Unexpected bounty.

Hubby visited a friend last night, who has recently moved to a lovely barn conversion with a walled fruit and veg garden many of us dream of. He returned with a carrier bag full of peaches. 

Now I have to be honest at this point. I hate peach. I even find the smell of them pretty off putting. Let alone the floral scented taste. Hubby ate one instantly, declared it lovely but admitted he couldn’t eat them all. I unpacked the rest of the bag and finding most to be over ripe decided jam was needed and quickly. 

This morning found me frantically searching the internet for a recipe that didn’t involve canning. It’s a skill I don’t have, would like to learn, but not today! 

I found a honey apricot recipe that looked fairly simple so I started with that. Boil together honey, water and sugar. Add sliced fruit. Boil a bit longer. Put into jars. After lots of chopping and peeling I only had enough for one jar so I gave it a go but wouldn’t recommend it just yet. 

I was however then left with a big pile of pieces that looked jam perfect. 

I also found quite a good Peach and raspberry conserve recipe in this book. I didn’t have the pectin or jam sugar it insisted I need but I do have raspberries. In my garden! 

I rushed out to pick some but not before measuring the fruit and adding an equal quantity of granulated sugar. The recipe said less sugar and to leave over night but I only needed a guide so I decided to ignore that! 

2lb each of peach and sugar. I left it while Miss C made some flapjack and we had some lunch. Gave it a good stir and added 1/2 lb raspberries, which was all that were ready in the garden. I then heated it gently until the sugar dissolved while Miss C wandered in and out commenting on how good it smelt and I tried not to sniff at all. 

It dissolved fairly quickly and I soon got it boiling but it did take a good 20 minutes, and quite a lot of scum, to get to the point I felt it was ready. 

I put in a knob of butter to disperse the scrum and, having heated my jars in the oven, started to jar it up. I must admit at this point that I don’t have a jam funnel but this one, that came with the dishwasher to fill the salt dispenser, works a treat! I hate having two utensils in the cupboard when one will make do. I’m tight like that!

The book suggests conserve only keeps for 6 months but as I made it in a jam style I don’t think I have to worry about that. 

If I’m honest I put the left overs in a small bowl in the fridge to try later. Later has arrived and even I can see a certain appeal to it. I think keeping it for any amount of time could be the real problem. 

It’s very summery tasting. I might even enter a jar in next month’s village show, which is high praise indeed from someone who hates peaches! 

Beaten by the pollination.

My poly tunnel is like a jungle this year. Everything is growing and fruiting. 

I have 4 melon plants and every day we find another young fruit hanging enticingly on the nets. 

Today one looked and felt ripe enough to harvest so with great excitement we brought it into the kitchen and laid it on the surface to await our teatime treat. 

It didn’t smell very ‘melony’, so I did wonder, especially as our cucumbers have tasted horrible this week. However we carefully cut it in half.

At that point it was obvious that it wasn’t the galia melon I’d expected. The flesh is to pale and the seeds to small. It tasted disgusting, bitter and sharp. 

Clearly my melons have been pollinated by the cucumbers and the cucumbers are being pollinated by the melons. 

It’s all got a bit muddled in the poly tunnel. Part of me is very disappointed. We have at least a dozen melons growing and lots of cucs. Part of me laughs at the power of nature. You just can’t beat it!! 

Finally it’s harvest time.

At last, after what feels like a long wait, the crops are coming in. 

The onions and garlic are lifted and dried.

The cucumbers in the poly tunnel have been cropping for ages but the tomatoes, although they’ve grown so well, have been a long time ripening.

Now there are more every day although the Money Maker is a bit mushy and bland which is disappointing. They are cooking down well for the freezer though so they won’t go to waste. 

I’m not inundated with courgettes, which having seen some of the posts on social media I’m quite pleased about, but we have enough. There won’t be any chocolate courgette cakes or strange courgette soups and for that I’m happy! The peppers are the same, slow but steady. Some to eat and some to freeze for later, just as I would hope for. 

The last bag of potatoes has been tipped out. We’ve had a few meals out of each bag which is better than last year. I’ve been reading up on growing them and next year I intend planting them nearer the top of the bags. Apparently they can get lost if they go in to deep

The new apple trees have a very small crop. I think I should have taken them off really to help them establish better but  I didn’t and it’s to late now! 

The bollotti beans turned out to be a dwarf variety. ( I should have read the package more closely) and are going over much quicker than last year’s. I’m picking them plant by plant as they die. Not enough for a meal yet but at least they will keep without taking up freezer room. 

The raspberries are much later than last year but there are lots to come. The blueberries are coming in steadily, some fall off as I approach the bush and have to ripen on the windowsill but that seems to be working ok. This years crop is much improved on last year. Not least because with no chickens we have been able to keep the bushes in their old run away from feathered thieves. 

The bees have had a late surge of honey production. Usually I don’t extract after early July but this year the hives are overflowing and I needed to reduce the size of them for winter so it had to come off. This last batch is very thick and was much more difficult than usual to spin from the frames. 

The difference in colour and style from the different crops is amazing. The jar on the left is probably more lime and field bean, it’s runny and rich tasting. The jar on the right is predominately oil seed rape, it’s solid and very sweet. 

Today while shopping in Morrison’s I brought this magazine. It’s got an exclusive to Tesco label on it which made me smile, as did the quantity of free seeds it contained. I may not have started my Christmas shopping yet but I’ve started my spring veggie shopping and that’s even more exciting.

I’m planning bigger and better next year and I can hardly wait!