Blasted Blight

Yup, it got us in the end. I've been convincing myself for weeks that the black marks on a few tomato leaves were nothing to worry about, since the rest of the plant looked so healthy.

But today I found this:

And this!

Only one plant has bitten the dust so far, although I'm considering destroying the one next to it, which was in contact with it. It has a few leaf marks but no other signs yet. And I harvested nearly a kilo of green tomatoes from the infected plant, which I'm hoping to use somehow. As you can see, we're getting plenty of ripe tomatoes now from our nine (now eight) plants.

Look at this - isn't it the weirdest looking tomato plant you've seen?

This is the Sub-Arctic Plenty, which has always looked sickly but has lovely large round ripe fruits. It's virtually blue! I've no idea what's wrong with it. I dunno - maybe it's supposed to look like this...?

Bobby Seeds, and a Break in Brighton

Aaaah, we've just returned from a few days in Brighton - a wedding anniversary treat.

We only chose it because it's cheap and easy to get to by train from here, but with a wide choice of bars and cafes right on the beach, and a maze of arty crafty gifty shops to rival Camden market and Glastonbury festival put together, what a perfect place to spend a few days shopping and relaxing! The highlights for me as always (after the exceptional company, of course) were the eating places.

We treated ourselves to far too many full English breakfasts, a three course meal at Jamie's Italian, a huuuuge spread of Spanish tapas, and lobster on the seafront while the sun set. Bliss.

Anyway, now to something more gardening-related.

I've mentioned a few times before how I've searched long and hard for 'Moneta' cucumber seeds these last few years to no avail. Well, on my latest search, after our 'Wautoma' turned out terribly bitter (they got worse and worse as they went along, whatever I did - bleugh!) I found some - and found an interesting new seed supplier at the same time.

Bobby Seeds is based in Germany, and stocks hundreds of rare and unusual varieties, particularly of tomatoes and curcubits. I was so excited I went ahead and ordered my 'Moneta' seeds straight away ready for next year! Prices are in Euros, but checking out via Paypal makes payment very easy, and seeds and postage are pretty cheap. Watch out for some dodgy German-English translations though... I urge all who like to try something different to give it a look!

Supersized Stuffed Courgette

Aah, oversized courgettes. They'll always be inevitable for those of us whose plants are not in our own back gardens. And for those of us who go on holiday. They may be seedy. They may be watery. But they're certainly not useless.

We brought home this whopper last weekend, which weighed in at a massive 3.5kg/7.8lbs! Surely the biggest we've grown yet!

Nope, I couldn't even hold it up in one hand to take the photo - I had to rest it on my knee too.

I stuffed it and it fed the family nearly twice over - not bad! I'll include my recipe here, but it's extremely flexible really. Chuck in whatever you've got!

Stuffed (Giant) Courgette:
serves many

• Cut the courgette in half lengthwise and scoop the seeds out. Season generously, sprinkle with mild chilli powder and paprika and rub with garlic oil.
• Place in a 180C oven for 15-20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fry a chopped onion until soft.
  
• Add a chopped yellow courgette, a chopped red pepper, and a big pinch of paprika and chilli, and cook until soft.
• Add chopped mushrooms, a can of chopped tomatoes and a big splurge of tomato puree. Simmer a few minutes.
• Add two cans red kidney beans or similar and a pinch of basil. Simmer.
• Take the courgette halves out of the oven and tip away any liquid that's accumulated in them. Spoon in the vegetable mixture.
• Whiz two bread crusts and some cheddar in a food processor. Top the courgette halves with the crumbs.
• Return to the oven and bake for... well, I lost count actually. I think it was about 40 minutes. Until the courgette flesh is soft.
• Serve with buttery potatoes.

It was yummy, and I think it could have been even yummier with the addition of some chopped sausage too. The courgette skin was a bit tough, but easily discarded. Maybe next time I'll peel them.

Onions and... Garlic!

This is our onion and shallot harvest. Well, most of it - there were a few onions still putting some effort in, which we thought we'd leave in the ground a bit longer. We lost a fair few to white rot, and a lot of them are still quite small, but well, we've had worse.

And the really good news is... we've actually managed to produce some garlic this year too!

All right, they could be bigger, but I think they did quite well considering the forest of weeds that has swamped them for most of the summer. And they smell sooooo gooood. When are you supposed to harvest garlic? I forget. There are plenty more where these came from!

Summer Crookneck Squash

I had nearly given up on our 'Summer Crookneck' squash - one of the plants was producing tons of tiny fruits that rotted at just a couple of inches long, and the other hadn't shown any sign of even thinking about flowering. But somehow ignoring them for a couple of weeks seems to have done the trick.

I'm not sure I can bear to eat it - I think it's beautiful! Good job we've got a dozen more, and still more coming! This has obviously reached 'squash' stage - the skin is thick and hard - but we ate a smaller, more tender one today just like a courgette. And the best thing is, these have become useful just as the regular courgettes have started to dry up. Hurrah!