[Biscombe]

I'm chuffed to bits! Here in Spain It's all coming together! We're eating Arran Pilot spuds, Okra, Loads of tomatoes, Squash, French Beans (not runners-failure)    Peppers and courgettes! The hightlight was picking my very first aubergine last night! Last night I made a, aubergine and tomato bake with basil and olive oil!! All our own!!!  Sorry to go on but I'm thrilled! What are you all eating?? Tell all!!

[mellowmick]

Peas just out of the pods, strawberries, rocket and the occasional Duke of York, although they're only just flowering and I should really leave them for a bit. Nothing else through just yet, but only started at the end of February. Broad beans look like they're next, then it will be broad beans and spuds with either rabbit or wood pigeon. Haven't decided which pest to eliminate first.

[Sadgit]

so far had some lovely new pots, courgettes, tons of rocket, basil, various salad leaves, onions (well what I had left ).

Oh and loads of Broc

[Oliver]

I'm chuffed to bits!  ... easting ....All our own!!!

They are eating: courgettes, patty pans, gem squash, peas, Nadine potatoes, 6 sorts of lettuces, cut&come leaves, corriander, parsley, basil, dill, climbing french beans, fat hen (a weed!!! but much better than -) spinach, seakale, beeetroot, shallots, Hispi summer cabbage, cauliflower. Raspberries, black  and red currants, gooseberries and He has become quite a dab hand at making Rhubard Crumble.

Coming on, but not ready yet: aubergine, peppers, tomatoes (pretty pathetic this year!!), corn (very dubious this year), more potatoes, onions, carrots (3 kinds), beans: runners, dwarf french, barlotto, pumpkins (3 kinds), Savoy cabbages, purple sprouting, curly kale, leeks, spring onions. More coriander and parsley. Blackberries. and the famous melon! Lunabel

Also picking flowers like crazy, especially as this is the 'going out' season(sweet peas, cosmos, clary sage, carrot-gone to-seed, blupleurum, rudbeckia, ammi, amaranthus, larkspur, dahlias, etc) people love to get home-grown stuff for 'presents'. Beats the bottle of wine or box of choclates, any day.

It's lovely to read about everyone picking their own stuff for the first time and being so pleased about having grown something! welll done everyone - keep it up! Oliver

[Oliver]

onions (well what I had left ).

Sorry about your onions. We never bother with Red Baron as they are quick to bolt, especially in hot conditions. Stick to the' boring' old Stuttgarter - they work and keep well - ours last from one season to the next. After all, we grow to eat throughout the season. Better luck next time. O

[Jake]

seakale,

Wow, I've eaten that but I thought it only grew on beaches, I saw it in Mary Port, Cumbria. How do you grow it? is it shop bought seed?

Anyway, last night with our sausages we had peas, broad beans, spinach and duke of yorks.

Still not quite got the hang of cooking these(the spuds). The skins always come off but they taste good, if a little dry.

Other veg is Wilja potatoes, Maris Peer, chard, fennel, corgette, tayberry, red currant (but they were already there). French beans are nearly ready but I didn't pay attention. I have long canes in a kind of semi wigwam shape, only later realized that they are a dwarf variety so now they just look stunted.

[Oliver]

seakale,

this is also called Swiss Chard. Bought the seed, from Sutton's I think. Very good veg for overwintering. Eat the leaves like spinach, and the stalks like asparagus with the various sauces you would with sparagus. You can also cut the stalks up into 5mm strips and use them as a substitute for beansprouts.

... only later realized  ...

hee hee hee. She labels EVERYTHING (she thinks) but occasionally something goes haywire and the labels drop off or something. So she planted her dwarf beans but they looked like they wanted a pole to climb up, so she put up some bean poles and they turned out to be climbing blue lake french beans!! So they are rather closer together than she would normally plant them! Still edible though! Yum

[hermon]

fantastic tattys, courgettes,french beans, runner beans, rocket, lettuces, cucumbers(small prickly ones) a bit of broccolli, cauliflower,curly kale.cabbage,spinach,raspberries,strawberries (not many!!)

waiting for; sweeto corn, brocolli (tender stem/purple sprouting) carrots,romanesco,onions,garlic,pak choi,

seemed to have lost my brussels!!

[Heather_S]

Seakale isn't the same as chard. Leaf Beet, silverbeet, Perpetual Spinach are all other names for Swiss chard. It's related to the sea *beet* but not seakale.

So far, we have about 10lbs of mostly Edzell Blue (2nd earlies, which appear to be quite slug resistant!!), millions of shallots both small/normal and exhibition sized, garlic, sugar snap peas (the purple podded peas are a bit gone now and some of them have holes in them from the pea moth caterpillars), beetroot, redcurrants, some blackcurrants (which are being turned into blackcurrant gin), chard, strawberries are pretty much done and dusted..., calabrese (didn't turn out too well, not very good heads), and one purple cauliflower! Those Grafitti F1 cauliflowers really do look just as bright as the photos are in the catalogues! Rhubarb is past for us too.

Herbs are just too many to name... the borage is still quite large and I hacked away at it on one side to give my dill seedling a sporting chance. The borage is too large to eat any of the leaves now... the hairs are like deadly spikes! The oregano is in bloom and attracting bees and butterflies. Thyme is still somewhat in bloom. Sage is finished flowering but has lovely large leaves on now. Mint is nice and large. Dyer's chamomile still has large yellow flowers. Feverfew still blooming. Calendula growing nicely now, even the ones I planted as seed this year are starting to form buds. The nigella is blooming nicely now too.

[Celtic Eagle]

So far

Little Gem lettuce nice and crisp very tasty
Red Baron onions a few some idiot thought it was fun to pull a bunch up and I didn't want to waste 'em (the onions not the idiot)
Spinach beet an experiment definately to be repeated Yummm
Bunyard Exhibition broad beans nice and sweet raw tasty cooked as well!!
Timperly Early rhubarb Yummmmy

Nearly ready
More Little Gem
More Broad beans
French beans

just sown
Rocket
salad green
swede
turnip


Oh it's great fun this and so peaceful on the plots only about 6 of us 3 growers 3 pigeon fanciers  nice and quiet

Cheers

[John]

Bunyards Exhibition are rather nice.
First earlies for a while now, salad crops, onions, garlic, courgettes (courgettes, courgettes...) and as of yesterday tomatoes.
Had a really nice cucumber from Larry as well and the strawberries were good.

Sweetcorn and climbing beans coming along and the brassicas are coming on as well although not as hoped for thanks to weather, pigeons and not enough nutrition in the soil.

Pumpkins going mad and the squash is looking promising too.

Parsnips = disaster, carrots and salsify .. well we'll see.

[Fafafifi]

I had my first 'big' harvest from the allotment last night.  I wanted to see what I wasn't going to have to buy at the supermarket today and it worked out at about 3 tesco bagfuls so I was dead chuffed!  

Anyway the contents of these bags were potatoes (red duke of york, mimi and Anya), 6 courgettes (Defender), 2 mini squashes (sunburst I think), loads of sugar snap peas (Sugar Ann), ormal peas (Kelvedon Wonder) broad beans (The Sutton), few French beans (Cobra), Lettuce (webbs wonderful & Little gem).

So tonight (for the first time in my life I might add...) I am looking forward to cooking a dinner of roast potatoes, stuffed courgettes and a recipie with the broad beans that I found in a Moroccan cookbook I got from the library, I can't wait!

[John]

So tonight (for the first time in my life I might add...) I am looking forward to cooking a dinner of roast potatoes, stuffed courgettes and a recipie with the broad beans that I found in a Moroccan cookbook I got from the library, I can't wait!

Morrocan broad beans - sounds interesting - let us know how it goes and what the recipe is. I loved the food in Morroco even if we hated being pursued by salespeople offering bargains.

[Debz and Jon]

Spinach (nearly finished - but had major breakthrough with daughter, wont eat lettuce but cant get enough of raw spinach!), carrots, strawberries, loads of courgettes, strawberries, raspberries (bit sporadic so pick a few then put them in the freezer!), onions, beetroot, radish.  Cant wait for my runner beans  

[Fafafifi]

Well I am sat here happy and with a full tummy!

The Moroccan broad beans turned out fine and tasted good - husband who is from that neck of the woods ate them all up and said it was something that his mum used to make when he was a kid, so I took that as a thumbs up!

The recipie is to stir fry some spring onions in butter, then add cooked broad beans, then add some olive oil, ground cumin, chopped mint and coriander, mix together, and serve - nice and easy!