apples – Produce From The Garden

October 6, 2016

Autumn produce from the garden and a bit of magic

The low, warm, golden, autumn sun has lured me out into the garden, the morning rays highlighting blooms, transforming them into beautiful jewels.

I tried to capture the magical atmosphere with pictures, but sadly they don’t quite compare to the real thing.

A nasturtium radiating the golden light

Dahlia – Paul Emory

Dahlia – Halloween, looking as spooky as a dahlia can get!

Dahlia, Cafe au Lait, shouting ‘put me in vase’!

Dahlia, unknown. Looking very elegant.

Dahlia Selina, which was glowing in the sunlight

Dahlia Rip City, looking mighty fine!

Dried artichoke flowers that will give sone winter structure to the kitchen garden

We’re enjoying the autumn bounty from the garden. Squashes are not only a delicious kitchen delicacy that’ll store throughout the winter. They also make gorgeous table decorations. The usual bunch of garden flowers have made way for a platter of squashes, their colours are inspiring, with fabulous depth, more enticing than a Farrow and Ball colour chart!

My squash table centre

Crown Prince and Honey Bear, ready to be harvested

My Squash and courgette jungle!

This fella sucessfully took my chair out of action this summer!

Every year I grow a few Cape Gooseberry (Physalis) plants; there orange fruits encased in a paper lantern have a unique zing which I find very moreish. They can also be served as an indulgent treat by pealing the paper lantern back to reveal the berry which can be half submerged in melted chocolate then allowed to dry, delicious!

A few Cape Gooseberries, a yummy garden snack

The delicate Cape Goosebery lantern

My apple thinning quest earlier in the year has paid off. The boring tedious task of thinning bunches of apples down to a pair has meant we have a lovely crop of apples this year.

A few shots of this years apple crop

July 11, 2016July 11, 2016

Thinning apples

I consider turning compost heaps, picking up hedge cuttings and thinning baby apples to be boring, laborious and tedious jobs; they’re essential but I’ll try desperately to avoid them! Thank goodness I don’t have an orchard, but I do have sixteen apple trees, so I’ve made a deal with myself to try and thin fruit on one maybe two (if I’m on a roll) trees a day.

Thinning apples down to two fruits per spur at this time of year has a variety of advantages: space is made for large fruit to develop, you can discard any unhealthy looking apples, and it allows air to circulate reducing the chance of pests and diseases to establish. Just pull by hand the apples you wish to discard from the cluster.

A group of apples ready to be thinned

The same apples after thinning

A very congested group of apples

The group of apples after thinning

To make the job even less appealing I stupidly dropped the apples to the ground; tomorrow I will come armed with an apple thinning bucket!

Discarded apples that need collecting up for the compost heap; before my boys find them for ammunition!

After completing the removal of apples from the first tree I wandered back up the kitchen garden, and was rewarded with my first Gladioli buds of the year.

Gladioli Purple Flora in bud

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September 5, 2015September 5, 2015

The kitchen garden in August

Gardeners spend much of their time working towards their goal, a productive season where you can sit back and reap the rewards of your work. August is often the pinnacle of that season, huge gluts of produce, too much to be used at once, so shared between the kitchen, freezer and friends. It’s also the month when I throw my arms and trowel in the air and say ‘Sod the weeds’. Whilst indulging in my garden bounty, my mind is drifting off, pondering this year’s successes and disappointments, plotting and planning for next year. This year my courgettes, have not cropped as heavily as I’d expect, it’s been okay, but I’ve not heard the tell tale glut statement ’not courgettes again mum!’ I think the current watering system, which sprinkle from above has not been sufficient. Next year I am going to point the water system directly at the base of the plants, soaking their roots and hopefully this will ensure a larger crop. My bean crops (french, runner and borlotti) have been magnificent and the tomatoes and basil have thrived in the green house. I’m starting to plan which hardy annuals I’m going to sow this autumn in the cutting garden, with the hope of an earlier flower crop next year. I’ve already planted out my Sweet Williams, sown earlier in the summer and will be getting round to planting garlic, broad beans and bulbs in the next month or so.

Below are the pictures telling the story of August in the kitchen garden.

There’s been a constant steam of raspberriesGrape like bunches of plums have weighed down the treesThe apple trees are also ladden, we’re looking forward to a good harvestLast year we had just one pear, this year the tree is fullI’ve planted out my sweet williams in the cutting border reday for early blooms next yearThe dahlia bedDahlia Paul EmoryThe runner beans have thrived in the gloomly wet weather we’ve had the last few weeksThe top five vegetable bedsThe bottom three vegetable bedsChilli’s in the conservatory, once picked we keep a couple fresh and freeze the rest for use over the next year