Child of the Planet

The sprouting broccoli has sprouted in a clump from where they fell from the plant. I've started to re-plant and space them out a bit. Also moving some to other parts of the garden.

The sunflowers are done for the year and I've saved them in bottles. I've also saved seeds from the celery plant and the pea.

Last week, my tomatoes suffered an attack of some sort ( Read here ) So I've spent some time this week processing the rescued fruit into food. Pickled tomatoes Green tomato and Zuc relish ( recipe ) Kasundi ( recipe )

My guess is that it was a dog. I'm hoping that a couple of the plants will pull through Spent the morning processing 'the fallen' into passata. I guess that now I'm looking for recipes that use green tomatoes Bit of a bummer. I reckon I lost at least four plants, possibly more if the others are too far gone.

I learnt a lot making the practice run of piccalilli las t year ( read here ).  This year it's full steam ahead, with much more output. Mostly veg I've grown my self and local apple cider vinegar. I'm beginning to experiment a bit with  the recipe. Adding more veg, trying different things with the mustard.

Turns out that they were 'given pause' after a few cool nights we had.

So I dropped some cabbage seeds today

Last year I started making stuff with my tomatoes as soon as they became ripe. This year I'm off-setting the making of spag bol, tomato paste, and tomato sauce by keeping the juice in jars for month or so. I wash, cut, and fill the pressure cooker and select a 'one minute' pressure cook. Pop the lid then process the pulp with a mouli. Fill jars with tomato juice and a couple of tablespoons of lemon to pump up the acid levels.

It was tiny, but juicy and tasty.

Probably a bit late in the year but I planted some carrots today... Right next to the beetroot, which seem to be doing quite well now... Plenty of seeds on the celery so I've been scattering them all over the place.

During the last year, I came to expect one ripe lemon every few months. Now finally there is a decent number to harvest all in one go. Aphids have appeared for the first time. I trying out the 'squash method' in the hope that the smell of aphid carnage deters others and hopefully attracts lady bugs. The harsh winds have held off for a bit and the leaves on the really sick lemon a now coming out in force.

The few bunches of Grapes that appeared in the spring have ripened. I have a plan for a better result next year. The vine leaves are starting to drop, so I'll pop them back in the beds around the base of the vines.