Allotment Update/Harvest

Monday night, I popped across to the allotment.  It had been a week since my last visit, after getting back from Yorkshire.  Just enough time for more things to grow to their full potential, but not quite go over and get too big.

Sadly the climbing beans had gone over, so I didn't harvest any more.  It's the same scenario in the garden beds.  I harvested a few from there on Sunday and we had them with the roast dinner, but the remaining ones I'm going to let develop into seeds and sow them next year, as this years harvests have been pretty prolific.

Although the climbing beans are now over, there should be some runner beans to come, from a self seeded plant which has grown quite big and wrapped itself around some sunflowers.  There are lots of flowers on it at the moment and the beans will probably be ready to harvest when we get back from France.

I'm afraid I didn't take my camera to the plot, so no pictures of the plot itself, but it is producing quite a bit of food for our first year there.  It does seem to be working out so much better than the old plot, as harvesting is so quick and easy. Here's what I brought back with me this week. (This is not intended to be braggy, just an update on the productivity of the new plot compared with the old one!)

Maintaining the appearance of the plot is still quite a challenge, as the weeds seem to grow back quite quickly and when you go away, there's always lots of stuff to catch up on at home, before getting the chance to go to the plot.  I know that I'm going to need to do a lot of work on it when we get back from France, but it will wait until then, as I just don't have the time before we go to do anything other than harvest.  To be honest, my plot is probably one of the tidier ones on the site, I just hope there aren't any inspections whilst I'm away, but I think it's probably too late in the season for that now.

We've been doing our best to eat our way through everything that we've grown, but the cucumbers are a challenge as there's just so many of them.  I might try to pickle some, which is something my mum always did, as it might be nice to have a pickled cucumber sandwich from time to time. I've been pickling the beetroot and enjoying eating it. This week's beetroot are small though, so it's just as well I won't be harvesting any more for a couple of weeks as it will give them chance to grow bigger.

The rhubarb has gone mad both at the plot and at home in the garden.  I will need to buy some crumble mix (I don't make my own) and freeze some to use it up.

The kohl rabi I tend to put in casseroles or stews to bulk them out and the potatoes we've been eating as wedges or mash. I just dig a couple of plants up each week and use them up before digging up any more.

I've learnt a lot about what I want to grow on the plot in the future this season.  I will be growing bought tomato plants in there next year and try to be more successful at successional salad sowing.  Potatoes are a good option too, as are the cucumbers and courgettes, but maybe not quite so many of the courgette plants are necessary.  Beetroot, radish and kohl rabi have been great this year but I haven't used the kale or the chard as we don't really eat it in our house.  I may try to make some kale chips with the dehydrator in September, otherwise it will have been a complete waste of time growing it. 

I've now got mustard leaves growing and some fennel, so they should be interesting later in the season. I'd love to get some raspberries onto the plot next year, but will have to buy some to do that, so it all depends on the finances really. I will be trying to grow more spring onions next year though as I didn't really have much success with them this year and I am partial to them in my salads from time to time.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with progress on the plot this year and hope to do even better next year. I'll post some pictures when we get back from France and I have more time to work the plot and tidy it up.