Summertime Harvests

Summer is finally here and with it comes the start of the allotment glut! The harvests are starting to come in thick and fast now and it feels so good being able to pick your own flowers, fruits and vegetables for the first time this growing year. You really can’t beat that feeling of taking home freshly picked produce which you have grown and nurtured from seed.

The sweet peas have been producing brilliantly this year and everytime I pop up the allotment I end up coming home with a handful, not that I’m complaining! The colours and smell are simply divine and they look nice dotted around the house in old jam jars and enamel jugs.

The broad beans on the other hand have been a huge dissapointment this year. The blackfly has been terrible and the growth of the plants is half the size of what they were last year. I’m still managing to harvest enough for dinner everytime but compared to last year when I had to freeze lots of beans because we had so many! I’m not sure if it is because of the black fly or the weather but the plants just haven’t grown as tall. Last year they were near enough 4 foot with no signs of black fly and this year they are about 2 foot and covered in that dreaded fly. I’m hoping my Dad’s crop of broad beans fares better than mine!

Another crop that’s doing really well are the strawberries, I harvested the mother load last night weighing in at a total of 7kg! I’m guessing the manure I mulched them with just after Christmas did them some good because they are producing so many juicy red fruits and I am so happy. It also helps that I don’t have to share them with the birds, those handmade cages are doing they’re job and protecting the fruits from any pesky theives. There were about 20 strawberries which had been nibbled by the slugs so I laid them out on the bird feeding tray for the resident birds and fledgings that I can hear in the bushes behind my shed.

There’s lots of plans for all these strawberries though. I’ll be making some strawberry jam with bits in, some smooth strawberry jelly for me (my favourite!) and also some strawberry cordial. I was originally planning to make some strawberry and elderflower jam but I won’t be foraging the elderflower until tomorrow night and I’m pretty sure the strawberries will be past they’re best by then. Hopefully there will be more strawberries to harvest soon though so I can make that later. Oh and don’t worry, I’ll be sure to share the recipes with you all too!