The end of the strawberries

These are the peas that I have recently started picking. They are so sweet, and there are lots of them. I shall freeze some, and we will eat the rest. Same with the broad beans, which are coming through in large quantities. However, the strawberries have just come to an end, after an amazing crop of well over 80 pounds. Many of the plants are now three years old - their peak - so I have removed several, and am rooting runners from others. Hopefully, the ones I rooted two years ago, and last year, will make up for this, and there will be a decent crop - I am not hoping for 80 lb though - next year.

I am also picking beetroot, spring onions and cabbages. Courgettes, runner beans and French beans are coming on quickly, and I will also be harvesting onions and potatoes next month, together with the next crop of lettuces

What we need now is some rain. Everywhere is very dry, and I am having to water frequently. Some is promised in the next few days, together with cooler temperatures - let's hope that it's enough!

More strawberries!

So far, I have picked over 80 lb of strawberries and there are more to come. On the whole, they are a good size, very juicy and extremely tasty, with very few mouldy or with damage. I have been very selective with what I have kept, but have only had to discard 2 or 3 lb. So the hard work - weeding, feeding, putting up a cage etc - has been well worth while. We have given lots away, made jam, made puree (2 of chopped strawberries to one of sugar, boiled to sterilise then frozen in small pots - delicious on icecream or a steamed sponge pudding) frozen some individually (put a few in a glass instead of ice cubes) and of course eaten lots raw. However, although I put in 3 varieties (early, mid-season and late) they have all come at once!

This is my brassica plot. In the foreground are cabbages - quite small but we are eating them now - and purple sprouting broccoli. In the background are my broad beans. I sowed two separate batches about a month apart, but the later ones have now caught up, and I am picking lots of beans, some of which are being frozen. Other people sowed in the autumn, but success here depends on the winter weather, and they only produce about a week earlier, so I don't bother. We started eating the beans as 'mange-tout' when they were only finger sized, but many have gone well past that stage now!
In other beds, I have lettuce, beetroot, beans (French and runner), peas, broccoli, sweetcorn, courgettes, potatoes, onions, spring onions and, for the winter, parsnips and leeks. I shall  be picking peas soon - there are lots of pods on the vines - and other things shortly afterwards. The weather has been hot recently (over 30­­°C for the last 5 days) so things have been growing madly, but today is cooler (25°C) and we have had a little much-needed rain.

Strawberry time

I started picking strawberries earlier this week - 3 lb so far, and now about 2 lb coming through each day. However, it has been wet and very windy this week, and not very warm either, or they would have ripened even quicker!

The photo shows my broad beans and some cabbages that I planted out a couple of weeks ago. I am picking the broad beans finger-sized, and we are eating them 'mange tout', ie pods as well as the beans. When they get too big, I will freeze them. The cabbages have come on apace, and I expect to start picking them in about a month, although they will still be small. I have also planted out some purple sprouting broccoli - I hope they're as good as the last crop - and some ordinary broccoli, which will probably start maturing in about September. Also planted out, and  coming on, are parsnips, courgettes, beetroot, runner beans, French beans and sweetcorn, and I shall shortly be planting out more lettuce and peas, which will just leave leeks to plant.