I feel I should now tell you - as I finally feel able to share it - that while we were away on holiday at the end of May, my dad accidently turned off the freezer where all my rhubarb was stored. It all had to be disposed of along with the rest of the freezer contents.
Well Monday past (a holiday here in Northern Ireland) saw me out in the rhubarb patch again. Another 15 pounds of rhubarb was pulled, washed, chopped and stored in the freezer. The husband picked about half of the blackcurrants. That's them all in the three pots below - a total of 19.5 pounds. I washed them, put them in bags (two pounds to a bag) and put them in the freezer. Later in the year I'll use them to make blackcurrant jelly and cordial.
The raspberries have started ripening plentifully as well. We eat some and freeze some for another time.
There have already been two ripe tomatoes from the greenhouse but the rest of them are still green. A 'prepare for a bumper tomato crop' warning has already been issued so I can tell I'll be making a lot of pasta sauce.
These peas were part of our dinner - straight from the pods and given a quick boil. The husband grows lots of peas but not very many of them get into the kitchen as he stands and eats them in the garden!
So this was what we had for dinner: steamed new Rooster potatoes, baby turnip (boiled and then fried), peas and a fried egg (laid by one of our own hens). The slice of fried pineapple didn't come from our garden but everything else on the plate was home produce. That's gardening success I'd say. It was delicious!
Sorry I didn't think to take any photos of these but last weekend I cooked the first of the beetroot. They were small but that's the way I like them to be. More tender I think. Not that I eat any of it! Yes, I know it's very good for you; I've tried it many times and I just don't like it. I also roasted shallots and some of our elephant garlic.
We got a new rose and five hens but I'll tell you about those another day. The hens are taking a few days to settle in but they seem to be getting used to things now.
All the best for now!
Hello Gillian, I am in awe of your garden produce it looks and I bet tastes wonderful. I look forward to more of your "wonderful garden" posts.
ReplyDeleteluv
irene
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Thanks Irene. I'm sure there will be more garden posts to come.
DeleteSo upsetting about your freezer! I am glad that you have more rhubarb to pick though, but you must have been so sad. You have masses of blackcurrants though! xx
ReplyDeleteMore blackcurrants to come if the birds don't eat them all.
DeleteThis post makes me homesick. When I was growing up we had loads.of blackcurrants and picked them to make jam at this time of year. And dinners in July were usually new potatoes and butter with freshly shelled peas. I've planted a blackcurrant bush but it hasn't produced more than a few berries this year. Missing the farmyard manure or something. How lucky you are to have bees - nothing like honey straight from the comb.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're feeling a bit homesick. We're making the most of the new potatoes - with butter of course. So delicious. Fruit bushes usually take a couple of years before they produce much. Also the birds help themselves to any fruit so you may need to put a net over the bush in future.
DeleteHow wonderful to have so many things growing there. My chickens may start laying any day now - I can't wait for eggs!
ReplyDeleteOh yummy - you'll really notice the difference between your own eggs and shop bought.
DeleteWow ! That is a lot of fruit! I am impressed. It must be wonderful to have so much that you have options for what you could do with each one. Not just jam, but jellies, cordials, preserves, ice cream, crumbles, pies... I would love to try making cordial one day. And your plate of home produce looks delicious. It must be so satisfying to think that you grew almost everything on your plate. x
ReplyDeleteCordial is easy to make - much easier than jam as you don't have to get it to the correct setting point. I'll do a post about it sometime. I've already done a post about elderflower cordial which is extremely easy to make. Blackcurrant cordial takes a bit more work but still easy enough.
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