I haven’t had a free weekend in such a long time what with working away at garden shows and being in Wales. Therefore it sure felt good to have a whole day to spend up the allotment without having to rush or scoot off to do other jobs that very same day. My ‘jobs to do in September’ list was waiting to be ticked off and I decided not to do any filming so I could focus on the tasks ahead, plus I kind of wanted a stress free day just pottering about on the plot.
I’ve been so pleased with my Cucamelon plant and how it’s grown so prolific these past months. As a back up plant after my Dad threw my gherkin seedling away it’s done brilliantly with very little help, I’m glad I took the plunge and bought it when I couldn’t find a replacement gherkin! I harvested a mug full with the intentions of pickling them, there’s only so many cucamelons a girl can eat and seeing as I’m the only one that likes them in my house I don’t want them to go to waste.
I decided to start the big Autumn tidy up so that it wouldn’t be a big rush later on in the season, I went round the flower bed pulling up the dead plants and the archway was cleared of the old sweet pea and borlotto bean vines which had both served their purpose and had started to die back. Of course I picked some of the sweet pea seed pods to save for next year and the dried borlotto beans had been harvested the week before. Most of the sunflower’s seed heads had been cut and left in the shed to dry leaving the tall stalks behind and looking a little messy in the flower bed. These were pulled up and piled to one side whilst the remaining 3 sunflowers left to bloom were tied and secured to new poles to stop them snapping in the wind. This is when I noticed something that made my heart burst with happiness… the biggest sunflower head I ever did see! Now I remember photographing this sunflower a few weeks ago, it’s the tallest one I’ve grown at around 10ft high but it decided to bend with the weight the other side of my fence which is why I never spotted how big the head had gotten! I absolutely love sunflowers and always marvel at their beauty so this huge sunflower head has made me so proud, I’ll admit it’s obviously not the biggest one on record only measuring at 14 inches wide but it’s the biggest one I’ve ever grown and that makes me so happy. I moved 3 of the smaller dried sunflower heads out to feed the birds and placed this beast inside the shed to let it dry completely. Now I’m dreaming of all the gigantic sunflowers those seeds will produce next year!
Two of my courgettes had also turned into huge marrows so I’ll be using these up in the kitchen this week by stuffing them or making into soup, I can’t decide yet! My lovely neighbour also told me to help myself to the rhubarb on her plot as she doesn’t like it so I picked a few stalks to take home. You shouldn’t really pick rhubarb this late in the season but the crown was packed full with lots of healthy stalks therefore it wouldn’t miss 3 of them.
I ended the day with a cup of tea over on the Dad’s plot, he was starting to tidy his allotment too and I think we both deserved a celebratory tea break. It truly feels like Autumn now, the day’s are fading quicker and there’s a slight chill in the air but I’m excited for this season, it’s one of my favourites and I welcome it with open arms. I left the allotment that day feeling content and happy, slowly pottering around the plot was just what I needed and I long for more days like that. Plus I managed to tick quite a few jobs of that list too! Have a beautiful week everyone x
5 thoughts on “Happy Harvests”
Just had to run indoors, weeding around pond and pear tree…wasps nest…got 2 stings on the hand swelling up, 3 on leg…put anti histamine on…ouch.
Hi Katie. My other half found your program on You tube and we enjoy watching you work on your allotment. We live in Australia so Spring has finally arrived after a long and frosty winter. We live on a 1/3 acre block. We are avid gardeners and have added many more beds. We are hoping it’s safe to plant tomatoes now as we don’t want anymore frosts. I planted some corn, bicolour , and borlotti bush beans, sunflowers and a packet of bee-attracting plants. They have come up wonderfully except the blackbirds are such a nuisance by digging up the beds and making holes. I see they have babies to feed as I have spied some nests in our camellias in the front yard. We have also put up a little house for native bees. Hope it works. Here in Australia there has been a virus that was wiping out honeybees so gardeners have been encouraged to plant bee-friendly plants to attract them. Mind you, I am allergic to bee stings. We have Borage which the bees love and Tim has some onions going to flower which the bees just zoom to. Also some Asian greens have gone to flower and the bees enjoy them too. I was looking at your elderberry cordial recipe as we have an elderberry tree out the front. It was in a pot and belonged to Tim’s Mum. Like you said the flowers smell lovely, sort of vanillery. We do like to cook together and preserve our produce as best we can. We are hoping to have a good tomato crop this summer and have bought some different varieties to try. Last summer was pretty poor. I think it was too dry, despite us watering, as we are still in drought. My favourite tomato is Cherokee purple. Last place before this one, we grew these tomatoes on top of horse, alpaca and cow manure, and wow, they were as big as my hand. They were so juicy and delicious. I also love cucumbers. They taste so different to shop ones and actually have flavour. Dill is a favourite herb which I put with cucumber. My parents ate this a lot too and the smell of dill reminds me of the time I was growing up at home. Funny, how scents of different plants can bring up certain memories. Anyhow, it’s almost time to cook tea. I have to pick some chives and Tim has already brought in a sprig of dill which will go into creamy mashed potato -yum. Try it. So cheerio till next time – Lydia & Tim.
Hello Lydia, So glad you’ve been enjoying the videos and thank you so much for watching them and for following my adventures! Lucky you with the arrival of Spring, such an exciting time of the year and it sounds like you have a lovely garden. I love that you look after the wildlife too but be careful with those bees. I’d love to keep some but don’t have the space or time right now. It seems cooking and gardening go hand in hand and such lovely things can be made from homegrown goodness. I’m not a huge fan of tomatoes but it sounds like you had a bumper crop which I’m so glad about! You are so right about the flavour, everything tastes better homegrown doesn’t it? I made some delicious pickled gherkin last year which I’m still enjoying now, that has dill in it too! I hope you enjoyed your tea, it sure sounded delicious x
Hi Katie,
glad to have found your blog; love all your creativity in the garden. xoxo 🙂
Hello and welcome! Thank you for the kind words 🙂