and this variety 'Cristo' is huge, it fit's into the palm of my hand.

The Globe Artichokes are enormous and growing like crazy.

The onions are growing well, they looked like blades of grass when I put them in as I grew them from seed.

I have lots of  self seeded Sunflowers and Calendulas, all brightening up the plot

The pumpkin and squashes are in

The Spinach has been amazing, but is slowly going to seed now so I have sown some more today.

The Runner beans and French beans have now reached the top of the wigwams and are all in flower.

The Tayberry has quite a few fruits now and I have been eating some for a couple of days.

The gooseberries have loads of fruit, the green ones are huge and the red ones are just turning from green to red and are delicious.

I am growing Cape Gooseberries in the greenhouse and this one is really getting big now and has quite a few fruits forming

And finally  here is the Broad beans, Mangetout, and Calabrese that I harvest today. I haven't grown calabrese before and I am so pleased with it as the heads have grown so big over the last week, I will definitely grow it every year.

It's been an amazing year so far, and there is so much more to come. All the potatoes are dug up now as I only grew first earlies. I will post the results on the varieties soon, as they were unusual  and I haven't grown them before.

What a Harvest !!

A visit to the allotment between showers on Tuesday paid off as there was a bumper harvest ready for the picking.
An amazing amount of strawberries, a huge bag of spinach, I get a bag like this every other day!  I had my first picking of broad beans, but they are still small as I prefer them small if they are going in a salad. Then there was a few tasty Tayberries which were also the first, but there are quite a few more to ripen so not too bad for the first year.  The blackcurrants were kindly given by my friend as mine all got eaten by the birds whilst still green.  They stripped the whole bush in a couple of days before I had time to net it. needless to say  LESSON LEARNT !!!

I have enough Lavender bushes now to harvest lot's to dry in the airing cupboard in a pillowcase. I will use it to fill the fabric hearts that I make.  I didn't take too much yet as they look and smell so lovely on the plot.

I made Strawberry Jam which I haven't done for ages. I made 9 jars and they were large jars as well !! it took ages to get to setting point. I doubled up on the recipe, which doesn't always work for me, but the thought of washing the preserving pan and doing it all again put me off, so I doubled up and as I said it took forever to get to the correct set.  I was still a bit unsure of how well it had set even when it had turned cold. However we had some for breakfast and it was perfect !!!! and my daughter-in-law loved it. PHEW !! so glad I didn't have to start again.  I make a lot of curd's which is so easy, but Jam is harder to set I find.

We have been away from home for a couple of days, so I'm sure there will be lot's more to harvest when I next visit the plot which weather permitting will be tomorrow.

I'm growing a 'Cape Gooseberry' in the greenhouse, well three actually.  It's the first time I have grown them and I already have little fruits forming on my largest one, which I must re-pot as it has outgrown the pot it's in.
The harvest I'm most looking forward to is the Courgettes and the mangetout.  I have flowers on the courgettes and just a few pods growing on the mangetout at the moment, so I will have to be patient.

I hope you are all getting some good harvest's.
M x

A busy time at the allotment

I've worked at the allotment for two days this week, and enjoyed every minute of it. The sun was shining, and I met with a good friend up there who also has a plot and we sat in the sunshine outside her shed (Oh the good life !!) and chatted and had a drink break, TRULY Allotment Heaven !!!

The Broad beans are doing well, but still covered for the moment as they were raised in the mini greenhouse and not planted direct. I had hardened them off for a couple of weeks, but a severe frost could still knock them back. I dug up a row of parsnips 'Hollow Crown'  the seeds were from Victoriana Nursery and they are so nice that I got the same again for this years planting.

I still have this row of parsnips to dig up a bit later on. I will probably have to blanch and freeze them as I will need that bed soon.

The Tayberry is doing well and looks like the fruit is starting to come which is exciting as this is the first year, although it was a good healthy potted specimen and a good size to boot. again from Victoriana Nursery.

There are so many ladybirds about on the allotment, so hopefully they and their young will keep the aphids down, it's wonderful to see so many.

My plot is beginning to look more alive and lovely and green again.  I have Calabraise, cabbages growing, and  purple Sprouting broccoli I actually got my first harvest from it last evening (at last) it's in for such a long time. I lost three plants out of the six I planted, but the remaining three don't look too bad. I am hoping to harvest for a couple of weeks to make up for the long wait.

I did manage to sow some carrots as well. I sowed two rows each of Early Nantes 2 and Nantes 5, not sure what the difference is ! we shall see ! Oh and the potatoes went in at last too,  all earlies.  I don't grow main crop any more as we don't eat that many potatoes, so its  just for the fun of digging some up for salads really.
SO lot's done and heaps more to do. I have a mixture of traditional veg beds and also raised beds on my plot and I must say the raised beds are so easy to dig over as the soil is lovely in them. But all beds are full of lovely fat worms this year more so than any other year. It must be the good manure I put on in the autumn.

Have a lovely weekend and don't forget to leave your comment on the post for the giveaway David Austin Roses book if you would like a chance to win it.

The Beans are in AT LAST !!!

I finally got my broad beans in. The roots were long and thick and sticking out of the bottom of the root trainers. The bed was already manured and prepared, so it just meant working out the spacing and length of rows.
Here they are :

on the left are Bunyards Exhibition and on the right Red Epicure, I've not grown the red ones before and it says on the packet that lightly steamed they keep their colour, and as I always steam my veg we will see if that's true when the time come.

The first Asparagus spear is up , that's exciting as I have been looking for it on every visit. I'm not sure how many are going to make it but fingers crossed a lot more than this one.

Even more exciting is the new Tayberry bush, it's growing so well and looks really healthy. The Tayberry and the Asparagus were both from  Victoriana Nursery .

I've managed to clean the greenhouse at the allotment with good old Jeyes fluid, it pongs a bit but does a good job. I haven't actually moved anything up there yet as it's all still in the mini-greenhouses in my garden (much easier to look after until all frosts are gone) There is still heaps more to do and lot's to sow, but I am holding back as things like cucumber, courgettes, french beans and mangetout all come on very quickly and then I will run out of greenhouse space.  I hope to sow a lot of things direct this year, thats the plan anyway !

Friday again !!!! have a lovely weekend everyone and please don't forget to leave a comment for the giveaway book by David Austin (Roses) see previous post.

Lovely Broad Beans

At last the Broad Beans are up and raring to go, well some of them anyway and the others are just starting to nudge the compost ready to pop out.  I look up my old posts on Broad Beans and on March 3rd 2009 the plants were much bigger than these ones that are now growing.  It's always exciting when the seedlings appear. I have also sown chillies ( a few varieties) red and white onions, peppers, and some flowers for my cutting bed, oh and some Lemon basil and sweet basil.

I feel that I'm a bit behind this year, but I have been busy doing lots of craft projects and the weather hasn't exactly been inspiring, but I think I am on my way now. Here's a peek at the Broad Beans (photo's taken today.

I'm raring to go

I get very impatient at this time of year and can barely wait until February to start my seeds off. I went through all my seeds last week and there were so many that can be started in February, so yesterday (I know it's still January !) I decided to get started.

I sowed the Broad beans in my root-trainers using a John Innes seed compost. I sowed 12 each of 'Bunyards Exhibition' and the Red variety 'Red Epicure'.  Then I planted some Lemon Basil and  Sweet Basil and put these on the kitchen windowsill.  Also sown were some Bergamot 'Panorama Mixed' they are good for the bees and nice for cut flowers, so I'm hoping that they are as pretty as they look on the packet.

I also  got my order in to Victoriana Nurseries.  I ordered a Tayberry called 'Buckingham' which is thornless this will be grown in my soft fruit area on the allotment.  I ordered some seeds that I had from them last year that were so good I decided to get them again, which are Tomato 'Abraham Lincoln' and Parsnips 'Hollow Crown' both were very successful and delicious.
 Also ordered :-
Artichoke plants 'Imperial Star' and 'Romanesco' which will delivered  April/May  ready to plant out
and 2 x Lemongrass plants ' East India'. I grew my own Lemongrass last year but they never grew large enough for me to get more than a couple of small pieces from, so I decided it's not worth the bother. 

Don't forget that Stephen from Victoriana Nurseries is offering 10% discount on orders for readers of my blog, just click on the link on my side bar and your order will automatically get the 10% off.

I went for the first time to the Potato Day in Hampshire on Sunday.  It was a last minute decision to go. I was disappointed to find that there was an entry fee of £2 each, so that was £4 before I had even bought any potatoes. However they were only 17p a tuber as opposed to 26p at the garden centre and as I don't grow many ( we don't eat a lot of potatoes)  that wasn't too bad.  But it cost us more to look at the poatoes than it did to buy them, so probably wont be going again.

I bought  6 x 'Ulster Prince'  to try as they looked nice and had a good write up.
 6  x  ' Chopin' they also looked nice so giving them a try
 10   x   Inova which is a cross between my favourite 'Nicola' and 'Impala'  the man there said they were better than ' Nicola' so thought I'd try these as well.   Now to start the chitting !!

So ! there we go the start of a new growing year albeit a bit early, but I couldn't wait any longer.  I have to take some kitchen scraps up to the allotment later and whilst there I will check on my brussels and Purple sprouting broccoli (can't wait for that to be ready) the garlic planted last year is growing well and I still have some 'Hollow Crown' parsnips in the ground, oh and some cabbages, I keep forgetting about them as they are hidden under a tunnel.

Have a good week  X

A hard days work

Well I finally got to do some hard graft on the plot, and I am so glad I made the effort as it's now raining really hard I can hear it as I am typing this post. I am having a nice glass of red wine to chill out after all the work I did today. I got so carried away with the joys of spring that I didn't even have any lunch ( I forgot to take anything with me !) so I enjoyed the lamb casserole I made this evening.

I planted the broad beans and as you can see the roots were amazing in the 'root trainer' planters. If you haven't already tried growing in these I can recommend them, they are brilliant for anything that has deep roots, like the broad beans, sweet peas, runner, and french beans etc. I bought them a year or so ago and they wash up a treat and should last a long time, so well worth the initial cost.

I also planted the cabbages that were overwintered in the greenhouse, they look better than the ones planted out in the autumn. I have probably planted them too close together, but I can always pull some when they are small and leave the others to grow on.

I dug over a few beds after clearing away the brussel sprout plants that never really came to much this year. I only had a small picking of Purple Sprouting Broccoli and that was out of 5 big plants. They were ruined by the severe winter. I found about 8 parsnips still growing well, which was a nice surprise.

I also dug up the perpetual spinach. It looked like it was going to give off more leaves, but a neighbouring plot holder said she always digs hers up each year and grows fresh plants, and as she is a very good veg grower I decided to take her lead, so up they come and as I removed them white fly billowed out in their hundreds, so much for the cold winter.

I did a good 4 hours non stop and felt much better for it. It wasn't hard digging or anything, more gentle planting and tidying, so I didn't come home too tired.

Broad beans in the 'root trainers' that they were planted in from seed.

All planted up in the raised bed.

Fabulous Hellebore given to me last year from another plot holder


Garlic and leeks doing well



Cabbages, on the left planted last autumn, on the right over wintered in the greenhouse

And that's the end of my update, tired but happy and enjoying my glass of wine.

This and That, Odds and Ends.

One of my blogger friends, Moe, asked me if I bought anything at the flower show, well I was quite restrained ! but I did buy a few things, and here they are below.

I couldn't resist this Lovely 'french style' tin plant holder, it may never get outside however, as I like it in my kitchen !!

I have been after a Vietnamese coriander since last year, and now I have one. They are spicier and hotter tasting that the usual coriander and great in oriental dishes and stir fries. The plant is very attractive is fairly hardy, but needs to be overwintered.

I bought this beautiful Dahlia, only mine is only in bud, so no flowers as yet.

I also bought this Leucanthemum, 'Aglaia' every second person seemed to have one, so I guess it's one to look out for in the garden centres. I just liked it's unruly scruffy petals, bit of a hippy in the plant world if you ask me !!! I just haven't found a place to plant it yet, so re -potted it in a much larger pot for the time being.

I didn't buy this at the show, a friend bought it for my birthday this year. I love it and when I get around to it it's going to hang over the summerhouse in the garden.

My 'Lemongrass' I sowed five seeds all germinated and this one is thickening up beautifully, so I'm hoping to have fresh lemongrass this year 'maybe'. It's got a long way to go before being fully grown, the photo below is one I took at the flower show on the oriental garden.

Full grown 'Lemongrass'

My Herb table, the herbs are growing faster than I can use them, I need to dry some, or maybe freeze.

Sundays Harvest

The garlic planted in the autumn is an amazing size, my garage smells terrible ! so I moved them to dry in the mini greenhouse at the back of the garden. I will definitely be planting again in the autumn, a cold snap really makes the bulbs swell.

These five were pulled up over a week ago and are drying beautifully. I just have to learn how to plait them all now as I have about thirty garlics so need to store them well.

A half trug of peas. I left them too long and some were very big, but still tasty and useful for soups or in recipes. I have cut the plants down now and frozen all of the peas. I hate the job of shelling them.


This is the last crop of Broad beans, I had three carrier bags full, so gave a lot away to elderly neighbours. The rest I have frozen, next year I will cut back the amount of plants I grow, I really must get the hang of quantities. The plants are gone now and I have two free beds, which is just as well as my brussels and purple sprouting broccoli have to go in soon as the plants (individually potted) need to go in the ground.

I also picked a bag full of spinach and loads of french beans ( my favourite crop) which I never expected to crop this early, they are so delicious. So that's about it with the latest news on the lottie.

I hope all of your crops are doing well and the weather isn't to bad wherever you live.