My cucumber season

When I planned my cucumber crop for this year I had big visions. Specifically this:

The cucumber greenhouse at Arundel castle, the stuff cucumber dreams are made of

Obviously not having a greenhouse like at the castle, this was always just a dream, but I did think that the more plants I had the more cucumbers I would receive.  Somehow that didn't quite work out, and next year I will be doing things a little differently.

This on the left is one of the only two cucumbers to be produced by the plant that then promptly died

As last year I had a main trough with four plants in, two; the catchily titled M76 and Socrates have been great, producing cucumbers regularly all summer. M76, although a little on the ugly side, is particularly tasty in my opinion. Pipit died the moment it was planted, to be replaced with two babies that randomly popped up.  Me being me dug them out and gave each a pot of their own.  This was a waste tof time and good soil.  If a cucumber seedling doesn't get started nice and early, its not going to do anything.  Not only did neither of them, nor the other baby taht must have been one of my own germinted seeds, actually produce a single cucumber, but they also didn't even grow very big.  A much better use of the pot space would have been to grow salad or more carrots.

Actually there is almost as many cucumbers growing in this picture as
there are in the top greenhouse I now realise!

The other cucumber given a prime spot in the trough produced one delightful vegetable, and then withered to the middle, produced one more and then just dies.  No idea what its problem was but clearly it wasn't happy about something.  I did accidentally snap the base of the stem a little in trying to straighten it to stake it, but it survived long after this happened.

Two of my more prickly customers, but excellently tasty

Overall my shop bought varieties produced more cucumbers than my ones from seed.  No real reason for this as far as I can see.  They were all much the same size and given the same growing conditions, but the shop bought ones just got on with the job better.

This one fancied being a little more bulbous

My two Delta Star which I also grew last year as well produced fairly regularly, although not as many as last year.  Maybe last year was just a better year for growing cucumbers overall? Im not overly fond of this variety, its pretty to look at but has large seeds that choke you mid-way through a sandwhich and tough skins.  And im not a fan of having to peel a cucumber before I eat it.

Two of my cucumbers from seed, one short and fat, one long, presumably two different varieties, just one fancied a little lay in somebody else's pot

I also got one solitary telegraph cucumber, which I think is the variety you can buy in supermarkets.  The plant spent all summer thinking about it and readying itself for the task ahead, and then finally managed one right at the end of the season.

A fine specimen, one of the ones that produced all summer

So overall not a disappointing season, but not necessarily worth the pot space they were honoured with.  It has occurred to me that growing eight or nine varieties of cucumbers might be fun, but nobody needs that many cucumbers, and one cucumber is much like another when you get down to the real flesh of the matter.  I do not have the room to dedicate so much space to my very own cucumber farm, so next year im going to mix it up a bit and grow a larger variety of vegetables and just a few good cucumber plants to keep the salads stocked.

These are two of my tastiest variety, not beautiful but its all in the taste buds 

Frech beans - Blue Lake and the end of the beans

Baby blue lake beans forming nicely

This summer we have been experiencing a bean glut, and the last player in my bean bounty where my climbing french beans. I feel like I have covered much of why the beans were so successful in my runner bean posts, and the story behind the french is no different. They enjoyed the spot and produced a great quantity of beans.  More than we really needed so the freezer is groaning.

I don't remember these being particularly covered in flowers, there were definitely more blooms on the runner beans but this didn't seem to prevent the production of beans, they kept appearing.

Fully formed french beans

One thing that was different about these to the runner beans is boy did they spread!  I found french beans amongst both the runner bean wigwams on either side, not even just on the side facing the frenchies, but right on the other side miles away from where they started out. I ended up picking a real mixture in certain areas, very odd when you suddenly come across a patch of french in what should be exclusively runner bean territory.

The variety Blue Lake that I grew was very tasty, stringless, everything you would want in a bean.  I would definitely grow it again, if I wasn't the type of person who always likes to grow different things every year.  I have already bought some cobra climbing beans ready for next year and no doubt I will branch out into other varieties when I see some offers at some point.

I do love a good whirly-twirly vine

I really like french beans because they are tasty and they are also distinctly easier and quicker to cut up than runner beans.  However everybody else in my family much prefers the runner bean.  Because of this I have eaten the lions share of french beans, which is fine with me.  The mother however turned to me the other day and said we shouldn't bother to grow french beans again.  Last time I looked I wasn't growing them for her exclusive enjoyment! Needless to say I will be ignoring her and growing them again next year.

Some of these beans are a little big but I struggled to keep up with the necessary level of picking

The beans have just finally come to an end and were unceremoniously ripped out the moment I thought it was acceptable. Time waits for no bean as they say! I need the space for all my winter veg which is coming along nicely.  Just like I predicted getting the wigwams apart took ages, I think the mother thought she was constructing a sea-worthy vessel rather than a bit of support for beans.  No wind would ever have taken that apart.

The final bean hedge before I ripped them down

I had already whipped out the first of the runner beans when I discovered you're meant to leave the roots in the ground to let the nitrogen the beans have collected disappate back into the soil.  Woops. I have left the other two in so hopefully this bit of earth will turn into very nice soil at some point.

This is the top of the wigwams after about half an hour of chiselling and hacking
at the vines.  Who needed string round the top to hold it together!  

The front garden is looking a bit sad now my three soldiers of green are gone but you can now see all the gladiolus and annuals all at once, which is still pretty despite the lack of green backdrop.

Winter vegetables - brussel sprouts, perpetual spinach and leeks

It should be a winter of sprouts, kale, leeks and spinach. Hopefully

The winter vegetable is completely new terrain for me.  Last year my growing calendar as far as vegetables are concerned ended abruptly at the beginning of Autumn.  This year, being that I have bed space crying out to be used, I am pushing through and hope to have some kind of edible growing at all points right through until next year's broad beans take over.

I was unprepared for this decision.  With no advance preparation I took to my nearest garden centre to plunder their ready-grown supplies of winter seedlings.  Alas, choice was limited! But I have got a few goodies.

My leeks were a little spindly, but I went with planting anyway

The first is sprouts.  I personally love a good brussel, be that at christmas or any other time, I will eat them willingly.  I think the reason they are so unpopular is people ruin them by going overboard on the boiling.  But we have to get some first.

The seedlings seem to require an inordinate amount of space - like a metre between each one - certainly more than I am prepared to give them in any case.  With that kind of spacing I would have got about four seedlings in the entire space the dwarf beans previously took up, and thats just greedy.  Of course they will grow huge and be elbowing each other out of the way for space, but thats just tough.  I gave them about 60cm between, and thats me being generous.

Leek-holes, holes for leeks.  At the bottom of a trench that keeps trying to collapse to allow me to build up the bleached part

I also purchased perpetual spinach, lots of perpetual spinach.  I like spinach, but theres something about the name perpetual that is faintly unappetising, like its been hanging around a while and get old. Im hoping this isn't the case as the amount I have planted we will be having it on a very frequent basis.
These I have put in my rear veg-bed - freshly extended - which could be a bit shady and damp during the winter, we will have to go see, but hopefully they will do ok.

The un-adulturated leeks in all their original glory

Most interestingly in my book at least, are my new leeks.  Im not the biggest fan myself, but on twitter it certainly has its advocates!  And I just thought why not?! Planting these is bizarre.  The label said dig a hole 8 inches deep, pop in the leek and then just fill with water.  Instructions like that needed further explanation I thought, so I looked up a video.  Turns out the traditional method is to undo most of the leeks' hard work - slicing off both some roots and leaves before popping into the hole.  This makes the roots easier to get in the hole apparently, which is true, but feels so wrong.  The lady in the video was planting leeks the size of fingers, mine are more pencils, or pipe cleaners but I stuffed them in anyway.

The slosh of water just covers the roots in soil and thats enough apparently. Only some of my holes were longer than my leeks and one leek plain vanished when I added water. I had to insert a finger into the muddy hole to try and extract it.  It was unpleasant. But I was successful. The hole means the stem becomes bleached white which is what you want, but as mine are so small I have also dug a trench so the soil ca be built up.  I've had a few issues with backfilling, but so far so good.

Trimmed and ready for action, easy for stuffing in holes.
Apparently they love it!

Added to this is all my kale and a few other bits and pieces I will go into at a later date, so hopefully the winter will be veg-full!  

So much kale - curly, black, eaten and old

My two shop bought kale varieties, looking a little dry I must say

Kale is not a vegetable I have ever had any regard for.  But when I realised I would have a whole bed free all winter I started hunting around for some nice winter vegetables to fill it, and settled amongst other things, on kale.

Kale, as one person on twitter told me, would survive a nuclear winter.  I haven't got plans to live through one of those, but winter hardiness is exactly what I was looking for.  I believe we have only willingly bought kale once from the supermarket, and I can't say I was a fan.  But I haven't let that hold me back and now seem to be growing four different varieties.  I had the audacity to question whether kale was an appetising vegetable on twitter, and was promptly put right!  It seems there are some real defenders of kale out there!  But one mentioned a kale and lentil curry that does sound rather tempting so I will have to remember to have a go at that.

My first batch of Nero di Toscana kale, apparently the world's most
appetising kale to pests

I have sown two varieties myself and bought two.  The two I bought are a black kale and F1 reflex curly kale.  The black one has lovely purple tinged smooth leaves at the moment, but this should change to dark green, very knobbly green leaves.  This seems to be feature of kale; leaves like crinkled old bags.

Reflex will be even more crinkly than the black variety, im looking at the picture on the label and my mind can't help wander to all the nooks and crannies caterpillars will have to hide in. I am quickly discovering that this is the main hitch of growing winter greens: all the caterpillars out to get them.  Not such a problem with the kale at the second, but my cauliflowers? That is another story! But a story for another day.

These shop bought ones are already planted out in my new front bed.  I wanted to plant them in the traditional row style, but my annual flowers and beans haven't finished yet so I have ended up popping them in here and there in my usual haphazard way.  It looks rather charming at the second, but when the annuals are over and gone, the neighbours are going to wonder what the hell I was thinking! Oh well. It should also make harvesting the leaves a bit more of a challenge.  I am trying to keep on top of the weeds to make sure I don't suddenly start munching on them rather the kale!

Ninety nine percent of the stuff in this picture is not kale. The line of the
plants at the far left are a line of kale

I also did some sowing.  I bought just the one kale variety at the Hampton Court flower show - Nero di Toscana, because this was still in the day when the taste of a vegetable was a prerequisite to growing it, and as I have already said, im not sure what kale tastes like.

These seedlings are my biggest issue at the moment.  If I leave them uncovered on the patio something just comes along and mows long the top of them.  Its been a real challenge nursing them through. I suspect pigeons so have them tucked away and covered in fleece to keep the pesky birds off.  This seems to be working, but what I didn't get is the other sat 5 metres away for several weeks and were left immaculate. It makes no sense.  What I didn't account for in all my protection was a falling apple which took a seedling out.  Typical.  What makes it through this tough time will join their fellows in the bed.

At this point I clearly have more than enough kale, but then I came across a really old packet the mother bought and didn't use.  I always love a challenge so I couldn't resist trying to germinate them.  I chucked in a whole lot as they are old anyway.  Of course the seed is still viable and all of it has come up, and now I have an excessive amount. Oh well. Be making lots of that kale and lentil curry wont I! Now I just need to figure out when to start picking the leaves...  

A successful crop of chantenay of carrots

 

Proudly clutching my crop for the year, all that time, two tiny handfuls

I love growing carrots.  They make so little fuss, so un-needy.  Just sow some seed, water, and then ignore for several months.  And then, as if by magic little orange nuggets form under the soil perfect for eating.  The only problem is I don't have the right soil for carrots.  My soil is heavy heavy clay, so heavy in fact our house is actually situated on the brickyard used to create all the bricks of the other houses built around here.  So thats basically pure clay.

Therefore my carrot crop is somewhat limited.  I would grow row upon row, but I am instead reduced to just two pots.  Obviously I could have chosen as many pots as I wanted, but despite half-filling another pot with sandy compost I never actually got around to sowing anymore carrot.

The Paris Market Atlas mini golfballs.  These are fun but not exactly hunger-killing carrots, especially the tiddly ones

I have not been growing carrots long, my first attempt being last year due to the aforementioned difficulty.  I can't say I was overwhelmed with carrots, with my final crop being tiny in size rather than number, but I may have got them sown a bit late in the year. My carrot of choice was Paris Market Atlas because its round like golf balls rather than the usual long root, and the packet said they were great for kids.  I find myself drawn to these kinds of things, although less so now, because I feel that seeds singled out for kids come with a higher chance of success.

This year I thought I would have another go seeing as they take so little effort, and expand into two varieties.  The second being Chantenay Red Cored 2 which again is not a big carrot, but should form delightful orange wedges.

Dirty carrots look all appealing but took me about half an hour to scrub

Sowing carrots has to be the simplest activity ever.  I merely mix shop bought compost with horticultural sand and then sprinkle the seed on top.  And then leave for about five months.  Obviously they need watering and the trick is to not disturb the carrot tops too much or you attract carrot fly, which can result in the pots being moved about the garden a fair bit If I think I have got too handsy with my plants.  I feel like the threat of carrot fly looms over every interaction I have with them.
I may have thinned the sowings a bit, but thinking back, I don't think I did, preferring instead to just let them jostle for position although this clearly isn't the way your meant to do it.

Sometime in June I had a little poke about amongst the frondy carrot tops and spotted a few orange flashes shouldering their way clear of the soil.  We had carrots! I waited and waited, keeping an eye on the protusions hoping they would get bigger but I don't remember that they did particularly, and then finally at the start of September I pulled them.

Chantenay Red Cored 2 are slightly more substantial, and I find the wedge shape particularly pleasing

Paris Market Atlas had performed better than last year, but with a clear split between sizeable golf balls and tiddlers. I don't understand why some are huge and others are tiny, it certainly made no rhyme or reason when I was pulling them up.

My prize carrot, he was perfect in every way

But the biggest success were the Chantenay Red Cored 2, which is quite some name for such a squat little carrot, including one absolutely prize specimen.  He was perfect in every way.  The rest were a decent size, producing far more actual edible vegetable than Paris, so for next year I think I would drop Paris - which is fun but not exactly overly productive - and grow a couple of pots of this one.  One carrot had grown legs, which is random as its a sure sign you have stony soil, which doesn't make sense in my perfect compost and sand mix, but there we are!

In comparison to this little freaky specimen which decided, despite perfect
soil, to grow a set of dodgy appendages 

But this may not be the end of the road for Paris.  I was flicking through a seed catalogue the other day and it said Paris was perfect for clay soils where you wouldn't dare try carrots, so maybe next year I will try a couple of rows in some of my better soil and see how we do.  Could be exciting!

An endless supply of runner beans - Scarlet Empire & White Lady

The Scarlet Empire in full flower, I do enjoy a vegetable that can do pretty as well

I got plenty of blossom off this variety, although there are a fair few plants
in this mass

I come to writing this directly from eating what could not be far short of a pound of runner beans for dinner, which may cloud my opinion a little.  I have taken to eating ludicrous amounts of this vegetable in an attempt to keep up with supply, but there is only so many beans one person wants to eat, and I am well over this level.

I personally like the runner bean flowers coloured rather than white, they
make more of a firey impact

Normally my main complaint with growing vegetables is that the crop tastes great, I just end up slicing one pea in half to ensure everybody gets a piece.  Not with my runner beans, oh no.  From what you can gather from above, I have been inundated.  To say it has been a success would be to undersell.

Yours truly at the beginning of the season getting the mass pick underway, ignore the shoes, they aren't mine.  Im now only picking from about chest height and above

The White Lady variety in flower, managed to snap this bumble making good
his exit

The secret has been where I grew them.  Last year the mother grew runner beans but I only remember having a few meals off of them.  That would be because she only had a few plants planted in about a foot square and they had to climb up the apple tree for support.  Clearly not ideal.  This year she sowed about twenty seedlings of Scarlet Empire, without actually having anywhere to put them, and then she dug up all the bushes in the front garden, and suddenly a prime bean growing spot appeared.  It is open on all sides, with good blow-through and lots of sun.  And the beans have loved it.

Early beans forming.  I swear they look like this one minute and then you
check on them a few days later and you have a foot long green swords

I have already covered my intense session of wigwam making, needless to say they have survived sturdy through intense rain and the odd gusty breeze.  The mother's runners I planted round one wigwam and some White Lady I bought round another.  The Scarlet Empire started flowering first, with lovely bright reddy-orange flowers that sung out and were really pretty.  The White Lady are more of a pale creamy white, still nice but not as impressive.  The Scarlet Empire was completely covered in flowers, and much to my horror does still have flowers on it now because I haven't cut the tops of the plants, naughty me.  The only difference I can tell between the two is that the Scarlet Empire tend to be a slightly darker bean and maybe a bit thicker, and also possibly mature faster.  Its hard to tell because I do not segment my beans on picking, I just chuck them all in a colander together.

More early beans

I do this because picking beans has become my second job.  I come home from work every other day and go straight into the front garden to start picking for a good half hour.  I can't keep up.  It always amazes me that a, the little rotters can grow so fast.  You leave them to get just a smidgeon bigger and come back the next day to find them huge.  And b, that despite going through the plants with a fine tooth comb you come across absolute whoppers that are a bit on the tough side.  And the most annoying part is at the beginning I would be out there picking and a neighbour would wander past and exclaim that they were wondering when I would start picking.  Like im not always picking!

Slightly bigger beans

At the start I was terribly concerned about knocking off the ageing blooms incase this meant that little beans wouldn't form.  Now I actively try and knock off the baby beans.  Thats a joke, I would never turn my nose up at vegetables that have made the effort to grow, but I am reaching my limit.  I probably pick a good half pound of runner and french beans every two days, thats a lot to consume, especially as the mother, a woman who can munch through twenty beans in a single sitting alone, is out of action just having had a tonsillectomy.  So with our ranks dwindling the fridge is stuffed and the freezer is also packed out.  Im hoping some extra room can be found in the freezer so we can save them for a time when I feel less over indulged in beans.

The average pile every two days, thats a lot of bean to munch through

Next year I will be growing runner beans again, after all they are such good value for money, just maybe not so many plants!

PS. What's the deal with the massive spiders on spindly legs that seem to hang around in runner bean bushes?!  I just pulled a few and screamed like a girl.

My takings from one lovely August day, ah the summer, I already miss its bounty

Unusual tomato varieties: tigerella, tumbling tiger, black cherry, black russian

A few prize examples of my more unusual varieties.  Ignore the little yellow, one, I hate yellow tomatoes

At the end of the day, all the matters about a tomato is how it tastes.  Ideally not thick skinned and fluffy like a potato in my opinion.  But, if a tomato can be tasty and unusual in appearance then I like it.  I managed to buy some plants that promised a little variety on the usual red round fruit.  Some are heritage, and some are just a bit different.  As long as they aren't yellow, different is good.

Two tigerella tomatoes.  Its difficult to see as the light was bright but they do have a subtle patchy stripe.  Taste just
like a normal tomato

I have two stripey varieties, both named after tigers.  Tigerella produces lovely medium red round tomatoes but with a nice stripey jacket, just like a tiger but in shades of red with a touch of yellow.  Tumbling tiger is a little more unusual.  A very small bush plant it certainly doesn't need a lot of space.  The fruits are really long and elongated, far more oval than round, and the brightest orange colour, but again with stripes.  The orange colour keeps throwing me because I don't think they are ripe, and they are.  I have found one or two on the ground because I ignored them too long.  The colour is the exact same shade as Heinz cream of tomato soup.  I don't remember the tomatoes tasting the same though which in my book is a shame.  Both are pretty productive and great additions.

Tumbling tigers.  To me that orange one is miles off, but it isn't actually far from being ripe, deceptive little devil.  Interesting one to watch with its very elongated fruits and very economical on space

I have also enjoyed growing black cherry.  Small cherry-like fruits similar in size and shape to supersweet, but with a darkened smokey red appearance, these are just a novelty.

These black cherries have a lovely smokey black tinge, the mother thought there was something wrong with them.  She doesn't appreciate style

Another 'black' tomato which isn't really black at all is black russian.  This has really big fruits, nearing beefstake size.  The fruits have changed colour in a lovely way, being mottled green to orange red all at once.  They are also of that more knobbly than perfectly spherical.  They are admittedly exceptionally fluffy in flavour.  Think of these as full of boiled potatoes masquerading as a red fruit.  The fruits are lovely and big, but this means that when we had some impressive storms the resulting deluge popped the skins open like a fat butt ripping open some tight jeans.

Now heres a rustic tomato.  This feels like it should make a bolognese or something.  But of a fluffy one unfortunately

I know a plain red tomato is more than fine, and everybody would rather a tasty one than a fluffy one, but I do enjoy growing the unusual ones.  I would definitely grow different ones again next year, ideally from seed if I can.  I have one more unusual tomato to share, but he, yes he, deserves a whole post all of his own.

And I had a severe case of split with this one

The season as a whole is still progressing well with my larder constantly stocked with home grown tomatoes.  Only this week have numbers slowed as the heavens have opened and temperatures plunged.  But I still have over 50 to ripen if the weather ever improves!

Dwarf beans - productive and tasty, the perfect bean!

A killer on the back but well worth the effort.  Luckily Im young and resilient

I wish dwarf beans had come into my life earlier.  There is nothing not to like; quick to produce, economical on space needs, no wigwam construction required.  Perfect.  Although I will admit that they will do your back in when it comes to picking, but so will the bottom tiers of a wigwam, so thats totally forgivable.

The electric purple flowers, obviously not very big and in-your-face
but nobody is going to say no to a little dot of colour here and there

I would like to say that I saw these beans through from sowing to harvest, but I cheated and bought these as seedlings.  In my defence it was like mid May when the garden space opened up, and always better to cheat and make use of the opportunity than stick to principles and not.  I bought dwarf french beans and the best thing about them, other than the fact that they have produced a veritable hoard of beans, is that the flowers were purple.  A pretty bean is always a bonus in my book.  It was a really nice purple as well, very very pale but quite electric at the same time.  It sung out, one might say, above a sea of green leaves.  The popped into flower around early July, and were out of it and into bean production before I could turn round.

Beans forming on the plant

Im totally sold on french beans, stuff broad beans with their months of development only to find the tiniest beans ever snuggled in those fluffy casings.  Dwarf beans produce and they produce fast.  No sooner had I spotted a few thin beans beginning to form, than a quick rootle in the undergrowth revealed fully formed beans.  How they grow so quick is beyond me, but I like these short turnaround times.  Im all about an investment of time, but lets get some edible results!  They were by far the earliest out of all my french and runner beans this year, and while the others are just getting going I am sadly beginning to near the end of the dwarf crop.

The beans in question

Not only do they produce fast, but they produce a lot.  They require picking every couple of days and my fridge has been stuffed out for a couple of weeks with them now.  We have had several meals off them, and if there wasn't currently four adults living at home, im sure I could have exclusively lived off them for vegetables for several weeks.  Considering how few plants I have, I think this is really impressive.  And very satisfying!  At last a vegetable that has performed just as it should and given bountiful reward.

Nothing better than a good bean pick on a sunny day.  Less so like it was tonight - hammering down with rain

Obviously volume is always welcome, but they also need to taste good as well, and these really do.  We tend to top and tail them, cut them into two centimetre sections and steam them, although they also got thrown into a stirfry the other night as well. Delicious.  Obviously it helps to pick them before they get old and touch, which I try my best at, but try as one might you always come across a huge old fat bean and think, how, how did did I miss you?!  As clear as the nose on my face.

Some of the beans early on, they are good and tasty, and as long as they are picked early enough, tender too

Dwarf beans will definitely be featuring in my garden again next year.  They are just such a handy productive bean.  In fact two varieties for next year are already in my possession.  I bought a packet of purple queen, which is unsurprisingly purple, and ferrari which is your standard fillet type green bean.  I have also seen a strange yellow one which grows in containers which I wouldn't be sad to have in my possession.

We had some in a nice stir-fry, it added a bit of green to the mix, but normally we just steam them