Reaping!

We're harvesting loads from the allotment now. I'm far too busy caring for the existing plants and weeding 'cultivated' areas to dig any further down the plot so this weekend I finally gave in and covered the rest in black plastic. I'm toying with the idea of planting some kale, spring cabbage and winter broccoli but I'm not sure there's time. I suppose I should just get on and do it!

We've harvested several courgettes now. They're so easy and so productive, I think every garden should have them. There are green ones...
And yellow ones...
And even some baby pumpkins! It'll be a while before we harvest those though!

The cucumbers are trying hard too. I had great success with these in a growbag last year but I think I planted them a bit late this time. But there are tiny cucumbers appearing even though the plants are barely six inches high! The radishes planted all round them are doing well too, as you can see.Even though the radishes are only planted for pest-control purposes, they look so yummy I had to pick a few. I haven't been brave enough to try them yet (my sensitive little mouth doesn't like things too hot and spicy) but I will!

We've harvested our first onions too. The foliage is dying down now (like the potatoes, a month or so earlier than I expected) so I guess they're not going to grow anymore, but some of them are still rather tiny. I suppose it's the competition from the weeds. Still, most are a respectable size, and they have a nice mild flavour and a really good texture.

Here's something else every garden should have; we dug the Swiss chard from under a forest of weeds and it's doing quite well! I'd never heard of the stuff until I started gardening but it looks so amazing I can't believe it's not more popular. You can cook it like spinach, eat young leaves raw, or wait until it gets really big and cook the stems. On the left are beetroots which are doing pretty well too, and the leaves are lovely in salads.

We dug a lot of things from under the weeds this weekend in fact; the strawberries look like they've still got fruit to give, the carrots are starting to grow well and I found salad leaves I'd forgotten I planted!
All in all, we seem to be eating quite a lot from the plot. As well as the above we're enjoying plenty of beans, salad and spinach, and of course the potatoes we dug up a couple of weeks back. In fact at a barbecue last week I served 100% Nomegrown salad (with nasturtiums, which some of my guests loved!), potato salad made with Nomegrown potatoes, and Nomegrown onions on our burgers! I even thought about making a bean salad too (I can't seem to pick them fast enough!), but my workmates just don't eat that many vegetables. All the more for me!