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 Veg Journal - 2010 September

More harvesting, preserving and tidying this month. The potatoes, tomatoes and sweetcorn were particularly good, although the outdoor tomatoes were at risk from frost at times. We also did a bit more on the potting shed while the weather was still warm enough.


Week ending 8th September

1st - Picked 10 yellow tomatoes & 1 outdoor cherry tomato.

2nd - Picked the 1st greenhouse plum tomato and 9 yellow tomatoes (1lb 3oz).

3rd - Harvested 1 head of celery and 8½oz runner beans.

6th - Harvested some runner beans (12oz) and French beans (5oz). Put more filler in the shed after sanding the first lot down.

7th - Dug up the rest of the summer cabbages and used what we could - a lot had been attacked by grey aphids. Harvested 2 heads of celery (1lb), 2 marrows (11lb & 14lb), some calabrese, carrots (1½oz), 3 yellow tomatoes, the 1st 3 greenhouse cherry tomatoes, and 3 outdoor cherry tomatoes. Harvested 3lb beetroot and made 3 jars of pickled beetroot.

8th - Picked 2 greenhouse cherry tomatoes and 3 outside tomatoes (2 had split). Made 6 jars of piccalilli from some marrow, cabbage, celery & runner beans.

Week ending 15th September

9th - Harvested some carrots (5oz), a marrow (14lb) and the first 3 sweetcorn cobs. Two were good (11oz each), one was dried up. Cooked the 2 good ones on the cob.

10th - Harvested 6 celery plants (4lb) & made wine out of them.

11th - Picked 1 outdoor cherry tomato, 16 greenhouse cherry tomatoes, 2 red & 2 yellow tomatoes (Lindsey's). Cut one sweetcorn cob (8oz), stripped the kernels off and froze them. Sanded most of the outside of the potting shed & sawed off the balcony. It looks like the spinach has self-seeded.

12th - Picked some runner beans (14oz). Sanded the rest of the shed and put the 1st coat of preservative on it.

13th - Finished preserving the shed. Picked the last three aubergines (3oz).

14th - Picked 4 outdoor cherry tomatoes & 2 outdoor tomatoes (ours), 21 greenhouse cherry tomatoes, 5 red & 6 yellow tomatoes (Lindsey's), totalling 3lb 4½oz in all. Also picked 13 corn cobs (7lb 12 oz) yielding 5lb 11oz of kernels for freezing.

15th - Picked one corn cob (9oz) yielding 7oz of kernels.

Week ending 23rd September

16th - Picked 4 outdoor cherry tomatoes, 1 outdoor plum tomato & 1 outdoor red tomato (ours), 4 red & 3 yellow tomatoes (Lindsey's), 2 greenhouse plum tomatoes & 5 greenhouse cherry tomatoes. Picked some runner beans (10oz), French beans (2½oz), 2 marrows (1lb 7oz & 10lb 10oz) and some beetroot (2lb). Made 4½ jars of beetroot chutney. Covered the outdoor tomatoes as frost is forecast.

17th - Dug up the onions & shallots for drying, and cut down the stems from the potatoes. Kept the covers on the tomatoes.

18th - Made 3½ jars of tomato & apple chutney.

19th - Picked a few remaining French & runner beans. Made 4½ jars of marrow & apple chutney. Harvested a corn cob (10oz).

20th - Picked quite a large amount of calabrese. There are lots of whiteflies & grey aphids under the netting, which might be a problem.

21st - Picked 10 greenhouse cherry tomatoes, 1 greenhouse plum tomato, 1 red & 7 cherry outdoor tomatoes, 3 yellow & 4 red tomatoes (Lindsey's, plus 2 red which may need composting). Had to bring in all the green tomatoes off Lindsey's red plant as the stem had collapsed (6lb 3oz). Harvested a carrot (3½oz) for the Christmas pudding!

22nd - Picked 8 greenhouse cherry tomatoes and 2 yellow tomatoes. Harvested some runner beans & a few French beans (8½oz). Made 4½ jars of green tomato chutney.

23rd - Harvested 1 head of celery & 3 corn cobs (1lb 6oz, giving 12oz of kernels).

Click on a photo to see a bigger version:

  • The potting shed, freshly painted & with its balcony removed (22nd Sep)

  • The maincrop potatoes with their foliage cut off, nearly ready to harvest (22nd Sep)

  • The French or dwarf beans and runner beans (22nd Sep)

  • L to R: spinach, beetroot, chard (22nd Sep)

  • One of the brassica beds, with turnips & kale visible (22nd Sep)

  • Marrows & sweetcorn in the LH bed, and the cat showing an interest in the calabrese (22nd Sep)

  • Carrots (22nd Sep)

  • Parsnips (22nd Sep)

  • Self-sown spinach seedlings (22nd Sep)

  • The marrows, going slightly mildewy (22nd Sep)

  • Marrows & sweetcorn (22nd Sep)

  • Slightly sickly-looking plum tomatoes in the greenhouse (22nd Sep)

  • Pepper plants, with the asparagus in pots between them (22nd Sep)

  • Peppers (22nd Sep)

  • Yellow tomatoes on the outdoor plants (22nd Sep)

  • Outdoor tomato plants, all doing better than the ones in the greenhouse (22nd Sep)

  • Herbs in the mini greenhouse (22nd Sep)

  • Splitting outdoor tomatoes (22nd Sep)

Week ending 30th September

24th - Tied up the peppers a bit more (lots of fruits!), and made 4½ jars of mixed fruit chutney (damsons, apples, pears & yellow tomatoes). Put frost covers over the outdoor tomatoes.

25th - Picked 11 greenhouse cherry tomatoes, 4 outdoor cherry tomatoes, 1 red & 3 yellow tomatoes.

26th - Cut some kale - the undersides are covered in whitefly, but it washes off. Pulled up some carrots (1lb) and picked a few runner beans (3½oz).

27th - All the full-size outdoor tomatoes are splitting as they ripen; too little or too much water?

28th - Picked the last 4 corn cobs and got 12½oz of kernels; not as fresh as they have been.

29th - Harvested 2 carrots & 1 celery plant. Covered the outdoor tomatoes again at night.

30th - Picked 3 yellow & 3 red tomatoes, plus 11 outdoor cherry tomatoes. Dug up all the potatoes, dried them & stored them in the shed. Only a few have been attacked by slugs. From 26 seed potatoes, we dug up 111lb 7oz = 4lb 4½oz per plant. The potatoes in the tub from 1 seed weighed 7lb 13oz. Also weighed & stored the main onions (2lb 7oz), red onions (1lb 7oz) & shallots (4lb 11oz).

Click on a photo to see a bigger version:

  • The maincrop potato harvest (30th Sep)

  • Main onions, red onions & shallots after being dried in the sun, ready to be stored (30th Sep)

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