[New shoot]

It just dawned on me its that time of year again.

My kitchen is starting to look like a production line.  Piles of produce everywhere all washed, packed and lined up for the dehydrator, sauce making (remembering to keep the skins for tomato skin powder - done 1 batch already  ), blanching ready for the freezer .............  and I've not even done any serious pickling or preserving yet 

[Lardman]

It's really slow here, I've done one batch of runners for the freezer but that's all.  I looked at the courgette plants earlier and there's just nothing on them  Im about to lose the battle with botyrtis in the bottom GH which will see off the tomatoes very early this season.   

Still there's always next year....

[mumofstig]

The end worktop of my kitchen is covered in harvested stuff, and green toms hopefully ripening (if they're not quick about it - they'll be green tomato chutney  )

Ratatouille portions are in freezer, passata in freezer, French beans in freezer, bags of cherry toms in freezer, sliced peppers in freezer - so I'm doing well, so far 

[surbie100]

Some of the toms have blight. 

And since discovering courgette crisps in the dehydrator, we don't have enough courgettes! 

[Beetroot Queen]

What worktops I cant see them. 

[mumofstig]

Some of the toms have blight. 

That's why I have so many green ones - I'm turning them all each day, and throwing away any that develop the brown marks. It's 4 days since I chopped the plants down and I only found 1 dodgy 1 today 

[New shoot]

Its a showery day today, so some serious squirrelling away is planned.

I have a pile of tomatoes for sauce making and loads of french beans to deal with, plus the first batch of peppers from the greenhouse.  I'm contemplating Italian style preserved peppers as I have a recipe for these I've been wanting to try    The other option would be a mixed garden pickle as I have cucamelons and courgettes as well - decisions, decisions 

The dehydrator has just finished doing raspberries and pineapple.  The pineapples were 65p Aldi ones, so have got a whole jar full for just £1.30.  It tastes just as good as I had hoped, having read rave reviews from others 

 

[Lardman]

I've just taken out 2 courgettes I sliced and put in the dehydrator only to find I binned all my coffee jars in a fit of 'must clean-up' madness last week  They're not bad as crisps, perhaps a little seasoning is needed but certainly munchable.

.. The pineapples were 65p Aldi ones

I saw a recipe for sweet pineapple and habanero sauce yesterday ... 65p makes it tempting.

[mumofstig]

Today there's a big pot of pasta/chilli sauce bubbling away and I've chopped a bagful of purple beans for blanching in a mo.

I forgot the white vinegar for the sweet peppers, so they'll wait on the plants for another day or 2

[jaydig]

Know what you mean. I'm just taking time out from the veg factory to catch up with you guys. I spent yesterday morning on the allotment and the kitchen surfaces are all covered with bags of veg, plus a carrier bag full of windfall cooking apples. My freezer is absolutely rammed, and the neighbours run and hide when they see me coming with yet more veggies. I have just finished clearing out and re-organising the freezers so I can get some more stuff in, and I'm due to go to the allotment again in the morning. My husband is always asking why I grow so much, but you always have to put in a bit extra for insurance, don't you, and I can't bear throwing any plants away once they have struggled to germinate and grow.  It's the same every year, but I bet if I only sowed and planted exactly what I thought we'd need, it would be a dreadful year, and we'd end up not having enough. Has anyone out there cracked it yet?

[surbie100]

I've just taken out 2 courgettes I sliced and put in the dehydrator only to find I binned all my coffee jars in a fit of 'must clean-up' madness last week  They're not bad as crisps, perhaps a little seasoning is needed but certainly munchable.

I sprinkle mine with a little lemon, salt and a good twist of black pepper. Yum. Goes amazingly well with homemade tzatziki.

The dehydrator has just finished doing raspberries and pineapple.  The pineapples were 65p Aldi ones, so have got a whole jar full for just £1.30.  It tastes just as good as I had hoped, having read rave reviews from others 

The pineapple is gorgeous. Have come back from the market with a loaded bike. Have you tried watermelon yet? That's next on our list. Small Child is eating my produce as fast as the dehydrator can churn it out.

[sunshineband]

Do you season the courgettes before they go in the dehydrator? How thick are your slices? My first lot shrivelled up a lot.

Currently I am dealing with the raspberry mountain: dehydrator going and a vat of jam boiling too. Dehydrated raspberries are just amazing -- winter porridge springs to  mind there 

[New shoot]

Have you tried watermelon yet?

No I haven't, so consulted the dehydrator book.  It is recommended you cut the flesh into chunks, as slices dry paper thin and can be difficult to get off the trays 

[Lardman]

I sprinkle mine with a little lemon, salt and a good twist of black pepper. Yum. Goes amazingly well with homemade tzatziki.

I was of a mind to sprinkle some Cajun seasoning over them to give them a bit of a twang

Do you season the courgettes before they go in the dehydrator? How thick are your slices? My first lot shrivelled up a lot.

I tried both with the box grater on the slice side and with a knife about 2mm thick. The thicker ones were more cougettey the grated ones could have been anything as they were too thin to taste and no use for dipping.

[tosca100]

Have you tried watermelon yet?

No I haven't, so consulted the dehydrator book.  It is recommended you cut the flesh into chunks, as slices dry paper thin and can be difficult to get off the trays 

I start the watermelon on baking paper and put them onto the tray once they have shrunk a bit as they are very juicy and sticky at first.