Almost harvest home

We took our first trip to the lotty today after a week away.  This is what happens to a courgette in that time.  Pretty good marrow.

This is what happened to the beans.  Absolutely expected I just wanted to see if I could get away with it - the answer is no.  I had grown a brilliant vegetable sail so as soon as a decent wind caught it, down it went.  Some canes had snapped so it was time to say goodbye to the runner beans. 

Next year they'll be grown in a builders bag in their usual tepee shape.  They were useless in a raised bed any way, I had to climb on the bed to pick them - 8 foot canes plus height of box equals waaaaay too tall.

 We have eaten some beans already and given some away and frozen some so with the (approx) 10 lbs Ken picked from these today we have as many beans as we can go at.  I gave away four lots on the way home to help reduce the 'load'.  Obviously I will shortly be known locally as the mad bean woman.


I did have the pleasure of giving two kids and their mom (hanging over one of the fences surrounding the lotty) the biggest strawberries ever as well as beans and the marrow.  It is lovely this growing stuff malarky.

The strawberries have done us proud considering they were moved this year to the lotty.  These have filled quite a big box in the fridge for tomorrow..

Remember I said a couple of weeks ago that I don't faff about with all this layering in the ground or into pots business for new strawberry plants.  I cut off and planted ten runners as I wanted five and, guess what, nine are doing just fine.

This is the box without the beans.  I also pulled up the courgettes - we've had enough of those too and they were crowding out the tomatoes.  I staked and tied up some of the trusses to get them off the ground and put cardboard under the ones that were left.  Not sure that wet cardboard is any better than soil but it is cleaner.  

Most annoyingly (but nicely too) some of these outdoor tomatoes are just turning colour unlike the ones in the greenhouse.  Go figure.

Pulling up the fallen beans means the spinach and dwarf beans that were under them (!) have a shot at doing something before the cool weather hits (maybe).

I am going to cover the beds with cardboard when they are empty in hopes it will help keep the weeds down.  It should compost down through the winter and I'll be able to dig it in next spring.  

This is the first instalment on the potato box.  One sixth of the crop remains for another month maybe.

  We went home with a huge bag of my favourite of the three spuds - the Jersey Royals - which I will transfer to a fabric bag and hang in the garage in hopes they'll keep a while.  I don't want to have to go and dig them up one dinner at a time.