Bought or grown?

Rachel's comment from yesterday has inspired this post which is basically a list of some of the vegetables we have grown and are growing,  comparing flavour and suitability for a small garden plot.

Hi Mum, … .. Those courgettes look mouthwatering and it's true that things taste amazing that you've grown yourself. The only one exception of mine was when I grew broccoli. The plants were MASSIVE. I was on caterpillar watch. The first harvest was plucked, raced down the garden into the kitchen and eaten lightly steamed within 10 minutes. It tasted EXACTLY the same as shop bought!! I was gutted!!

I'll start with broccoli.

Fruit or vegetable: Broccoli/ Calabrese

Taste: I agree with Rachel here. They taste the same as shop bought but are a little more tender.

Suitability for a small garden: Not really suitable in my small plot as the plants grow big and it's a faff harvesting the small shoots. If there's a large head then, once harvested, the rest of the plant doesn't produce much and is a waste of space. Butterfly watch is essential and if the eggs are missed then searching for the caterpillars is very off putting because they are exactly the same colour as the plant. I've cooked more than one!

*****

Fruit or vegetable: Tomato

Taste: Absolutely wonderful, especially the first one and they taste nothing like shop bought.

Suitability for a small garden: A greenhouse is needed - out door tomatoes take up a lot of room and most need staking. Tumblers are good but I've found the skins tough.

*****

Fruit or vegetable: Asparagus

Taste: Nothing like shop bought. Steamed with butter and water for 10 minutes or so and they are mouthwatering. I add a little bit of salt for extra taste.

Suitability for a small garden: They take up quite a bit of room and crop from April to June. I've found that full sun is advantageous. Beware slugs which eat the tops as they peek out from the soil. When we planted ours we had to wait 4 years before the first pick.

*****

Fruit or vegetable: Cabbage

Taste: As shop bought

Suitability for a small garden: They are large plants and I don't grow them anymore. We don't eat loads and it's more cost effective to grow smaller plants.

*****

Fruit or vegetable: Strawberries

Taste: Hmmm! Forget the ones from the shop.

Suitability for a small garden: I've just let ours grow in a separate bed from the main plot and give them a haircut at the end of the season. The runners plant themselves. Always cut them in half before eating. There may be a surprise inside.

*****

Fruit or vegetable: Grapes

Taste: Fresh and sweet, totally different from shop bought

Suitability for a small garden: Ours grow in a greenhouse but certain vines can be grown outside.

*****

I've not listed everything we grow, just a few for our small garden. I wonder if anyone else grows veg. that they have found taste the same as shop bought. One thing I have found is that home grown veg. does not keep as long as shop bought. I wonder what processes they have to go through in order to keep a long shelf life!?

Thanks Rachel again for the inspiration. You will note that I haven't mentioned your night time activities!!!!!

:)

xx

Welcome to my new follower.

For my tea

grated courgette sauteed in butter,

home grown

new potatoes,

home grown

salad

mange tout and lettuce home grown

and strawberries

home grown

Not many food miles here.

xx

Some for C and G and me,

Saved the seed

So they're all for free.

Some for me

And none for thee.

The runners ran

So they're all for free.

Some for you

And some for me,

Saved the seed

So they're all for free.

Grapes a-comin'

Vine grew you see.

Ain't that great?

And it's all for free.

xx

PS A very warm welcome to my new follower.

PPS I wish we had smelly blogging. The tomato plants and the strawberries smell wonderful. 

xx

Replying

Questions answered.

Dani asked if I had any tips on pruning grape vines. I have done a post here on my pruning this year. In previous years I only had one main lead and then let shoots grow from that. I have been told that when pruning do not use cutters just pinch the runners off by hand. This year with 2 main runners I've kept the off shoots quite short with only one bunch on each off shoot. I pinch the runner off after the next leaf. I've given it about 3 prunes this season as runners tend to grow very quickly.

Cheryl asked if a grapevine would only grow inside. The grapevine we have is for growing inside but its roots are planted outside. I wrote about the type of vine here. There are many varieties that can be grown outside. Here's a link.

It's been a glorious day here today. I've walked and danced, baked and cooked and now it's rest time.

xx

2. 
   

Midsummer check ...

… on how the edible garden is growing.

We've been eating the mange-tout for about a week now, picking every day.

I planted them around the other side of the frame aswell. Both sides are at the same stage of growth even though I planted the second side 2 weeks later than the first. So much for succession planting. The broad beans have now started to develop pods.

We are still eating our way through the potatoes and the onions are fattening up. I'm sure I could start eating them once my shop bought ones are finished.

At last the corn is starting to grow properly. In front is the garlic.

Sweet peas are taking off up the second frame along with the climbing beans.

I wouldn't go under there puss!

The asparagus is being allowed to grow but I still harvest one or two spears every now and then.

There must be over a hundred bunches of grapes on the vine. I've pruned it again today as it was escaping out of the roof window.

Come on the tomatoes. I'm afraid they are being over shadowed by the vine.

The chives are putting on a pretty show and poppies are springing up everywhere.

I must watch the strawberries now they have started to ripen.

Check done, weeding done. All is well on the home food front.

xx

It's a first

My first strawberry of the year and I'm going to eat it for my tea. It smells of strawberry and it's big.

I shall enjoy!

xx

One word ...

… in Eternally 28's post caught my attention and I thought, 'I wish I could do that'. 

Waffle!

I'm finding it hard now to put words down here. My writing style as you may have noticed is very simple - just say it with no added extras here or there.  I read many blogs, just look to the right, and everyone's writing style is different - matter of fact, descriptive, informative, creative, witty, intelligent. They are a pleasure to read each day. Thank you to Johnnyjumps up and Eternally 28 for sharing their jar storage. Not only Kilner jars have been used but also jam jars and other glass vessels. I bemoaned the fact that we throw away an awful lot of beautifully shaped jars which contain coffee, jam, oils etc.. I'm sure if I thought hard enough I could re-use them as containers. Finding a  place to put them is harder the more I collect though. Plastic bottles also come in great shapes and colours. Isn't it a shame that we buy them and then chuck them. Now would you put a question mark at the end of the previous sentence? I was just stating rather than questioning. 

My sentences tend to be very short (for the teachers out there I don't think I've passed Level 3 yet). I was never one to talk much and I certainly didn't want to put my private thoughts down on paper for a nosey teacher. Perhaps that's why I preferred sums to words. Yet words intrigue me. They can mean so much in so many ways. What I read in a post may not be the same as another person. I wonder if my idea of a person behind a post is correct if I met that person in real life. Would their personality be the same as the one I have formed in my head from reading the way they put their words down on their blog?

Are you the shy one, the introvert, the do-er, the worrier, the family one, the fun loving one or the 'get on with it' one?

Would you have put two full stops after etc?

There are a lot of 'I wishes' out there, I'm sure. My wishes are very simple. I've tried hard and I think I may have succeeded. Just one word inspired this post. Hope you've lasted to the end. Hope that others write a post on their glass storage containers. Hope that others have some ideas on using throw away glass jars. 

Please forgive this load of 

Waffle!

PS It's a great word Rachel. Thank you for the inspiration.

What's in yours?

I have 'kitchen things' on show in the kitchen so -

* I can find some items easily

* I can store more things that I haven't got room for in the cupboards

* I can dust and wipe shelves and surfaces more often!

Some of these 'things' are stored in Kilner jars because - 

* I like them

* They are cheap at Ikea

* They look as though I know what I'm doing in the kitchen and show that it is a creative space!

Only little 'things' fit in these jars. The one's below are small jars that fit on the shelf below the wall cupboards - the larger jars are too tall. In them I have lentils, rice, additional nuts and fruits for muesli, chocolate coated raisins from Lidl ...

and Arborio rice.

In the 2 different topped ones I keep sugar and biscuits (once we've eaten half the packet).

Over the other side of the kitchen the tea bags, coffee and sugar are to hand for the brews.

The large jar has pasta inside and …

I found one more lurking on a higher shelf (I don't know when I put it there - it contains currants).

Some people like to hide things away to streamline the kitchen. I display and moan about the cleaning. My jars look good and are useful so I'll keep them for a while longer.

What's in yours?

xx

Eye, eye

I don't think I'm keeping up with putting the books I have read on the blog. Never mind. Here's one that's good ...

unbelievable story line, but good.

xx

Day out ...

to

Explore Formby

which was a National Trust area around the Formby coastline. We went to see the Red Squirrels which live in the trees there and the first we saw was at the entrance where we paid (an awful lot) to go in and park. Beautiful little animals but no photo as I didn't have my camera out. Never mind. Once parked we took a walk around the Squirrel Wood to search for more. Did we see any more squirrels - not one. 

Not to worry. We went on the Asparagus Trail next to view the asparagus fields where the asparagus is planted in the sand. We had a little bit more luck here and espied the one field. The picking season looks like it's over and the spears are being left to grow into ferns.

Various sculptures were dotted around the place.

These are rather large spears!

Heading back to the car we walked around the Squirrel Wood again and managed to spot the other, sorry, another red squirrel in the distance! Not many people walking around had spotted squirrels. Apparently there was a serious outbreak of squirrel pox in 2008 and the population is only just recovering.

Don't look too closely, There is a squirrel up there but I can't find it,

no matter how hard I look. It was there, really! Elusive little dears.

Next stop on our day out was to Crosby to view Another Place with Anthony Gormley's figures on the coastline. Just our luck - the tide was in and we couldn't see that many. A very expensive ice-cream later and the tide went out enough to go and view a little closer. Each of the figures seem to be exactly the same.

Someone had felt sorry for this poor man and dressed him up in a jumper.

There were 100 of these figures there but it didn't look that many as they were all spaced great distances apart. We had a good walk along the promenade and the sands.

I was more impressed with this superbly designed block of flats at the entrance to the car park than I was with all the figures.

xx

The things to come came

The potato plants have not flowered yet but we need to start eating them so we have room to plant the leeks. I dug around the base of the plant and found a reasonably sized potato so we went the whole way and pulled out all the plant.

I can't remember the name of the potato but they taste wonderful (well they would, wouldn't they?). We shall work our way down the row and then plant the leeks.

xx

"Pass it on will you?"

she said. "OK," I said. Below is what was written on the sheet of paper she gave me. Below that is the same message again with annotations by me. Make of it what you will.

To all the kids who survived the 1930s, '40s' '50s' '60s and '70s.

First, we survived being put to sleep on our tummies in cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and we rode our bikes without helmets.

We would ride in cars with no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tyres and sometimes no brakes. We ate worms, mud pies and drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank lemonade made with real white sugar and we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing … that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day … and, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We didn't have Play Stations, Nintendos, Sky TV, DVDs, mobiles or laptops. WE HAD FRIENDS - and we went outside and found them! We just walked to a friend's house, knocked on the door or just walked in and talked to them. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth. AND NO-ONE GOT SUED!

At school not everyone came top or made the sports team.. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

Our generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. Witness the past 50 years of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility … and we learned how to deal with it all. 

If YOU are one of those born between 1925 - 1970, 

CONGRATULATOIONS FRIEND.

To all the kids who survived the 1930s, '40s' '50s' '60s and '70s.

First, we survived being put to sleep on our tummies in cribs covered with bright coloured lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and we rode our bikes without helmets. 

( I can't remember whether I had a crib or not. My earliest memories are of a bed which was quite high off the ground. The covers were one sheet, 2 blankets, one coverlet and one eiderdown, all that could be tucked in was tucked in. I wouldn't have gone near any medicines even though they were in a cupboard in the bathroom. In that cupboard was the sick jug which always reminded me of throwing up! No helmets for me on my bikes. Perhaps I should have had one, if they had been around as I came a cropper on a steep hill on my fairy cycle. I head butted a wall and ran home crying. No lasting damage though, I think!)

We would ride in cars with no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tyres and sometimes no brakes. We ate worms, mud pies and drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle. We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this. 

(I'm sure our car, when we eventually got one, had brakes. I had to ride in the front as I was travel sick in the back. I certainly didn't eat worms but I did make mud pies with added worms. I only drank at home - milk from the milkman, or Dandelion and Burdock which was delivered to the door by the Corona man. We had one bottle of D and B and one bottle of Tango delivered each week - for 4 of us!)

We ate cakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank lemonade made with real white sugar and we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing … that's why!

(My mum used margarine for baking and I don't recall drinking homemade lemonade. I wasn't overweight because our meal portions were small. I did go playing with my best friend down the road. We used to play in our gardens, in the street and on the beach. I remember playing tennis in the road by the side of her house. The ball kept going over someone's hedge and we used to sneak in to get it back.)

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day … and, we were OKAY. (I always had to say where I was going and when I would be home. Woe betide if I went anywhere else.)

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. 

(I don't think I had a hand in building the go-cart. Perhaps it was my brother and dad. It didn't have brakes though and didn't get any.)

We didn't have Play Stations, Nintendos, Sky TV, DVDs, mobiles or laptops. WE HAD FRIENDS - and we went outside and found them! We just walked to a friend's house, knocked on the door or just walked in and talked to them. We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth. AND NO-ONE GOT SUED! 

(I did climb trees but not very high ones but I didn't fall out. I did fall down when I was tied up for a game of cowboys and indians and I chipped my front teeth! We made bows and arrows out of canes and string and fired them into the air. We went into the rough sea with car tyres and had a great time with the waves. No adults in sight. Perhaps that was a bit risky.)

At school not everyone came top or made the sports team.. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! (I hated sports and always came last in races except one obstacle race which I won because I could squeeze under the long school bench and the others were too big.)

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! (Policemen were on the street then.)

Our generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. Witness the past 50 years of innovation and new ideas. 

(Ah yes, Play Stations, Nintendos, Sky TV, DVDs, mobiles and laptops! Oh yes and bigger and faster cars, one way systems, mini roundabouts ...)

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility … and we learned how to deal with it all. 

If YOU are one of those born between 1925 - 1970, 

CONGRATULATOIONS FRIEND.

PS  Thank you for your plant identifications. I think it may be chard - I will certainly be eating it.

xx

The promise of things to come

Mange-tout - any day now one of these flowers will form a green pod. I'm watching out for it.

The courgette plants have settled in and I will be picking as soon as one is big enough.

It will take a little longer for the broad beans but the tops have been pricked out and there's no sign of black fly.

I shall wade may way through the strawberry patch and some may even make it into the house. Perhaps I should make some jam.

Now I don't know what these are. I sowed a half empty packet which had no name on it. I thought they were lettuce ...

but I think I'm wrong. I'm not going to start eating until I know what they are. Any ideas?

The corn has started to grow after a very cold start. We put them in the ground too early and the weather didn't help them. We had a bumper crop last year. I hope they all make it this year.

Climbing frame number 2 has runner and French beans ready to climb. I sow the seed straight into the ground. If nothing comes up I sow again as I collect the seed from the previous year.

Aha! My grapes. They've had a haircut twice and a little shake of each bunch just to thin them out. They are not heavy enough to hang downwards yet but it promises to be a bumper crop.

Tommyatoes - all set to roll!

We don't eat the asparagus every day so some have started to grow into ferns. There's a nice tender one just waiting to be eaten for tea. No more picking after June.

The onions are starting to thicken at the base ...

and the spring onions are ready.

Now why take a picture of the garden tap? Why the promise of a lovely large poppy which has started to grow at the base. They tend to pop up all over the plot but only a few are allowed to flower. This is one of them.

The promise of things to come plus the delight of watching them all grow now.

xx