Beanz meanz....full freezer!

22 comments

Well! what a summer that was for vegetables! All over bar the shouting except for the winter veg….swede, parsnips, leeks.

I know I shouldn’t dig parsnips until after a frost but……..

The rainbow chard is still going on marvellously and it works just like spinach without the growing hassle….and its pretty.

Can’t shout to the roof tops loud enough about Moonlight runner beans. They have been incredible. I am letting the last of them dry on the strings for next years planting. I am doing the same with the last of the french beans as well. Supposedly, they get even better as they get to know and adapt to your individual conditions if you do this……probably an old wives tale but worth trying (I am an old wife).

Lots of pots of Spicy Tomato Chutney in the store cupboard and Italian Tomato sauce in the freezer. Also some really nice Runner Bean Chutney that is a bit like a mild Piccalilli…….had to do something with my bumper crop. Also trying this year with pickled Nastursium seeds, which are meant to be “mock” capers. Give it a go!

In spite of a little man in a white van coming round the village twice a year beeping his horn selling garlic, this year I decided to grow it for the first time. I tried the pink Auvergne variety and it is really sweet and nice. Sometimes garlic can be very strong and bitter. So I am pleased I gave it a go.

My hot chillies have taken on a second wind and I have about 12 on the one plant. Early in the summer I had just two! Chili con Carne anyone?

And the flower garden is crazy. I spent most of June and July convinced that none of my seeds had taken and bemoaning the waste of money etc etc….Then suddenly in August and September I have a garden full of Cosmos, Larkspur, Stocks, and the Morning Glory…actually trying to get in the back door!

Fortunately, we get two summers here, one for the visitors and then September and October when they leave and the flowers go on and on and it is even drier and almost as warm.

The Michelmas Daisies are gorgeous and I am waiting with baited breath for the yellow Chrysanthanums which promise to be even more of a picture this year. The Jerusalem Artichokes have just come out, they are a very useful cutting flower. Also have a few shrubs that are having a second flowering Clemetis, Kerria and Honeysuckle. My poor Iceberg Climbing Rose that lost everyone of its leaves has got them all back and is in bud again.

So all in all a very nice season and it is still about 30C and sunny on the terrace. Another perfect year in paradise then LOL ………..:-D Better to be happy than rich………..Oh all right!

14 Sep, 2011
11 likes

Comments

Terratoonie

Wow, Troddles ..
... you've had a bumper harvest ...
and lovely results from your flower garden too :o)

14 Sep, 2011

Marshmallow

I think that's called A Good Harvest! It all looks brilliant.

14 Sep, 2011

Driad

Troddles , everything just lovely for you . A cornucopia .
Flowers have been all out of kilter this year here but the morning glory have excelled , mine have been mostly red , the blue ones have reddish stripes and are not so strong . I just love those blue ones of yours .

14 Sep, 2011

Troddles

The Morning Glory are from the seeds Unwins "Blues Band", Driad. They come out a different colour blue each morning. It's quite exciting!
Thank you for your comments Terratoonie and Marshmallow. My first love is veggies, and I feel a bit of a lone wolf sometimes in GyO site, with my pictures of leeks etc. I have set out to develop my flower garden since moving to our new house with more space to work with and I have benefitted from lots of good advice and encouragement from GoY friends

14 Sep, 2011

Joanella

Great blog Troddles,lots of lovely veg..well done,my leeks are about 9 inches tall ..nothing like yours,i am with you on loving growing veg..but i do enjoy my garden too..:o)

14 Sep, 2011

Troddles

There's something very satisfying about decideing the veg for dinner and going out and digging it up or picking it Joan, isn't there?

14 Sep, 2011

Joanella

You are soo right..i am looking at seed catalogues now for next year...going to try things i havent tried before..American land cress,corn salad (lambs lettuce) are some..i do like flowers in the garden & enjoy gardening, but i get more out of my onions or other veg coming up on the plot .:o)

14 Sep, 2011

Dwyllis

Enjoyed it all ... the great veges & the lovely flowers & the chat. Could you please tell me what the pink flower is in your first photo of your flowers? It looks like a larkspur? I have only seen larkspur in blue ... do they have it in pink also? On a learning curve here lol

14 Sep, 2011

Dwyllis

Also ... is that a Michaelmas Daisy in the fourth flower photo down? It's beautiful!

14 Sep, 2011

Nariz

Same here Troddles - tourists gone and we can enjoy the remaining summer in peace tending our winter veggie bed. Like yours - our freezers are groaning with beans, tomato pulp and apple pulp and store cupboard groaning with chutneys and bottled peaches. It's THAT time of year!!!! Lovely flower pics. :o)

15 Sep, 2011

Dianebulley

Can we have the recipe for the Runner Bean pickle please Troddles ?

15 Sep, 2011

Troddles

Dwyllis, it is a Larkspur, the seeds are Unwin's Choice Blend and it says "rare colours" they are light pink, dark pink, violet, grey, all sorts. The Michelmas Daisy I grew just this year from a tiny root taken from a friends garden, it is gorgeous and the bees think so too!

Hard work isn't it Nariz! Can't wait to light the logburner and retire to the sofa!

15 Sep, 2011

Marshmallow

I can never decide whether I prefer growing veg or flowers. Luckily I don't have to choose. You are right thought we don't post too many veg pictures and we should.
I've grown larkspur for the first time this year and they have been brilliant. I keep cutting off hte seed heads and they keep flowering.
Don't forget your seed catalogue when you retire to the sofa!

15 Sep, 2011

Troddles

This is my first year for Larkspur Marshmallow, I hadn't thought about the seed heads, thanks for the tip. I get all my seeds on my visit to England every Autumn although I know I could get them mail order, I spend a fortune and drooling in garden centres.

15 Sep, 2011

Driad

I'm not very lucky with veg , the only leeks that I ever tried I bought as young plants like spring onions , they stayed in the ground for 18 mths and came out looking just the same !

15 Sep, 2011

Marshmallow

I have my successes and failures but just keep trying. I'd just got the hang of leeks when we were invaded by leek moth. Now I keep them covered and they would never win prizes but they are ok. Tomatoes are my favourite crop to grow. Then probably mangetout.

15 Sep, 2011

Troddles

I had a bad year with a sowing of leeks once.....I pretended they were chives and used them as garnish and in potato salad :- ))

15 Sep, 2011

Nariz

Nooooooooooo, Troddles! Not yet! Stop this talk of fires and sofas! There's more Summer out there!

16 Sep, 2011

Hywel

You've had some nice crops this year haven't you :o) And your flowers are very colourful.

16 Sep, 2011

Shirley_tulip

Lovely crop of vegetables and pretty flowers ... we had fresh potatoes/runner beans/carrots from our allotment with our meal this evening ... wonderful flavour! . . . . .

16 Sep, 2011

Troddles

It's really good to read about all the lovely veggies, in addition of course to the beautiful flowers that everyone grows. It's just that I have not seen anyone mentioning them before! Let's hear it for vegetables....:-)

16 Sep, 2011

Shirley_tulip

Have a look at the blogs posted by Balcony . . . .

16 Sep, 2011

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