Me and carrots don’t go :(
I thought I was being clever when I improvised a cover for my container of carrots, which consisted of an upturned empty hanging basket covered with fine net curtain. However, whatever it was that had nobbled my carrots before must have found a way inside, because the leaves have been completely eaten. Not just nibbled a bit, eaten. I just have to face up to the fact that I don’t have orange fingers (:sigh:).
On the upside, the tomatoes keep on coming. If there are some tomatoes at the tail end of our crop that refuse to ripen, a neighbour of ours has offered to take them off our hands and make green tomato chutney.
Runner beans are nearly over – they’ve been a real disappointment. The beans themselves have been gorgeous, but there just haven’t been as many of them as last year.
It’s raining tomatoes! (Amen)
Look at these beauties! They’re gorgeous, aren’t they? Whether it’s fresh tomatoes in salad, or a handful of tomatoes in boeuf bourguignon (as cooked by other half tonight… he does a very tasty BB), or in chilli con carne or spaghetti bolognaise… they’re fantastic. I will be sorry when they finally come to an end, I really will. Roll on next year though. Am going to push the boat out next year, tomato-wise, and grow Gardener’s Delight, Tumbling Tom and some “heirloom” varieties. I’m intrigued by a variety called Brandywine which is supposedly grown by the Amish in the USA and bears large, late, pinkish-coloured fruit. Oh, and I’d like to try a golden and/or black variety as well. I’d better stop now ‘cos I’m starting to drool LOL. BTW, that wrinkly brown object in the middle is one of the last of the figs off our fig tree. They’ve been really tasty too, although I can take no credit as the tree was planted by our landlords (although I’m sure the tree’s proximity to our compost bin can’t be doing any harm).
Carrots: still hanging in there
| Two months ago I planted some carrots (Autumn King) in a deep bucket filled with spent compost. They came up OK, but some insect or slug (identity unknown) finds the leaves to be delicious, so I’ve had to resort to some extreme measures to protect them. Namely, an upturned hanging basket – minus the hanging chain thingies – covered with a fine net curtain. As it says in the title, the carrots are still hanging in there although I have no idea if I’ll actually end up with any actual carrots worthy of the name. On the plus side, I am in tomato heaven at the moment. Last night I made pasta sauce for the two of us, entirely out of home-grown tomatoes plus a squirt of tomato puree. Fingers crossed, we will be eating home-grown toms until the end of the month. Almost makes up for the courgettes (lousy) and the runner beans (less so, but still not exactly stellar). |  |