Where to start...all this heat has my brains addled. I guess I shall begin with the broadies: These broad-beans are ready, so I may as well get stuck-in. Finally I almost had a bushel basket full of these long lovelies. The patch looked sort of bare without all the pods. Yes, it is time to remove them and make way for more spinach and green manure. The Bride went through with a border fork and loosened them whilst I went onto my knees and lifted the plants, shaking some of the nitrogen nodules back onto the soil. If there ever was any doubt that some plants fix nitrogen on their roots--this pic od the broad bean roots proves the statement. The rest went into the compost bins. So then, the plants were out of the patch but what about the weeds. Well, as the Bride passed through the plot with a schoffel, I followed her, rakeing-up the severed weeds and placeingh them in a trug to go onto the compost. All ship-shape and Bristol fashion, wouldn't you agree?: After it was weed-free, I then raked it level and she made planting rows with this specialist tool--it makes the soil as fine as flour, in a manner of speaking...a fine tilth: Finally we threw a plank down of the soft soil and made drills, watered the drill, dropped in the spinach seeds, covered them and watered them one more time. That done, it was time to plant the green manure right next door. It was then time to be brave and enter the greenhouse to give the toms their second "haircut" and to tie-in the lengthening cordons. Can you see those partially naked stems? Ach guys, but it wasn't all hard work in the sun--there was also fun-work in the sun. It was time to have a leedel looksy under a couple of the potato plants: Yup, they izz ready alright. Oh my goodness gracious me !! Aren't these newbie's looking inviting. Yeah mates, this is fun-in-the-sun. But the fun wasn't over yet, wazzit? Oh noooooo! The last couple of strawbs could be harvested and the both beds must be properly cleaned--all the weeds and germinated hay seeds needed pulling. Oh that was seriously necessary as under the protective nets the weeds just had it all their way, but now that was over. We took frequent breaks to sip on water or tea and ate our sarnies and bikkies as we planned our next move. Our sitting area is pretty shady now that all the plants have well-leafed themselves out. It is indeed a shady little retreat from that blazing sun. A breeze, a couple butterflies and birdies on the feeder. Cor blimey, what a way to garden ! Looking back--a before and after demonstrating the veggie plots'' development (Then): Now: Well, when we got home it was late-ish and so we began immediately on sous-ing and cooking. We had to pile it into the wok a little at the time. First went in the new spud bits, peas, broad-beans, courgettes--anything we could get from the lottie. That is Swiss chard with lashings of last year's tomato concentrate. You could not be blamed for asking "How could this ever turn into something other than yucky? It all cooked down to this, and it was delicious: So I asked my Bride what she was going to call this culinary masterpiece. "Ratatouille", she replied", "or more like a lottietouille, I should say". I stood there with an open mouth, half smiling... "What do you say to that?", she quipped. I stood there like a deer caught in the headlights, and finally murmured, "Let's eat"!
Thanks so much, CAYU. It really was good and the Bride made enough for a second meal---its frozen in. I womder how our little courgettes will fare after the freezing.
They generally do not freeze well !! Believe me I have tried a hundred ways ! But if mixed with other vegetables no one notices if they go mushy,,its just part of the lottytouille sauce ! You are talking about eggplant aren`t you ?
@mart courgettes equals zucchini or you probably call them summer squash. Eggplants are called aubergines, my mum called eggplants brinjels. @Sjoerd great post, lovely garden and there is nothing tastier than the fruit of your work. Your potato patch looks brilliant.
Oh ! Yes ! Zucchini freeze ok although do get a little soft ! Not so mushy as to be bad though ! Just not crisp ! After being frozen you can squeeze dry,, season,, add an onion and an egg for a binder,, toss with cornmeal and fry as in small fritters ! They just deed a bit more seasoning because they have little flavor on their own !
MART--Odif answered your quezzy correctly. We eat lots and lots of courgettes during the summer season. We give away even more, especially to the Food Bank. Thanks for the nice compliment, ODIF.
Looking great Sjoerd! I am not at all familiar with broad beans ... are they shelled and stored? What do you make with broad beans? They look really interesting!
MART-- Yes, I have stuffed them with ground beef mixed with spices and veg. It's a bit of work, but very delicious. NETTY-- Broad beans. It is a great veg. They can be dried and stored...even ground up. We freeze them in without blanching. Of course they are best eaten freshly picked (with bacon fat bits) with or without summer savoury twigs. One eats them boiled and sat to the side of your spuds and meat on a plate. You can fry them, but then I would strongly suggest that you remove the outer skin of the bean first. We do not remove the outer bean skins because we never fry them. There are other ways to eat them to be sure. Spanish folks eat them in other ways I believe. Broad beans are a different sort of bean and if you ever want to try them we can chat about germination, planting, care and harvesting. I will hear from you if you try them, Oké.
No Cayu, they are habas in Spanish. Different from Lima’s. Lima’s are judías in Spanish. Does this help?
Chuckle. I'm lost. Not so good on food names in Spanish yet. I'll have to take that up with my teacher. We tend to talk politics. It is so interesting to hear what she hears & thinks.
