Somehow I’ve successfully grown a total of FIVE aubergines (in the worst Summer in the history of the world!) obviously five aubergines isn’t enough for all the Croft Share customers but it is enough to make Brinjal Pickle – a very tasty Indian chutney. So that’s what I’ve done. I’ve made three different types of chutney for the Christmas markets, all using crab apples and other croft produce. I boiled the crab apples and pushed the pulp through a sieve as that seemed like less hassle than trying to peel and core several kilos of one inch apples.
Next on the preserving calendar is Rosehip jelly. We have a lot of Rosa rugosa which produces nice big rosehips over a long period. Some of the Rosa rugosa has started flowering again, maybe in response to that warm spell we had. I recently read about a market garden in Dunkeld which experienced a severe frost mid September. This killed off all their tomatoes, French beans and squash. I have to admit that does sound worse than three months of rain.
This week could be the last picking of tomatoes and French beans, yes sadly the Summer vegetables are coming to an end. There are only about three months of the year when I’m not looking after tomato plants. Tomato tending starts again in January, I have a complicated arrangement with heated propagators and a grow light. In March the tomatoes go into a little caravan during the day, back in the house at night. In April they are in a mini greenhouse, inside the Polycrub and finally in May I can plant them in the soil!
All this year’s potatoes have been harvested as well. This has been our best tattie year, I know this defies all logic considering the weather. After three years of ploughing and growing in the back field we realised that first and second earlies grow fast enough to cope with our erratic weather and clay soil. Maincrop potatoes need more cosseting, they need better drainage and less weed pressure. We tried some new Maincrop varieties and I’ve settled on Cara as the best type for our croft. We also discovered that fast growing first earlies can be planted in July.
This week’s Croft Shares will have –
Small – leeks, sprouts/tops, salad leaves, one or two courgettes and French beans or mange tout.
Medium – leeks, sprouts/tops, salad leaves, courgettes, tomatoes, broccoli and chard.