A little thread of calm?

[Trainee neophyte]

After years of planting interesting coloured veg, I have come to the conclusion that they usually don't taste as good as the traditional stuff. Yellow raspberries, orange tomatoes, purple carrots - all tried, and always a bit of a disappointment. Except once with some yellow cherry tomatoes - wonderfully flavour, huge crop, and none of the seeds we kept ever germinated.

My toms are a bit weird this year - very bushy but not getting much height. Lots of fruit, so I should be making tomato sauce in a week or so. Beans are outrageous this - year, giving 15kg every three days, but cucumbers are a complete failure. Lettuce was entirely for the benefit of tortoises, but at least they didn't eat much of everything else. 400kg of spuds lifted a couple of weeks ago. Good in parts, as it is most years. We plant far too much of everything, on the understanding that most of it will fail. Occasionally things go well, and panic ensues. This year will be a year for beans, it would appear. Good job we have 3 chest freezers. Photos currently inaccessible in the cloud. Will try again later.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Just started picking the first tomatoes, an unknown yellow bush variety from a packet of seed marked Tombola, so basically pot luck. One red bush variety hasn't set very well, but the others are ok.
Being completely useless with things technical, I've never managed to post photos on forums.
So sorry, no photos.
Nigel.

Curiously the earliest I picked ripe tomatoes was July 2nd, my sister's birthday.

 

[Nigel Burden]

This is the earliest that I remember picking tomatoes in forty one years. It's usually the end of July up here in Dorset.

Nigel.

 

[Chris152]

Thought I was doing rather well til I read your last posts fellas. Wait til next year...

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Thought I was doing rather well til I read your last posts fellas. Wait til next year...

The day you sit down to a meal and the whole thing is from your own produce is quite an achievement. Today I am going to make green bean chutney, mostly out of desperation. Anyone know where the volume switch is on a bean plant?

I'll get the hang of gardening one day.

 

[Chris152]

Dug one up just now. A couple on the top were green so I chucked those, but a few from deeper have little green patches - can I just cut those out and proceed toward lunch, or is it best to avoid those altogether?

(Look carefully, they don't show up too well in the pic! But they're definitely quite small...)
Thanks

 

[Phil Pascoe]

The green doesn't matter once cooked.

 

[novocaine]

I've found that the best way to deal with greenish spuds is to cut them in to careful lengths of approximately 10mm square across the length of the spud, soak them in salt water for 20-30 minutes then carefully lower them in to ~160c temp hot oil or fat of some description for 6-8 minutes. remove from the oil and allow to cool for 10 minutes then repeat for 3-4 minutes. allow to drain on a rack then add vinegar.
I've decided, due to the shape of the lengths to call it chipping, I'm not sure it will catch on. I'm going to try it with the flesh of sea based creatures, perhaps also treated in a similar manner, although i'm concerned the flesh maybe to weak to take the process so may enrobe it in some form of flour and egg based substance. As said, haven't tried this yet so I'll let you know how it goes, don't think it will be great but you never know.

 

[Chris152]

Thanks both. I chopped the green bits out in the end - I know it's a basic thing most grown-ups know the answer to and little to do with growing your own, but it had passed me by. They were delish, sort of salad nicoise, even the kids ate it.

Novocaine, sounds like complete madness to me.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Well done that man! The start of an extensive market garden business!

The green on potatoes contains oxalic acid, and is poisonous. Everyone panics over this, but if you eat an entire plateful of green chips, you may get a slightly upset stomach. I just clean mine up with a peeler and get the worst of it off, because it's a bit bitter.

For next year, they go green because of daylight, which is why you earth up your spuds - to make sure they stay hidden even if they grow a foot long. Too many green ones just means more earth next time.


[youtube]_M1372Z1Ldg[/youtube]

 

[Chris152]

The start of an extensive market garden business!

Ha, I'll draw the line somewhere this side of making my own sausages tho...

 

[novocaine]

What's wrong with making your own sausages?
I do it every few months, or i did anyway, cant get the skins at the moment.

Our greens arent doing so well? We got some pees going ok but the toms are a bit stunted. Reckon im going to turn some of the old windows in to cold frames for next year.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

The start of an extensive market garden business!

Ha, I'll draw the line somewhere this side of making my own sausages tho... :-

I admit sausages are a bit of a faff, but try making bacon: it's easy, fun, cheaper, and tastes way better than the weird slimy stuff you get at Tesco.

As I understand it, boatbuilding requires many bacon butties, with extra egg. It's a law.

 

[Bm101]

My brother bought a whole pig to butcher himself. I have never laughed so hard at the tales of him running outside to honk then going back in to butcher a bit more, then running outside to gag again because of the smell.

 

[Chris152]

What's wrong with making your own sausages?

It was a somewhat gory post a while back from Tn that i had the misfortune to read first thing in the morning, up to his elbows making sausages. Not that i don't like a nice sausage as much as the next fella, just not so taken with the idea of making them from scratch.

I've taken a paintbrush to the indoor tomato flowers a few times now, but none seem to be converting to tomatoes, but the ones i left outside are. I'm starting to wonder if I missed the boat on the pollination. Nice looking plants, nice little flowers, no tomatoes yet.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

My brother bought a whole pig to butcher himself. I have never laughed so hard at the tales of him running outside to honk then going back in to butcher a bit more, then running outside to gag again because of the smell.

Do your butchering outside - it's easier on the sensitivities. And think about bacon at all times...

Mmmm...bacon....

 

[Chris152]

My tomatoes are now 4-5' tall and a few tomatoes are developing. At last. Some have 4-5 bunches of flowers, others less. Given that we're heading toward August, should I lop the tops off the plants now to encourage growth of the tomatoes rather than the plants? I'm concerned if they don't get a move on they won't ripen at all. I know you can do that but not sure about the timing.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They're usually pinched out at five trusses. Any flowers from now on won't come to anything.

 

[Chris152]

Thanks Phil, I'll get on with it today.

 

[John15]

As Phil says although I only allow 4 trusses. Probably depends on how early you plant them.

John