Vegetable Growing 2021

The first of a courgette glut?



I very much hope so after the very slow start.


Anyway, here it was a few moments ago.

 

I give it a week and you'll be back on here asking for tips on what to do with them all

 

My courgettes are doing terribly this year. One came to fruition and was delicious. 3 more have dropped off. One of my round ones is growing oddly and the others are all looking a little yellow and may yet drop off. Seem to have trouble getting them pollinated? Finger's crossed they improve.

 

For recipe ideas: I've recently discovered how well courgettes cook on the BBQ. Cut them into large batons and put them on two skewers so they are all flat like railway sleepers on train tracks. Brush with olive oil and grill them on the barbie, then serve with a dipping sauce. Delicious. They hold their texture very well, have a lovely crunch, very filling and work well with a dip or glaze at the end (as they don't have a huge amount of flavour themselves).

 

I find the best thing to do with courgettes is to give them away, lots of gullible people out there.

I dont really know why I bothered growing them, just a nice plant to grow really, but the fruits are not something I like.

I wont bother again, I dont think.

I used to grow marrows for the rest of the family so it was a kind of a walk down memory lane thing.
Half the time I just grow plants because I like doing it regardless of the outcome.

 

Mrs Scrungee thought I'm being excessive by growing 3 giant marrow plants (3rd is in another location)



Until I showed her a picture of somebody growing 19 giant marrows




Mine should get to 15 feet long by the end of this week, when I intend to start setting the first marrows.

Got a new problem with trailing marrow and other squashes this year, birds (pigeons?) attacking the leaves, hence the netting.

P.S. the hoops are in place ready to throw debris netting over if heavy hail is forecast, to prevent their leaves from being shredded.

 

First picking of runner beans. There's been loads of flowers and masses of smaller ones coming on. Already worrying about sufficient freezer space.

 

I am also growing the yellow ones.





The glut is coming along nicely but I've not quite reached the point where I need to ask for tips on what to do with them all as I both like eating them and giving them away (very happy that there are indeed many gullible people).

 

The first of the mulberry & plum pickings.




Here they were moments ago.






The wonderfully frustrating thing about mulberries is that they are incredibly difficult to pick. They are so sweet and juicey that they end up being gobbled with only a few making it into the basket.

 

That's much earlier than around here. We've been given access to a few Mulberry trees, but not expecting any for a while.

 

I agree, it is quite strange.

This particular tree was planted in a relatively sheltered but shaded location. It was the last tree in the neighbourhood to come into leaf yet still produced fruit in good time.

So, it is a good thing that I took cuttings and did an air layering of it back in April.