Fruit Harvest

Cooked gooseberries straight into pan with a couple of table spoons of sugar, mix until sugar turns to syrup and boil for about 15 mins until consistency is how you want it?

Cooked gooseberries ideal to have with yogurt or pancakes.  

 

Sugared raspberries ideal with cereal or granola.

Raspberries picked from allotment

Gooseberries harvested from allotment. 

This years strawberries have been very good picked a number of large cylinders of big strawberries. Froze a lot individually on trays and bagged up. I will be freezing quite a lot of the gooseberries. The rest I will cook and sweeten and have with natural yogurt. 

Growing outside my home

Growing plants outside your home in pots can help reduce your weekly shopping costs. Growing from seed can be a cheap way of growing veg. I tend to mix it a bit , buying some some plants for growing and some from seed, creates a better balance. This year I bought a mix of tomatoe seeds and now have a small forest of different types of tomatoe plants that are just beginning to flower. I’m very excited to see what type of tomatoe will be grown.

Various tomatoe plants outside my home.

Big potatoe fabric pots ideal for growing veg and very reasonably priced.

Lettuce leads, tomatoe plant and sun flower.

Starting grow bigger and flowering well.

Sunflowers starting to grow.

Tomatoes starting to flower.

Great veg bags made from fabric with window for growing potatoe or carrots.

Peas for adding to stir fry

Runner beans and french beans

Various tomatoe plants

Runner beans and purple french beans.

The Growing Season

The Good Life series ran in the 1970’s and 1980’s inspiring series where by a couple decide to give up the rate race and grow there own veg , keep hens etc . Give up work and become self sufficient. Totally loved the series and now I have an allotment, grow veg around my house and work as a supply teacher in order to live the good life without being tied to the day to day city life I previously had,living in the countryside and living that simple laid back life style.

Set in Surbiton Surrey, even lived in Surbiton in the 1980’s great place loved the series.

 
My attempt at self sufficient life style, considering the current cost of living crisis, I’m not doing to badly, currently harvesting french beans, cucumbers, swish chard, lettuce and peas. I have plenty of tomatoe plants flowering, lots of runner beans and other french beans, leeks, broccoli, potatoes, corn, courgettes, aubergines, chillies and peppers still growing. I hope it all harvests well.

Allotment News.

Inside my poly tunnel. I have been growing cucumbers , tomatoes, peppers, chillies, aubergines , lettuce and beans. Really happy with how fast veg grows inside rather than outside. I have enough space for another poly tunnel.

Cucumbers growing in quantity inside of poly tunnel with new irrigation set up so I don’t need to go every day to water. Working great. The good life is a reality.



Aubergines starting to grow.

Chillies

Large tomatoes.




Purple tomatoes.





Tomatoes are starting to grow 

Plenty of flowers should fruit into tomatoes, grew different varieties , sizes and colours from seed. 
Finding some holes in poly tunnel so will need to buy specialist tape of eBay.



Recently potted aubergines into tubs from grow bags as they looked like they had stopped growing. I have a couple of very small aubergine fruits and plenty of flowers coming through.

Planting out new crops inside new poly tunnel. Will add some shelves so I can have a couple of layers of grow bags.

The new poly tunnel

Needing to add bricks. or old reclaimed roof photo, needing to strim and rotovate plot. I will be growing a lot this year due to the price of food . Planting potatoes, some mixed coloured potatoes from last year(not sure if they will grow?

Growing from seed and will be buying plants. I have added more strawberry plants to strawberry patch, will need more raspberry’s ( will get some orange and red x 20.

I am growing multi coloured tomatoe plants, different colours and sizes in poly tunnel.

Planting leeks, spinach, runner beans, french beans, broad beans, lettuce, courgettes green and yellow. Pumpkins, chillie peppers ang broccoli.

I am going to buy some fabric raised beds to plant carrots , lettuce and herbs like coriander and fresh basil etc. These will cost about £20 plus compost put will save on digging plus the soil isn’t that great so buying compost is a sure way of getting a better crop. I will also buy some big hoops to protect from damage and new netting.

The early days of planting doesn’t look like much but has now grown into a good grop level.

The before photo early in Jan 2023

The up to date image

Early growing image

Early Feb image.

The Real Reasons for growing your own veg connected to climate change and healthy life style choices . I found the following link

Growing veg to reduce climate change facts

Reducing my carbon footprint by drying my own home grown produce

Purchased online takes 4-6 hours to dry fruit, different options in terms of temperature , doesn’t use much electricity.

Stored dried apples in glass jars.

The season has been particularly compelling due to the corona virus, food shortages, limited stocks and the problem of shopping generally under lockdown.

Therefore I choice to grow veg at home in home made planters as well as on my allotment. Due to schools being shut down and my job role as a teacher, I have had the time to develop my crops.

Runner beans are ready to pick and they tend to produce more the more you pick.

Home grown runner beans.

Tomatoes grown outside take longer to ripen then in a green house. I may buy a green house next year , it’s a big outlay of money and I have tried to spend as little as possible.Growing from seed and buying discounted small plants. 

Recent veg crop from my allotment.Courgettes, purple pea pods, Swiss Chard and Marrow.

Marrow plant similar to a courgette. 

The late Harvest

Collected fruit and veg at the end of August 





Apple cordial made from my little apple tree. I have recently ordered a fruit dryer so will be trying to dry some of my apples. 

I grew a lot of courgettes and marrow which where great to roast and make super soups which I have eaten and frozen. The courgettes are great turned into spaghetti using a veg Cutting machine.



Since returning from my holiday the grass has gotten longer on my allotment. I’m using an electric strummer and a petrol generator. I will be paying a solar panel generator next year. They are less noisy and a lot more greener.