Blue sky seen through the apple trees for
Friday Skywatch. In spite of warm days there is definitely a feel of autumn in the air. It's a busy time in the garden with lots of crops to harvest. These red apples don't keep. In fact they tend to drop from the trees before they have properly ripened. They make wonderful pink-coloured juice and I also like to cook and freeze them in as many containers as I can cram into the freezer.
We have been eating French beans as if there were no tomorrow - and so have all our friends! This year I grew a different variety from my usual 'Blue Lake'. At the spring Seed Swap I had 'Cobra' recommended to me and I've been rewarded with tasty and prolific long, straight beans. I'll be saving some of the seeds to plant again next year.
Seed swap squash are also coming up trumps. I've grown my largest squash ever. I only hope that it will taste as good as it looks.
It's quite exciting when the leaves fall away and the squash that had been hidden from view suddenly emerge. I've got at least three different varieties and am totally confused as to which is which.
Lorraine's prize-winning entry at the Wensleydale Show reminded me that I have made a fair amount of 'new from old' in the past. I had crocheted a blanket of coloured squares from recycled knitting for Wee One's bed when she was a child. It had been stuck in the back of a cupboard for years but now I've given it a wash and hung it on the line.
The sweet corn is ripe and we are feasting on the cobs!
It's lovely to unwrap them from their tassels and jackets.
Such a wet year that some of my onion crop has rotted.
But there's always more lettuce than I know what to do with.
We are eating well!
Oh Rosemary, you do have a green thumb. What an outstanding garden. Pink apple juice; I'd love that and jelly too. Your corn doesn't have a blemish on it. I would enjoy it fresh on the cob. The deer got many of our crops this year, so a bow to your bounty.
ReplyDeleteWe are busy making the most of it, Donna, for the growing season is coming to a halt. I'm down to my last few strings of tomatoes - it will be a shock when I'll have to go and buy stuff!
DeleteLovely garden full of produce Rosemary, didn't I see colourful Swiss Chard in one of the photos. Somebody complaining of a wet year seems strange to us here in North Kent, we're currently entering our third month of virtually no rain. The lawns are yellow and much of the garden badly cracked up and next week is forecast to be hot and sunny again.
ReplyDeleteYes, well spotted, this year I've grown both white and rainbow chard. The latter looks beautiful in the garden, the stalks quite translucent. It has all grown well, in spite of being cropped by a deer earlier in the season, and I could do with some good recipes to use it all up.
DeleteWe have had heavy periods of rain on and off throughout the year with no need to do any watering of crops - I've obviously had your share!
Great pics of a fantastic veg garden....I especially love the sweetcorn...yum!
ReplyDeleteHello Meg, and welcome. How lovely your garden and surrounding area looks as you head into spring. I love the gentle early autumn days that we are enjoying just now but they do have a slightly melancholic feel as there is the knowledge that long-drawn-out winter months lie ahead.
DeleteA wonderful garden with so much variety!!
ReplyDeleteImagine the butter on our chins as we munch on the sweet corn!
DeleteWOW your garden looks so fabulous. The apples look so lovely somehow pink apple juice sounds so wonderful. The first photo is outstanding !
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip and thehamish
The apples ARE wonderful, Parsnip, like a child's idea of an apple, shiny and red. In spite of our best efforts there is quite a bit of wastage as they rot and fall. The birds, however, are very happy and peck away at the bounty. We gather up the spoilt fruit and put it on the compost heap. Little goes to waste!
DeleteThis is a truly happy garden.
ReplyDeleteYour hands, muscels and bones must have put a lot of effort into the plants.
This summer we had more rain than usual. As a consequence all the plants are growing like crazy. Nature is so lush and ... overwhelming. I can only imagine, how your average gardening must be, now that we have experienced a "British summer".
We were promised 30 degrees or so of good weather today and considered driving to the coast so that I could swim in the sea. We decided to stay at home and it was just as well because the sun never appeared but thunder and lightening arrived along with yet more rain! Tonight it's hot and damp and feels quite tropical. Crazy weather!
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