[ptarmigan]

Slightly off topic - but I don't think you need to peel apples to make apple jelly ... http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/recipe-for-old-fashioned-apple-jelly-43/

[cadalot]

Isn't that what the compost bin is supposed to be for? All the leafs and rejects and snail and slug attached produce that does not quite make it. Dalek 2 was topped up with slug attacked cabbage leafs, a layer of comfrey and a layer of spent compost today.

The only thing I don't compost is weeds 

[BabbyAnn]

Not much on the produce line has gone on the compost heap except the apples - I bagged them up with intentions of doing all sorts but it didn't happen and of course they sweated and have gone all mouldy.  I'm so cross with myself for not emptying the bags

[ptarmigan]

I compost weeds too - not the nasty perennial b*ggers.  But annuals I do - I figure there's so much weed seed blowing around not putting them in is outweighed by the benefits of them adding to the compost.  And I'm about to compost my runners - not doing them again...

[beesrus]

I suppose a lot of us start each season with great ideas of what we're going to do, and how we're going to cook/eat/pickle/ferment/ our way to heaven. I've still got 6lbs of blackberries in the freezer that were first supposed to go to wine and now are booked for jams, but I still haven't got my act together to actually do it. My podded runner beans were supposed to blanched and frozen for Winter soups, but now most will be used as dried beans, which while nice enough, aren't quite the same.

I've just harvested half a kilo of fresno and cayenne chilies today, and by Wednesday morning I'm determined to heat and dry out some for a ground chili powder for the winter, and turn the rest into the odd chili pickle and chutney. Must go look at the recipe forum.

[gypsy]

We did, we tried gerkins  yuk yuk and double yuk so all the rest went to the heap. Over twenty to be recycled for next year, wont be growing them again.

I did offer them out first but apparently everyone already knows they are gross 

I wish I had known... most of mine were bitter, but one or two were okay.

An Italian man on our allotments tells me that gerkins are only bitter if you do not nip the male flowers off.

[GrannieAnnie]

Slightly off topic - but I don't think you need to peel apples to make apple jelly ... http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/recipe-for-old-fashioned-apple-jelly-43/

I know you don't normally, but some of these marks go right down and are starting to rot the insides.  But I'll see how they go!

[LotuSeed]

Not yet, but can't find a home for my apples.  They are an eater, and I keep putting them on freecycle, but no one wants them.

I must get round to making something with them, maybe jelly or wine, but its all the cutting up, and the skins are very marked, so will have to be peeled too!   

Applesauce? Dried Apple rings?

I put loads of cucumbers on the compost pile. Some got to the size of 2 litre bottles and I just couldn't keep up with them all. Once cucumber blindness sets in it's a bust lol. The ones I did manage to catch in time and use were a little too bitter for my liking anyway. Oh well!

[Mrs Bee]

We did, we tried gerkins  yuk yuk and double yuk so all the rest went to the heap. Over twenty to be recycled for next year, wont be growing them again.

I did offer them out first but apparently everyone already knows they are gross 

I wish I had known... most of mine were bitter, but one or two were okay.

An Italian man on our allotments tells me that gerkins are only bitter if you do not nip the male flowers off.

I just love pickled gherkins. OH  keeps bringing me back carrier bags full and they all get pickled. I can eat a whole jar in  one sitting like sweeties.

We had loads of cucumber too and spares get turned into bread and butter pickle. Mr Bee's favourite.

And no I am pretty sure we didn't compost any edible crops. We shared with friends and neighbours, and the rest have been preserved in one way or another.

[Madame Cholet]

Not yet, but can't find a home for my apples.  They are an eater, and I keep putting them on freecycle, but no one wants them.

I must get round to making something with them, maybe jelly or wine, but its all the cutting up, and the skins are very marked, so will have to be peeled too!   

I have a fabulous little gadget that peels cores and slices in seconds when you turn the handle.

[snowdrops]

Mrs Bee, do you have a favourite recipe for pickled gherkins you can share please, DD was not keen on the recipe I found on YouTube, well more that some of the gherkins were a bit seedy, but I don't want to risk doing all the same recipe & not liking them when they are matured. Also would gherkins be suitable for bread & butter pickles do you think? Last year I made Springy's bread & butter pickles & loved them.

[snowdrops]

Not yet, but can't find a home for my apples.  They are an eater, and I keep putting them on freecycle, but no one wants them.

I must get round to making something with them, maybe jelly or wine, but its all the cutting up, and the skins are very marked, so will have to be peeled too!   

I have a fabulous little gadget that peels cores and slices in seconds when you turn the handle.

Lakeland do one of those I think.

[Madame Cholet]

You must all be better gardeners than me I only seem to have enough except for the odd squash that goes to the neighbours. I use all the surplus/ damaged stuff for soup in the winter.

[BabbyAnn]

I put loads of cucumbers on the compost pile. Some got to the size of 2 litre bottles and I just couldn't keep up with them all. Once cucumber blindness sets in it's a bust lol. The ones I did manage to catch in time and use were a little too bitter for my liking anyway. Oh well!

You need chickens!  The mature cukes that are too seedy are sliced lengthways in half for the chickens to eat the seeds and they love pecking at the fruits 

[Mrs Bee]

Mrs Bee, do you have a favourite recipe for pickled gherkins you can share please, DD was not keen on the recipe I found on YouTube, well more that some of the gherkins were a bit seedy, but I don't want to risk doing all the same recipe & not liking them when they are matured. Also would gherkins be suitable for bread & butter pickles do you think? Last year I made Springy's bread & butter pickles & loved them.

I have this one which is my favourite.
Wash, prick your gherkins all over with a thin skewer.
Then weigh them and for every 8ox of gherkins add 1 tablespoon of sea salt.
Cover  and leave over night.

Next morning rinse well and taste a small slice to check for saltiness. If too salty soak in cold water for 10 to 20 minute. Drain well and put in sterilised  jars.
Pour over cold flavoured vinegar.

Spiced vinegar

I make  flavoured vinegar and keep it in bottles until I need it for pickling.

The 2 recipes I like are
2 litres of vinegar.. I use half distilled white and half white wine vinegar
then in a stainless steel spice ball or in muslin  I put
1 tab black peppercorns
1 tab juniper berries
1 tab all spice berries
1 tab dill seed
2 tsp celery seed
3 bay leaves
3 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 tap chilli flakes
2 tabs salt
 Bring all ingredients to the boil and boil for 10 minutes. Leave over night to cool, then remove spices pressing to extract any juices and flavours.
If you like sweet gherkins add sugar to taste.

or to the same amount of vinegar add
5cm fresh ginger
2 tabs coriander seeds
1 tab black peppercorns
1 tab cardamom pods
1 tab allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
2 nutmegs, cracked with a mallet
1 tsp aniseed
1 tab sea salt
strips of lemon and orange rind

I would think that they would be OK for Bread and Butter pickles. I only use cucumbers for B and B pickles as the gherkins are 'MINE. ALL MINE' to be pickled for ME
Mr Bee gets the cucumber pickle as B and B.