What's growing in the Greenside Up garden mid October 2011?

Perpetual spinach, rosemary, tarragon, chives and carrots

I've been asked a few times this week "what're you harvesting/growing now in your veggie garden", so on this misty, rainy late October morning out in the polytunnel having a quick tidy up, I took a few pics...


It mightn't look like it but we are eating the spinach!  The caterpillars had a good old munch this year but once the worst of the leaves were removed, the not so holey ones have been added to stir fries, curries and accompanying stews and roasts.

Still producing courgettes!

If you've been following Greenside Up on Twitter or Facebook  you'll know that our two indoor and one outdoor courgette plants have been prolific this year! Of the two plants in the polytunnel, one now has a bad dose of powdery mildew but this one is hanging on in there. There are a few recipes using courgettes on the tab above that we've enjoyed, the most recent being the courgette, pistachio and chocolate cake.

Strawberries and grapevine

These few strawberry plants that were moved into the tunnel during the early spring produced the sweetest berries. Sadly the magpies ate ALL the grapes!

Chilli peppers

Looking a bit holey now, we've had our best crop of chilli's this year from the couple of plants grown. On advice from a community gardener once harvested they were placed on a tray and individually frozen before bagging up ~ worked a treat!

Great carrot crop!

The carrots were thinned after the picture was taken but this early crop planted a couple of months ago love to grow in the polytunnel where the soil tends to be drier. Beyond them are the winter lettuce and pak choi that were planted today. The big leaf at the front is a globe artichoke that if it survives the winter, I may regret planting inside!

Grown from a saved seed - variety 'anyonesguessia'

Yet to grow a successful crop of squashes in the Greenside Up garden, but not one to give up this is the best to date. Next year I'm planning to grow smaller varieties.

Gardening's not for the faint hearted - have learnt to avoid but love and admire these little critters.

Confession here in that outside has been a little neglected of late. Not that I'm a fair weather gardener, more that heading outside in the cold, rain when I've a couple of free hours hasn't especially inspired me. Dry day or not, am going to have to make a date with my garden soon as a couple of beds still need clearing, manuring and covering before the winter months.

Misty and slightly neglected veg patch

I did say squashes don't grow well here - despite lots of manuring they never reach a good size outside!

This is supposed to be a pumpkin!

The courgette plant's the same although it did produce lots of very regular sized, healthy fruit...

Courgette and borage

I'm never disappointed by a failure in the veg garden as more can be learnt from observing it than any book can teach you. Aware that I'd planted the runner beans out too late this year (last week in June), they never really took off and most succumbed to the usual mildews before they got to a reasonable size.

Runner beans with sweet peas grown at the end of the poles to
encourage pollinating insects

Bumper crop of swedes these year the size of small footballs. Love these mashed with carrots ... yum.

Swede

Still with me?? There's more..... Note to self - sow more leeks next year! Never have enough of this lovely crop.

Leeks with dill gone to seed

We lost last year's celery to the winter snow, another note to self ~ pick it!! Our favourite & quickest way to eat the colourful rainbow chard is to steam it and serve it as an accompanying veg.

Parsley, celery and rainbow chard

A veg patch wouldn't be complete without the odd cabbage or two....

Cabbage plant

Okay, even I'm tiring of this now so the last picture will be of our trusty old kale. Have another bed with kale, cauliflower and cabbage and yet another full of the green manure grazing rye (sorry Mr G, can see already it's going to be a back breaking job digging that over!).

Green and Scarlet Curly Kale

So, how've you got on this year in your veg patch ~ successes, failure, must do next year? Would love to hear how you're doing.