Veg Journal 2011:

•  » January
•  » February
•  » March
•  » April
•  » May
•  » June
•  » July
•  » August
•  » September
•  » October
•  » November
•  » December

 Veg Journal - 2011 August

There were lots and lots of vegetables ready for harvesting, so most of the time this month was taken up with making wine, jellies, jams, pickles and chutneys, as well as clearing, tidying and supporting as all the plants continued to get bigger.

• Week ending 8th August
• Week ending 16th August
• Week ending 24th August
• Week ending 31st August

Week ending 8th August

1st - Picked some lettuce and tomatoes; 1 outdoor (3.3oz), 1 greenhouse (3.7oz), 1 greenhouse plum (1.6oz) and 12 cherry tomatoes (5oz). There are quite a lot of flowers on the peppers.

2nd - Picked some lettuce, 2 raspberries, 2 beetroot (8.8oz) and some tomatoes; 1 greenhouse (1.7oz), 2 outdoor (5.7oz), 2 greenhouse plums (2.8oz) and 3 cherries (1.1oz).

3rd - Tied up the aubergines again and removed dead tomato leaves. Picked 1 courgette (1lb 3oz), some lettuce and tomatoes; 1 outdoor (2.8oz), 9 greenhouse (1lb 5oz), 1 outdoor plum (3.6oz), 5 greenhouse plums (9oz) and 9 cherries (2½oz).

4th - Picked some lettuce, French beans (3.7oz), runner beans (4.1oz) and 4 raspberries.

5th - Picked some lettuce and tomatoes; 1 greenhouse (2.8oz), 3 outdoor plums (12.9oz) and 7 cherries (3½oz).

6th - Picked a lot of blackberries (4½lbs), 2 courgettes (7.2oz), some lettuce and tomatoes; 2 outdoor (3.1oz), 4 greenhouse plums (5.9oz) and 10 cherries (3.3oz). One of the plum tomatoes was going rotten. Also picked all the remaining broad beans (1lb 9oz; 8.4oz podded) and peas (1lb 13.2oz; 13.7 oz podded).

7th - Picked some lettuce. Peppers are starting to form. Made a gallon of blackberry wine.

8th - Tied up the sweetcorn as the wind had blown some of them over. Picked some beetroot (2lb 3oz), lettuce and tomatoes; 12 greenhouse (1lb 13.4oz), 3 outdoor (8.2oz), 1 outdoor plum (4.2oz) and 23 cherries (10.6oz). Made 5 jars of beetroot chutney.

Week ending 16th August

9th - Picked some lettuce, French beans (3.4oz) and runner beans (13.8oz).

10th - Picked 2 raspberries. There are flowers on at least one of the carrot tops - why? The shallots look as if they are ready for lifting.

11th - Picked some lettuce and tomatoes; 5 greenhouse (12.4oz), 5 outdoor (15.2oz), 2 greenhouse plums (2.4oz), 4 outdoor plums (1lb 1.1oz) and 29 greenhouse cherries (13.8oz). Some of the cherry tomatoes are tiny!

12th - Picked 2 raspberries and some lettuce. Pulled up the oldest lettuce plants as they've been used up.

13th - Pulled up the dead pepper. Picked 3 carrots (4.7oz) and a marrow (7lb 15oz).

14th - The first head has appeared on the calabrese - it's a much better height this year, so sowing the seed later must be the thing to do. Picked some lettuce, French beans (3oz) and runner beans (1lb 11.7oz). Made 4 jars of marrow & apple chutney; will plant less marrow and more sweetcorn next year!

15th - Picked some lettuce and blackberries (6lb). The sweetcorn cobs are beginning to swell.

16th - Picked 5 aubergines (3.1oz), 2 courgettes (7.3oz), some lettuce and tomatoes; 8 outdoor (15.6oz), 13 greenhouse (1lb 13.8oz), 8 outdoor plums (1lb 7.6oz) and 31 cherries (8.4oz).

Week ending 24th August

17th - Picked some lettuce and blackberries (2lb). Added the latter to those picked two days ago.

18th - Picked some lettuce. One of the greenhouse tomatoes had collapsed due to a broken string, and squashed the marigold plant beneath it. Tied it back up again, apparently none the worse, but 3 green tomatoes (6.2oz) had fallen off it. The autumn cabbages are hearting up and the sweetcorn cobs are forming nicely. The remaining peas are very mildewy. Made 2 gallons of blackberry wine.

19th - Picked some lettuce, a marrow (7lb 11oz) and crabapples (5lb). Made 2 jars of mustard sauce (which is basically the sauce for picallili without the chopped up veg) and 4 jars of marrow & tomato chutney.

20th - Picked some lettuce.

21st - Dug up the onions and shallots and left them to dry in the old freezer baskets on the table by the potting shed - the yields are onions: 12lb 11.9oz; red onions: 3lb 9.4oz; shallots: 2lb 7.2oz. Picked 5 carrots (10.6oz, ranging from 1 to 9oz!), a turnip (13.2oz), broccoli (1½oz), some mildewy peas (13.3oz; 6.3oz podded), lettuce and tomatoes; 13 outdoor (1lb 14.8oz), 12 greenhouse (2lb 2.8oz), 5 outdoor plums (12.4oz), 5 greenhouse plums (7.2oz) and 33 cherries (12.8oz). Made 9 jars of crabapple jelly and 3 jars of marrow & apple chutney.

22nd - Picked some blackberries (6lb), French beans (4.3oz) and runner beans (2lb).

23rd - Picked some more blackberries (2lb) and a marrow (10lb 4½oz). Made another 8 jars of marrow & tomato chutney and 2 gallons of blackberry wine.

24th - Picked 5 aubergines (6½oz) and some tomatoes; 13 greenhouse (2lb 10oz), 8 outdoor (1lb 7.2oz), 38 cherries (11.3oz), 1 greenhouse plum (1.8oz) and 6 outdoor plums (10½oz). Some of the cherry tomatoes are looking quite manky - will cut them up to see what's happening inside them. Made 7 gallons of wine with donated damsons.

Click on a photo to see a bigger version:

Week ending 31st August

25th - Picked a marrow (9lb 5½oz). Made 7 jars of damson jam.

26th - Made another 6 jars of damson jam!

27th - Made 6 jars of marrow & ginger jam, and a bottle of tomato ketchup, which boiled down to almost nothing and still seems to be a bit too runny.

28th - Picked 4 carrots (6.1oz).

29th - Picked some lettuce, but it looks like we need to leave the plant to grow a bit before picking any more.

30th - Picked some runner beans (3lb 3.7oz), French beans (2½oz) and composted 1lb 6.8oz of runner beans which were too tough to keep. Picked some tomatoes; 10 greenhouse (1lb 7oz), 8 outdoor (1lb 10.4oz), 10 outdoor plums (12½oz) and 54 cherries (1lb 7.9oz). Also picked 12 cherry tomatoes (3.6oz) which were split, as quite a few of them are now.

Click on the photo to see a bigger version:

 Related Pages: