Preserving what we produce

ps re Tarbes beans
www.amazon.com/Coop%C3%A9rative-Pyr%C3%A9n%C3%A9enne-Haricots-Tarbais-Beans/dp/B004AGA0OQ?tag=gransnetforum-21

I used to do the soaking and boiling, in the old days when money was very tight. These days I buy beans in tins, not baked beans, I prefer borlotti, maybe cannellini,maybe flageolet. I might get several at a time, organic. I find a few are nice on a cold salad. I only eat a bit of meat, grass fed organic and only maybe once a week, so veggies are very much my staple food. I do have dwarf borlotti growing in a trug here, I will dry them. It`ll only be a one-off, they are not value for space

I am not going to look at my green beans today, need to keep hands off, so they grow past mini. Fridge diving today, I have plenty

I have been freezing raspberries and runner beans from the garden. I have also got some strawberries which i picked and froze. My gooseberries are slowly turning to a deep plum colour so i will freeze those too. I have a large rhubarb plant we have not touched this year, both of us have gone 'off' rhubarb for some reason, so i may just dig it up and get rid which will free up a little more space for soemthing else. My lettuces have shot up and sadly some have gone to seed as we could not eat them fast enough. Next year will stagger the seed planting for them. I think due to the beautiful weather earlier in the spring everything had a good start. I have spring onions and beets plus half a dozen potato plants all coming along nicely. Lots of toms on my plants but none ready to pick just yet. Those i will freeze for use in sauces etc.

I spent most of yesterday freezing courgettes in various ways.

Ratatouille done in the slow cooker and frozen in Chinese takeaway plastic containers. I've had to use tinned tomatoes as our own are not ripe yet.

Courgette gratin, frozen in two portion foil containers.

Courgette and Feta fritters and courgette bhajis - same recipe divided into two before adding the cheese or curry spices.

Today will be courgette and anchovy burgers.

It all goes in our freezer in the garage for next year's 'hungry gap' in early spring when the winter veg is over.

We're going to have a good plum and greengage harvest this year so probably two demi johns of plum wine, chutneys and plum and mulled wine jam - a family favourite because it's not too sweet. I also freeze them whole for pies and crumbles.

This year we dug a veg patch in the middle of our lawn as we only have a small garden. My runner bean are still in flower, we have ate all the broccoli, eating our small cucumbers and the courgettes are growing. Also had a good crop of broad beans. Bit worried about my sprouts, they jut seem to grow huge leaves and have no sprouts on the stem. Any ideas?
I am impressed with you and the blueberries, mine just didn't seem to produce much at all but my fig tree has gone overboard.
Just want to say I love fresh apricots and buy them from our local veg shop and freeze them. This year I bottled some in brandy but it doesn't seem to be working.
Love Cardiff, we go there quite a bit by driving to the outskirts and then cycling in along the Taff Trail, a lovely centre for cyclists and we prefer it to Bristol.

It's a bit early for sprouts unless they are the September variety. Do they have any little 'nodules' on the stem? They will be what will grow into sprouts by December.
My Dad always used to say that they were best picked after the frost had been on them.

We weren't successful with blueberries, but we prefer blackcurrants anyway and they do well here.

Years ago I tried making marrow rum, hanging it up in the cellar, but all I ended up with was a mouldy marrow!

merlotgran this will be the first year we may get some plums.
When is the best time to pick them and how do you keep wasps off them?
It's a Victoria.

I think our plums will be ready in about three weeks. We don't worry about wasps. You just have to be careful when picking.

Thanks, merlot

We will just have to watch out!

Thanks for the info about the sprouts, never grown them before, in fact this is my first with a veg garden for I don't how long. The sprouts are for our Christmas dinner. I also made marrow rum years ago, hung the marrow in a string plant holder and hung it from the ceiling. It worked, I also use to make a lot of home made wine and friends would come round and we play guess what you are drinking. My blackberry wine was like alcoholic blackcurrant juice. It just went down a treat but your legs would give way when you stood up. Great fun.

I think that's right about the sprouts, I'm no expert! However, we did grow some last year. They were very small but very nice. If I grew them again I'd probably give them a dollop of manure.

I've found out the culprit which is is eating the newly planted sprouting broccoli. Today I saw the squirrel trying to get to them, we have put wire mesh over them until they're bigger..

Good heavens, I'm weeks behind you lot! All I've got is flowers of peas, beans and courgettes. Tomatoes are just beginning to set fruit...

But I think that the NE must be one of the coolest areas in England.

We haven't got any peas or beans yet but they are flowering.
I think that cold spell slowed everything up.

We've had several courgettes. The cucumbers are in the greenhouse, we could have a glut of them and will be giving them away.

Any ideas what to do with cucumbers apart from salads, with onions in vinegar or cold soup?

I make cucumber soup and freeze it, but it’s to have hot in the winter, not a cold soup.

It’s a Delia recipe, mine comes out not too thick, DH likes it in a flask as it’s thinner than some of my home made soup.

I make cool lovely juices from cucumbers, I have a slow vertical juicer, that is why I planted 2 marketmores. I skin them first. You can freeze these juices. I add a couple of other things to the juicer, depends what I have spare

I picked 3 small courgettes this morning,now ready in my soup maker for later, as I have to be out today. I haven`t left any to get big, so far

Shallots are germimor, I saved 8 from my allotment pickings and now have at least 80. I only ever bought one pack, 11 years ago. I intend to plant another 8 this year and have offered some to a neighbour. They dried nicely and I bought another crock, having foolishly got rid of my other one, what you do when in brain fog for moving house. The destined bediss the charlotte bed, I got all of those out and frozen. I then put phacelia in, sprinkled compost on top and was thankful for the rain. They are up and growing. I want to get them dug in asap

Some tomatoes are changing colour to the yellow stage before red. I am freezing beans now, unblanched, having done a taste test. They are much nicer than blanched. There are masses of flowers and young beans so next job is to make yet more freezer space. The blueberries are going to take up a whole drawer, not at all finished yet and 4.5 kg are picked. They are the easiest fruits ever. No bugs, pick before completely ripe to win the bird race. Good watering and some feeding is essential. I took special care this year and there is a massive growth of glossy leaves and branches. I estimate an even bigger crop next year. They have responded so well to tlc, yet survived some neglect in the past and also moving in a van. I gave a dusting of suphur powder early on because I had to use tap water for a short while, the water butts were empty. 660 litres

Too many brassicas have been a mistake for me, I don`t any longer intend to make sauerkraut this year. They are bursting out of their netted bed. The 2 purple sprouting plants in the soil are being visited daily by cabbage whites and I have squished endless clusters of yellow eggs, with gloves on. Next year I am growing these under net,no preserving required, they are good picking over winter (leaves) and later (shoots). Maybe a few minicole in a trug next year for july/august. I cannot see me finding another way to preserve my cabbages, except in soups. The 2 red drumheads are so tight that I am happy not looking for eggs on these, 2 is 1 too many for me. Yet again Delia red cabbage here I come

Barmeyoldbat, it could be that they are not sprouts, they sound like purple sprouting. I used to get tiny sprouts by now, you don`t want them too soon ayway so keep fingers crossed. They like very firm soil, well trodden. Not to forget that you can eat any brassica leaves, shredded like cabbage.

Jermor shallots, got that wrong

We very very reluctantly had to give up our allotment - and after a few years of veg free existence are investing in veg trugs. We will never recruit back the outlay of course but we are telling ourselves that it is a hobby, -which it is.?

So have begun with a herb trug. Now newly planted and looking fresh and new. All the usual, rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley, mint, etc

We have erected a small wall hugger trug Now seeded with French Beans, beetroot, carrots and lettuce seedlings.

We have a large wall hugger arriving and this will be in a shadier bit of the garden so that needs planting with stuff that doesn’t mind shade. An autumn planting of peas will be one thing, coriander next summer, carrots and beetroot as well.

Then we have 2 large trugs planned after my picking garden has completed its season. which will go in the sunniest part and we hope they will be erected and fillEd with a mixture of JI3 and multipurpose. There will be autumn onion sets, garlic, and broad beans, plus spring cabbage.

The whole lot give us approx 40 sq. foot and we are going to follow the square foot method of gardening. It wont if course give us sufficient to store except perhaps onions but it is a form of intensive growing replenishing each square foot with rich nutrient compost as it is emptied of crop. I shall rotate in the usual way but have to have a written plan with all these little square feet!

Another South Wales girl here! My DH, a keen gardener, has had a problem with slugs and snails this year. He gets up in the middle of the night to catch them in a jar and then deposits them in the lane near us! But having said this we still have had a fantastic produce this year. I think all that sunshine and now the rain has brought everything on. My bedding plants are great too.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines along with stuff like basil and French beans we have been growing in the greenhouse always. Lettuce is grown outside in containers along with spring onions as the greenhouse is too hot for them, although winter saladings do well. They are all especially good this year. We also grow container courgettes, and potatoes.

I’ve just seen the heading to this thread. Mine is more of eating what I produce!!

Someone mentioned beetroot - one of our favourites and so easy to grow. Few pests etc. We just left them in the soil until we were ready to eat them, though baby beets are the sweetest.
The problems we had with pests! Potatoes were worst, we even had colorado beetle 2 years running. Then wire worm. Even a few of these:
www.wildlifeinsight.com/british-moths/deaths-head-hawkmoth-and-caterpillar-acherontia-atropos/

Craftyone,. What did you do to improve the soil?

It was very compacted builders rubble, no air and no worms. I put very many bags of peat based composts on it, pure peat and horse manure compost, peat is produced locally to here. I spent very many hours digging rocks out of where I would be putting apple trees and fruit bushes, I had to use a gorilla bar and had permanent aching arms. I did as much as I could by autumn and then left the worms to do the rest

I put bocking 14 comfrey in, having dug out bits of root from my allotment. I bought 1 mini hotbin because good compost is usually all I ever use, I filled it and now have 3, each being very hot and making compost very quickly. I use green manure in raised beds when I can, phacelia, quick growing and easy to cut and turn over, then I cover with weed fabric and the worms start work. That is basically how I am making my soil nice

I encourage insects and have hundreds of them bumble bees, bees, hover flies etc I also have some tinkling water via a small solar panel and pagoda.

It is only 15 months since I started and it looks as though it has been here forever. It was worth the aching bones.

I am still preserving green beans and have 8 meals worth in the freezer. I am going to weigh my frozen blueberries at the end. I am guessing at minimum 6kg. £20 a kg for organic blueberries, wow what a good value crop

re worms, I gathered a few worms from my allotment and they moved house to here (grin)

I used to have an excalibur dehydrator but tbh never liked dried veg. Now I have courgettes and can only eat so many small ones, either in salad or steamed. I have made courgette and tarragon soup, courgettes, tarragon (dried is all I have ) , stock and butter. It smells divine, this is to eat today and tomorrow but I think I will make this with much less water ie more concentrated, it will be very suitable to freeze

Strawberries are going to be very productive in their first season, I am cutting runners off and will be transplanting fenella and alice to 2 trugs for next year. Much more productive and easier than veggies, of which I think I am producing too much. I didn`t think much of the mange tout, was nice but only went on producing for a few weeks. Borlotti were fine as beans in soup. The next lot will be picked soon and beans also eaten fresh. Value for area? not much

My charlottes, the few I left in a crock, are not going to last so they are being steamed today, for the fridge. They were good stored in the ground but I want a quick rotation with phacelia and then shallots and garlic

I want to but some leek plants today, I have a space, after ferrari in a half barrel (plastic)

Green beans, large crop frozen yesterday, will be excellent for winter. More today, I will reach a point when I have frozen enough and cannot eat more so then I will return beans to the earth via compost

I have small pots ready for strawberries, will mush and freeze, a few in a pot. Blueberries are still producing and I am still looking after the 6 plants. As soon as I cut down on water, the leaves will go red and they will go into dormancy quite early