The summer garden is entering its denouement phase. Pumpkin vines are dying off but we’ll leave the pumpkins on for a couple more weeks yet. The longer you leave them, the sweeter they are. Tomato vines are withering away, but the tomatoes on them continue to ripen. My fridge is full of Romas waiting to be made into relish, sauce or blanched and frozen.
Recipes for relish and sauce and zucchini pickles are on our website.
Somewhat belatedly we’ve had the first of our sweetcorn cobs this week. This was an experience that assures me in no uncertain terms that growing your own food is worth it. Crisp, sweet and so much taste. As well the Luisa plums have ripened. They’re like a meal in themselves, they’re so big. You have to pick them just a little before they look ripe, otherwise if the skin goes red, they’re mushy on the inside.
Rock melons are sizing up but not ready yet – there’s a whole nest of them coming on.
And our grapes smell ready and are just a few days away from being able to enjoy them.
This month is pretty much about managing the food in your garden – picking it at the right time, preserving it, storing it or giving it away if you have too much.
Otherwise we’re sowing seed. My first lot of onions was a no-show – I used seed bought last year but it didn’t fire. Bought some more and I can see small signs of action which is reassuring.
Later this month we’ll start sowing the first of the brassicas so we have something in the garden when the lettuces run out.
Enjoy the bounty and we’ll have more to share next month!
Happy gardening
From Jan, Rob and our friendly kotare!
9 Responses
Fullsome and plump blog this month .. tasty! Similarly abundant harvest in the Waikato, though a couple of beats behind the pace; star producer this year is the dwarf bean .. the scarlet runners not far behind. I’m french slicing them and freezing by the bag, but advice please: blanche before freezing or nah?
Toothsome of Tamahere
Hi I don’t blanche beans for the freezer. Top and tail and slice, wash, dry on a tea towel for about 20 mins then freeze on trays or straight into bags.
Good advice Joy. If you do blanche them, it’s only for 30 seconds and then plunged into icy water to cool them immediately. If you’re not accurate, they’ll go mushy very quickly, so fresh into bags is a good idea 😊
Always encouraging us to grow. Inspiring stuff, thanks!
😊
My sweetcorn was a total flop this year. Obviously didnt get pollinated properly. Most cobs only had a few kernels on them. Wondering if the rain washed the pollen away that had fallen down into the cobs. ?? We’ve had a fair bit of rain but also a lot of sunshine as well.
I’m hoping the next lot thats nearly ready, might be a bit more successful.
Hi Marion Rob says there are just a few days when the cob is pollinated and if it rains during that time, the pollen becomes sticky and won’t flow freely down into the cob. As long as you have your plants in blocks, the next lot will most likely be absolutely fine. All the best 😊
Thanks a lot for your blog and website and recipes. I might try the pickled zucchini recipe though not many zucchini to go now. I froze quite a few this year; grated, packed lightly into a measuring cup, and turned out onto a tray. Bagged when frozen. They make useful little haystacks! The chickens like them grated and don’t mind if they’re marrows. On a hot day they can cool down with a frozen one.
Your pumpkins are way ahead. Ours are still romping along and have taken over. Hard to say how many are in there. I leave them till the first frost, sometime in May in South Waikato.
Happy gardening!
Thanks for your storing tips Joy. Always good to learn new ways. Nice to have chickens for the marrows. I put ours in the worm farm, but the worms take a bit of time to get through them!