Yet more beans

We have had continuous rain for the last couple of days - more than a month's worth in fact - and it has been very cold. Bank Holiday Monday was the coldest on record. Nevertheless, many things have continued to do well. These are a few of my beans, together with the seeds that I kept from last year. I have no idea what variety they are, but they have red and white flowers, and have been extremely prolific. I have been picking them whilst they are young and tender, but even so the longest was 34cm, well over 13".As you can see, none of the pods was at all 'beany' or stringy. There are plenty of flowers on them still, and (depending on the weather) we should have beans for at least the next month, which is excellent as we love beans. There have been so many that I made a double batch of bean and courgette chutney, which was delicious, and will be even better once it has matured. The recipe came from The Preserving Book, by Lynda Brown, and a single batch , which makes 3 jars, is as follows :-
600g (1 lb 5 oz) runner beans, finely sliced
4 courgettes, thinly sliced (if they are large, use fewer but cut them into 2 or 4)
350g (12 oz) cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
These weights are of the unprepared vegetables. I thought that they were weights of prepared vegetables, so my double batch made 12 jars - yummy!
2 medium onions, finely chopped
450g (1 lb) soft brown sugar
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
600ml (1 pt) cider vinegar

Put everything in a pan and stir. Heat with stirring until all of the sugar is dissolved, then cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 1 1/2 hours, uncovered, stirring from time to time. Stir continuously towards the end of cooking so the chutney does not stick to the bottom of the pan. It is done when only a small amount of liquid remains. The beans and courgette will retain most of their crunch, and will not go down into a pulp. Then ladle into warm sterilized jars, and cap with non-metallic or vinegar-proof lids.Allow the chutney to mature for a month (I didn't) and keep in the fridge after opening. Keeps for at least 9 months.

Apart from beans, lots of other things are coming on and/or being harvested. Our friendly show is on September 13, by when there will probably be no sweetcorn left (can't resist them!) or beetroot, but there should be some beans, of course. Plus perhaps a butternut squash, something I have never grown before, in the 'One specimen vegetable' class. The largest one is about 8" long. Which reminds me - I must go and put it on something to keep it off the earth - cheerio!

Earlibird

The eighth of August. That's when I picked my first sweetcorn of the year - and they were DEE-licious. It's usually well into September before they are ready, so next year I will plant some Earlibird and some of another variety, so that we have a succession.
It's wet today, and we had a significant amount of rain a few days ago, so no watering required - excellent.
My French beans have finished - just growing a few on for seeds for next year - but runner beans are coming thick and fast. We are giving away more than we are eating. Also beetroot, lettuce and potatoes of course, and courgettes, and I finished harvesting my white onions the other day, although the red onions are still growing. I have also planted some lettuce and Swiss chard seeds (some of the plants bolted in the hot dry conditions). The chard should stand the winter, and there are plenty of leeks, Brussels sprouts, winter cabbage, parsnips and swedes coming on. And I should be pulling my row of garlic soon. They have not got as large as I hoped, but they were planted in the spring, which is very late, as they should have gone in last autumn.