Week 12

The climax of high summer has been and gone so quickly, and now it seems the season’s descent has begun. Days are noticeably shorter, verdant hues on the plot are making way for more yellows, and some plants look positively scraggly. However, the best is yet to come in the eating department.

Runner beans and courgettes are going hell for leather right now and show no sign of slowing down. Rocket, spring onions, baby chard, lettuce, radishes and overgrown new potatoes fill our plates or soup bowls every evening.

What I’m gearing up for next is an eruption of ripe of tomatoes. We’ve got several varieties from beef-style to Gardener’s Delight cherry toms and every plant has branches slumping on the soil with the sheer weight of green fruit.

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Last weekend, husband Dan came up with a brilliant solution for lifting and separating the tomatoes, which is essential for ventilation, ripening and disease prevention, beyond the plant merely being tied to a strong stake. We made a few pyramids over the plants, each one out of four tall bamboo sticks poked in the soil and tied together at the top. We then looped strings over the top of the wigwam and suspended the heavy branches from the end of the strings in several places. Works a treat!

Anticipating a bit of August sunshine, we lifted all our red and yellow onions and multitudinous garlic bulbs so they could dry out on the soil surface. We might as well have been doing a rain dance, as the rain has barely let up since. Fingers crossed for a bit more sunshine this week so they’ll dry off and be ready to collect and store.

Soon I’ll have three vacant beds for August sowing. Perfect for lettuces, chard, some more coriander and dill and perhaps there’s still time to sow some Florence bulbing fennel if I hurry.

Check out gardener and cook extraordinaire Sarah Raven’s website for a staggering array of lettuces that can be sown now. This Allotment Growing website has some good suggestions.

Now back to processing those runner beans…any recipe suggestions most welcome.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Here’s how Charles Dowding www.charlesdowding.com recommends storing your onions in his book “Organic Gardening: The No-Dig Way”. “Make a rope: hang a stout string at head height, tie about four onions to its bottom by looping and tying the string securely around their necks, then drop onions one by one from on top, held in place by one loop of their necks around the string. Finally cut off all the tops that are sticking out, and hang the heavy rope in dry warmth until needed.”

Seasonal Recipe: Minted chargrilled courgettes

This simple courgette treatment uses vinegar and mint to bring out the best in this copiously cropping vegetable, which you might be needing a little extra inspiration for in the kitchen right about now! Crumble over some feta cheese and serve on a bed of rocket leaves for a more substantial salad.

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