Bumper Harvests.

We often wonder where the time goes, the weeks seem to fly by, what have we done with all this time? Well in the last week, Simon has redecorated the lounge, it's quite a big room, 30'X14' and had not been done since we first moved in, one wall was a burgundy colour, this is now a rather nice antique sage.

The front of the cottage has received it's first coat of Weather Shield and it needed doing although it was only done four years ago, these decoration jobs have been fitted in between rainy and sunny days

and harvesting vast quantities of fruit.

So far this week I have processed around forty pounds of fruit,

I had to make some scones, just to check the jam was OK.

some is now jam, some frozen and the rest has been bottled, plus two more batches of Elderflower cordial has been made, just in time for the gooseberry harvest, elderflower and gooseberries compliment each other . I had just put on the last batch of Strawberry jam and in he comes, bearing gifts,

the first gooseberry bush has been picked, another ten ponds of fruit and we have eight bushes, I am assured that this is the harvest from the biggest bush, I hope so as there is  lots of blackcurrants to be picked as well as the redcurrants. Well that's what we have done in the last week, next week I will again be making jam, Gooseberry, Blackcurrant as well as  Blackcurrant cordial. The strawberries have now given us 'the' big pick, they should now just keep giving us a few for desert but there will be another big pick from the raspberries. I had considered  using jam sugar this year, just for the Strawberry jam but I looked at the label,( yes I'm a label reader.) Now if I see something advertised as jam sugar I expect the contents to be sugar and pectin, not so, jam sugar contains PALM OIL, why? Am I missing something here, since when has palm oil been an ingredient of jam? Palm oil seems to be put into just about everything that is sold in supermarkets even when there are good alternatives. Do none of these faceless corporations care anything for the plight of the indigenous peoples and the habitats of Orangutans? I guess not, just profit.

Calabrese, sprouts and cabbage.

Potatoes now ready to harvest.

   
Next week the potatoes will be harvested, if the amount of leaf is anything to go by we will have a good crop,

we have already started eating the carrots, just the thinning's, although they are a decent size.

5.7 ozs, not a bad size.

The garlic once again has been very good, it's now all harvested,

and we are getting plenty of courgettes and mange tout peas.

Last winter must have been wet,

although our roses are looking lovely they have all developed blackspot so I will have to come up with a spray for them that wont harm wild life,

You can just see the blackspot on these leafs.

if anyone has a non chemical treatment please leave a comment.

Shame there is no perfume.

The first of the lilies are also in flower but these are not perfumed which is a shame, the white lilies which are only in bud have a lovely perfume.

A cultivated Loosestrife.

We have had to re-sow cauliflower seeds, unfortunately the hot weather came just at the wrong time and all the plants bolted, more French beans have been sown, they will go in the tunnel to give us a late crop. I am sat here listening to the very satisfying sound of jam pot lids popping, this is the last of the strawberry jam, such a good sound to hear.
A few more garden flower pictures.

   

Purple mallow.

Double flowered Feverfew.