First Strawberry!

Hopefully more to follow . . .

Garden Bounty

Alongside everything else that is going on, the garden is continuing to yield its bounty - here we have potatoes, rhubarb and courgettes (on the cusp of marrowdom):

The tomatoes are coming along too, although the strawberries are proving disappointing - they don't seem to have really got going after last year's major weeding exercise, and the slugs are getting to what fruit there is before we do!

First Strawberries of the Summer

Keeping Out the Mice!

Someone had the bright idea today of using some of the waste slates from the roof to mouse-proof the fruit cage - it was hard work bashing them all in, but he got there in the end:

Now we'll just have to wait and see if the strawberry nibblage rate goes down . . .

Jammy!

Got back from the cruise to find that the fruit cage had performed particularly well in our absence - had a freezer full of gooseberries, plus a load still on the bushes, and the strawberries were still generating a solid harvest.

Since we couldn't eat it all, my thoughts turned to jam, and I was soon chopping and boiling up the makings of 'strawberry and gooseberry' jam, and angsting over the 'set' (as usual).

The gooseberry curd was an even more fraught experience, pulping the gooseberries, straining out the skins and pips, then simmering the mix, trying to get it to just the 'right' temperature.  

Had to resort to the microwave in the end, which worked an absolute treat - will have to remember that for the future! - but got there in the end . . .

Spot the Odd One Out!

The wet weather hasn't done much for the strawberries - but the gooseberry harvest has been excellent!

I Said There'd Be Jam!

We've been harvesting strawberries now for nearly two weeks, and as predicted last year we reached the point where it was time to make jam . . .  there's nothing quite like the smell of strawberries bubbling away on the road to jamness.  

Added a sachet of pectin to the mix this time, which made the whole process much less angst ridden, although do rather feel like I cheated.  The mix only made four jars, but expect there'll be another jam-making session in the offing in due course!

Apart from the strawberries, we've also got gooseberries that are nearly ready, and raspberries that should yield quite a crop themselves in due course.  

We picked the first of the blackcurrants today though - again there'll be a few more to follow, but probably not enough for jam this year!

Update: 6th July 2010
More strawberries - four more pots of jam!

Elephant Strawberry

And our first Raspberry Crop!

Growing Elsewhere

Outside of the greenhouses (big and small) we have the old veg plot, the new veg plot, and the fruit cage. In terms of progress here it's a bit of a mixed picture . . .

Starting with the old veg plot:
- the onions are doing ok, although note for next year, don't plant in a block as it makes it difficult to weed;
- the broccoli has yielded a good first crop (now in the freezer) and hopefully there'll be more to follow;
- unfortunately things aren't going so well with the potatoes - some of which actually look like they are dying back - although I suppose we can't judge until we actually pull them.


The peas, which were last year's success story, have also proved somewhat disappointing. Our main problem here was that something ate most of them (note for next year, plant them deeper) - the ones that are left are doing well mind you, and we've filled in the gaps with some green beans (carefully started off in the greenhouse and transplanted).


In the new veg plot:
- the success story (at least thus far) is the sweetcorn, which is looking good;
- in between the sweetcorn is some butternut squash, which hasn't done much at all yet;
- a subsidiary row of peas has grown thickly, but only to about 20cm high . . .



The courgettes are doing better - six plants in all, and we should hopefully be getting a reasonable harvest out of these.



Finally the fruit cage:
- the raspberries, blackcurrants, and gooseberries never really got anywhere this year - we've just harvested a handful of raspberries;
- more on the blueberry bush later, but it broadly seems to be be doing ok;
- the strawberries have proved most attractive to the local wildlife with numerous nibblings of the net - as a result we've had to refortify with wire netting (as pictured).



Even so, despite some nibblings here and there, the strawberry harvest is going very well, indeed; six plus large bowls and more to come - when this year's runners have established themselves, I think we're looking at strawberry jam in 2010.

Bunny Biscuits

Not so happy with the bunnies these days - they're tucking in to our strawberry plants with gay abandon - a lot of them are more stalk than plant right now. (Which has at least pushed us in to action on the fruit cage front . . . see future post.)

The biscuits I made at the weekend were at least sweet, although they looked so much more like bunnies before they were cooked . . .

Strawberry Fields

Well, not quite fields maybe, but certainly an awful lot of strawberry plants. Set out to transplant from the raised bed we planted last year, with its 6 strawberry plants, into the new fruit plot, either side of the path. Having pulled out around 50 individual plants (plus the 6 we gave away) were running out of room, so left some behind in case any of the transplantees didn't 'take'.

Here they are in their new home - also showing, the raspberry cane support system in all it's glory . . .