........was a small courgette from the greenhouse. I could have let it grow but cutting it will encourage others.
Later there will be plenty for all the courgette recipes but this time it was grated and added to some part cooked and mashed frozen peas, plus flour and an egg to make fritters - very green and colourful food again! I served them up with bacon and my home made tomato relish.
Also in the greenhouse the tomatoes are setting and there are cucumbers on the plants that will be ready in a few weeks - they grow like crazy once they get going. I need to check that recipe for the Sweet and Sour cucumber pickle so I'm ready for the glut.
This week I found a few raspberries off the canes that were here when I came. I cut them back each year and they seem to fruit at random times, producing a handful now and again from now until September. The row of summer fruiting canes that I planted are buzzing with bees all the time and looking hopeful for a good crop in July. My first three strawberries were ready from the small plants my sister gave me, I added to some picked from BiL's strawberry bed - his are really getting going now.
The basil cuttings finally had enough roots for me to pot them up - 4 plants from my 79p pot bought from Aldi in the first week of May.
Next door neighbour's cat is still causing me problems, there is one area of the three veg. beds unplanted. Does she use that bit? No - she pushes her way under, in and around all the fences, covers and barriers and digs up the leek plants instead!....again. I thought even a mouse wouldn't be able to get in but she managed to find a weak spot. I've used even more metal pegs to hold the netting down now - hopeful that the remaining leeks will be ready in the autumn.
Thank you for all the comments about Foxgloves yesterday - seems they are popping up in gardens everywhere and bees love them. Must be the only good thing to come from all the rain we have had.
It's wonderful when you gat eat straight from the garden.
ReplyDeleteI'm really looking forward to the raspberries and the usual courgette and cucumber glut
DeleteI really enjoy the enthusiasm of these early season ‘first posts’ from home gardeners……and their acceptance that they may have to contend with a glut later in the season. And the ‘wonder why’ when their crops don’t turn out to be as bountiful as they hoped.
ReplyDeleteWhen you sow the seeds you have to hope that eventually you will reap the crops - it doesn't always happen but when it does it's a triumph to be shouted about!
DeleteOh, those cats! Hopefully your leeks and other plants will be able to survive any further predations.
ReplyDeleteA lovely cat but a real nuisance in my garden
DeleteIt looks a delicious courgette and is a reminder that we should shop seasonally.
ReplyDeleteCourgettes always seem to be so big and old in the shops - I never buy them - just eat them when I've got them growing
DeleteWhat is it about cats? Mr T never used to dig in our allotment when he accompanied me up there - he would wander off in search of someone else's plot. I had to keep an eagle eye on him or he would have been digging up someone else's leeks.
ReplyDeleteNeighbours only have grass and patios in their garden so he visits mine a bit too often
DeleteOur fruit seems to be miles behind everyone else's. Patience is a virtue, and all that!
ReplyDeleteThe raspberries are a few weeks away as yet - but looking good.
DeleteThe younger the fruit the better I find. I always think if people don't like courgettes they have only ever had them back in the '80's when we didn't really do much other than boil them or make soggy ratatouille. Your fritters sound delicious.
ReplyDeleteI know that when I first grew them in the 80's that was all we did with them, popped in a saucepan with carrots and coming out a mush! Luckily I have lots of better ways to use them now
Deletethey are very good pan fried with onions, apples and sage.
DeleteThat courgette looks a bit lonely.
ReplyDeleteThere will probably be too many later. Made good fritters along with the peas
DeleteLovely that you are starting to eat the fruits of your labours.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Have to keep fingers crossed every year that something will grow!
DeleteAlways good to start enjoying the fruits of your labour. Sorry about the cat. They can be a nuisance. Our neighbour's cat keeps scaring and hunting the birds in the garden. Not happy.
ReplyDeleteLove the sound of the fritters but I’ll have mine without bacon please. Catriona
ReplyDeleteI read that cats do not like the smell of coffee grounds. I do not know if this is so, but you might try saving your grounds (and asking for donations) and sprinkling it on the part of the garden you want the cat to avoid. It is also a very nice soil additive/fertilizer.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you are harvesting in early June. Your garden is doing very well. The cat needs to stay away from your veggies. I'd be tempted to grow a bit of catnip far away from the veggies to lure the cat away.
ReplyDeleteSuch an early harvest for you. Our plants for the most part are just getting started.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Your fritters sound lovely. I have been eating onions from the garden for a while, but there's no sign of courgettes yet, but mine are outside and it's been really cold here for the last couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteCats!!! Moth balls will deter cats from digging and shouldn't bother wildlife who will also avoid them.
ReplyDelete