It has been a busy lately, we have busily been processing our veg and fruit for the coming year. Perhaps you recall last week when we gave the toms got another haircut...in preparation for the coming ripening period. Most of the extra branches and all suckers were removed leaving a sad-looking denuded stems. Now the toms can give all their energy into producing fruits and not foliage. The marigolds also had their heads lopped-off. Last week's ravaging: Today's presentation: The pomodori's are beginning to colour-up...so we are already counting our empty sauce- concentrate jars in the pantry. The courgettes are really coming into their own. Look at this branch--eight fruits! Some more blueberries are ready for the picking. Then one of our seasonal high-points---ripened sweetcorn: That was our lunch today. Yummmmmm... Whilst roaming over the lottie complex, I saw that some folks had really tidy ways of "curing" their onions. And this one: Well, that was about it this time. It seems as if we have been catching-up the entire season so far. We still have a lot more growing, but our pantry and freezer are nearing capacity. There is still time, but we shall have to find room for the parsnip, sprouts and leeks that still have to come. We continue to have beans and courgettes, but they will go to neighbours and the Food Bank.
Excellent work, its all paying off now, the harvest time looks good for you. Especially the blueberries, yummy.
Everything looks great Sjoerd. I have a question regarding the onion drying. In theory, does that push the juice into the bulb? Nothing wrong with just pulling an onion out of the soil and using it right then? I just tried a few onion sets this year and was wondering. Grew leaks last year, boy they got big.
Fresh onions are milder, so when we dry them, their flavour gets stronger and probably, most importantly, the onions when dried will store longer without rotting.
Thanks ODIF--Yeah, I like pay-off time. Hiya 4-G--I am really happy to see you on here. The drying of the onions does not "push the onion's moisture down into the bulb", rather it is just a process where the foliage and outer skins ogf the onion dry to a point where it can be stored properly. If you string them up or place them away in a cool, dark drawer somewhere and the "necks" are still moist a fungal situation can develop and ruin the onion and sometimes the onions next to it. We strung ours this year. There is a whole process if one wants to do it according to Hoyle. You quite rightly state that one can simply lift a single onion and use it that same day. I do that as well sometimes. No harm there. Congrats on your leeks last year. I hope that your onions will do well for you this year. BTW--do you remember this thread?-- http://www.gardenstew.com/threads/making-an-onion-string.11490/ Thanks ISLAND.
Your harvest is beautiful Sjoerd. Mouth watering!! I am truly amazed at the set of fruits on your tomatoes and also on what you call courgettes!! Wow. Question for you re the tomatoes. It looks like they are growing in a greenhouse. Is that due to cool temps in Netherlands? How do the flowers get fertilized?
Hey there Cayu, Thanks for the nice compliments, meid. I am indeed growing my toms in a greenhouse. It is because of Phytophthora. This disease is so prevalent here that if I do not use a greenhouse, I would have nothing to harvest. Obviously the greenhouse also gives more heat and allows me more control over the development of the plants. I shake the branches of my flowering toms every couple of days to spread the pollen. i do miss shaking them sometimes for a week or two and somehow they get fertilized anyway. I do see a bumble bee in there sometimes as I always have a window open on the lee side of the greenhouse. I suppose that they get in there, although when I am in the garden and it is sunny, I open the door a crack as well. I hope that all is clear to you. If not, just ask for clarification and I shjall do my best to be clearer.
