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!

Beetroots - and an imposter!

Today we harvested beetroots! This is another NomeGrown first - previous attempts have yielded beetroots too small to be worth the hassle of preparing them. Some of these, on the other hand, might even be too big and woody!

Can you spot the odd one out? I'm guessing there was a stray seed in the pack, but heck if I know what it is. The leaves are the same as beetroot leaves (though taller), but with white veins instead of red.

Answers on a postcard please!

UPDATE: A bit of poking around on Google reveals that it's not uncommon for a white root or two to pop up in a line of Boltardy beetroots - which mine are. BUT... they are usually still beetroot shaped. Weird...

Tomato Update

Last night I received my first email alert from the free 'Blightwatch' service, telling me that we were experiencing a 'full Smith period' situation - i.e. the temperature and the humidity in my area was just right for blight over two consecutive days - and out I rushed and sprayed my tomatoes with a 50% milk spray, which is supposed to help protect the plants. This is by far my most successful year for outdoor tomatoes yet - I'd hate to see them take a turn for the worse now. What a great service!

Remember when I saved seeds from my favourite supermarket tomatoes and planted some? Check these out:

They are looking pretty true to type so far - although the proof will be in the tasting... The plant is rather unusual - incredibly sparse and easy to manage!

Two years ago I grew a few 'Hundreds and Thousands' tomato plants which I bought from Suttons, and the following year I found a few had self-sown around the place in various pots. Since I didn't have a very good gardening year last year, I basically ignored the plants... And this year they were popping up everywhere in my garden! The sprawling plant below is one of these 'second generation' volunteers, and just like its grandparents it has literally hundreds of tiny tomatoes ripening, and hundreds more flowers on the way! I will have to make sure more self-seed for next year!

This 'Sub-Arctic' tomato plant has always looked rather sickly and has a lot of yellow leaves, but it is still bearing a couple of dozen good-sized fruits.

So much for 45 days from sowing to harvest though - this was sown way back in March!

We also have two 'Red Cherry' plants, two 'Moneymaker' and two 'Gardener's Delight'. I always go on about how Red Cherry seem to perform best for me (despite ultimate total tomato failure!), and sure enough they have been the first to ripen!

Red Cherry:

Moneymaker:

Gardener's Delight:

All right, I know; you know what tomatoes look like. But this is very exciting for me!

This is also the first year I've had any real success with chillies and peppers (fingers crossed - haven't actually eaten any yet). Here are my first green 'King of the North' peppers.

And here are my beautiful Jalapeno chillies.

Anyone know why they're turning black in some places?