July and August are exciting months in the allotment holder's year. Here's some of the food we have harvested since the last post.
1. A load of Red Duke of York potatoes. Delicious and very good for mashing.
2. A broccoli and a cabbage. Andrew made the cabbage into coleslaw. I haven't had a chance to taste it yet but he says it was delicious. The broccoli was amazing. We shared it with Murphy: he supplied a steak and ale pie, we supplied the vegetables. We have lots of broccoli, cabbage and cauliflowers almost ready to go.
3. Beans. Lots and lots and lots of them. Dwarf French and runner, grown from the seeds Jill gave us. They are so delicious, and it's very exciting hunting for them and picking them. You think you've found them all and then you discover loads more. We shared some of the french beans with Murphy and I cooked some of the runner beans for Emma when she came round for dinner.
4. A courgette. Here's a picture of it on the plant (with another one growing in front of it). I picked it today, so I can't tell you how it tastes yet. We bought this courgette plant from the plant stall at my school summer fair. That's why there's only one of them. We'll try to grow more next year. I'm quite excited about the concept of a courgette glut.
Things we have learnt over the last few weeks:
1. Beans are easy to grow, fun to pick, delicious to eat, and therefore generally the perfect allotment crop. We'll be growing lots more beans next year.
2. Strawberries don't do very well if you don't water them.
3. Brassicas are very attractive to all sorts of pests, particularly slugs and white cabbage fly. They require an awful lot of work. And then, in the case of cabbage and cauliflower, you remember that you don't really like them anyway.
