Well, not all veg strictly speaking but I am still getting ( ridge )
cucumbers, have 20+ tomatoes still to ripen, my runner beans which gave up
in late summer have decided to try again for a few more beans, and my
greenhouse sweet peppers are turning red one by one.

I also have left a couple of radicchio heartening up, and my Conference
pears (?slim ones ) still aren't quite ripe. Parsnips need to wait for the
frost, and my Savoy winter cabbages are passable for juveniles though full
of slug holes.

On a mysterious note I had some brassica type things come up of their own
accord this summer but I don't know what they are. They have typical collard
greens type leaves, but there is a single thick purple stem maybe six inches
high and a further thickening at ground level, though not enough to be a
swede. Above the purple stem comes a short bit of greener tissue which
throws out a dozen or more stems in all directions, some are are up to 18"
long.

Any ideas? I didn't plant them.

Andy.

"Andy" wrote ...
Well, not all veg strictly speaking but I am still getting ( ridge )
cucumbers, have 20+ tomatoes still to ripen, my runner beans which gave up
in late summer have decided to try again for a few more beans, and my
greenhouse sweet peppers are turning red one by one.

I also have left a couple of radicchio heartening up, and my Conference
pears (?slim ones ) still aren't quite ripe. Parsnips need to wait for the
frost, and my Savoy winter cabbages are passable for juveniles though full
of slug holes.

Tomatoes all surcumbed to blight two weeks ago (including Ferline!!), Sarpo
Axona spuds are still growing strongly and flowering with no sign of blight,
"Chertsey" carrots are doing as well as usual (own seed), second flush of
runner beans coming to an end, pumpkins beginning to look sad but "Turks
Turbans" are growing apace, Sprouts doing well (taste nice too) as are the
winter caulis, savoys and "Winter Tundra" cabbages except I noticed some
caterpillar holes, sweet potatoes are all over the place they have grown so
well this year (now I can see the family trait!), mixed lettuce nearly ready
to start using, Romain lettuce is growing well, perhaps time to put in some
more before winter.


On a mysterious note I had some brassica type things come up of their own
accord this summer but I don't know what they are. They have typical
collard greens type leaves, but there is a single thick purple stem maybe
six inches high and a further thickening at ground level, though not
enough to be a swede. Above the purple stem comes a short bit of greener
tissue which throws out a dozen or more stems in all directions, some are
are up to 18" long.

That sounds exactly like one of the Indian Saag (or Sag) plants we grew a
few years ago, grown from a cutting given to me by a neighbour. Grew a bit
like a cabbage bush.
Not as nice as the Saag we grew this year from seed brought back by a friend
from the Punjab, although it grew too quickly in the heat and went straight
to flower, also seemed a Flea Beetle attractant. :-(

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Andy" wrote ...
Well, not all veg strictly speaking but I am still getting ( ridge )
cucumbers, have 20+ tomatoes still to ripen, my runner beans which gave up
in late summer have decided to try again for a few more beans, and my
greenhouse sweet peppers are turning red one by one.

I also have left a couple of radicchio heartening up, and my Conference
pears (?slim ones ) still aren't quite ripe. Parsnips need to wait for the
frost, and my Savoy winter cabbages are passable for juveniles though full
of slug holes.

Tomatoes all surcumbed to blight two weeks ago (including Ferline!!), Sarpo
Axona spuds are still growing strongly and flowering with no sign of blight,
"Chertsey" carrots are doing as well as usual (own seed), second flush of
runner beans coming to an end, pumpkins beginning to look sad but "Turks
Turbans" are growing apace, Sprouts doing well (taste nice too) as are the
winter caulis, savoys and "Winter Tundra" cabbages except I noticed some
caterpillar holes, sweet potatoes are all over the place they have grown so
well this year (now I can see the family trait!), mixed lettuce nearly ready
to start using, Romain lettuce is growing well, perhaps time to put in some
more before winter.

I'm jealous. Not paying attention meant all my lettuces - of which I
am a greedy consumer - went direct to seed over the hot dry summer. I
round myself re-seeding some more only around mid August, and that is
still not ready to consumer :-(

The toms are still in production, modest enough crop - they are
outdoors in growbags - but quite tasty after a disappointing start.
Some tend to burst if not consumed within days after picking. It's a
bit odd.

Sprouts are looking promising - I'd say first dinner to be harvested
next week end. Kohlrabi is just right at the moment, and I am starting
today to graze on that. I too have had a modest second wave of beans -
but the crop overall was a tiny fraction of last year's - which filled
my small freezer.

Scorzonera should be harvestable soon - I haven't lifted any yet, so
not sure what to expect - but the leaves look good.

Courgettes have been a disaster - I surmise that I put them in too
shady a spot, or they were unhappy with the very dry summer, or both.
I got about 4 small courgettes out of 3 plants. The plants did not
grow as big as they should, the courgettes took forever to swell to any
consumable size, and many simply rotted faster than they formed.

I got the most amazing crop of berries from 2 gooseberry bushes (about
6 kgs of berries, which I froze, and made jam out of 2 kgs this
weekend), about 2 kgs from a single blackcurrant bush - also delicious
jam made from frozen berries last week end. Not to mention the
mountains of my favourite of all times jam, blackberry, made out of the
3 kgs picked from nearby hedgerows last week end between showers. Yum
yum.

Cat(h)

"Cat(h)" writes

I'm jealous. Not paying attention meant all my lettuces - of which I
am a greedy consumer - went direct to seed over the hot dry summer. I
round myself re-seeding some more only around mid August, and that is
still not ready to consumer :-(

Would cut-and-come-again types be better for late sowing?

The toms are still in production, modest enough crop - they are
outdoors in growbags - but quite tasty after a disappointing start.
Some tend to burst if not consumed within days after picking. It's a
bit odd.

Mine do that if I wash them


I got the most amazing crop of berries from 2 gooseberry bushes (about
6 kgs of berries, which I froze, and made jam out of 2 kgs this
weekend), about 2 kgs from a single blackcurrant bush - also delicious
jam made from frozen berries last week end. Not to mention the
mountains of my favourite of all times jam, blackberry, made out of the
3 kgs picked from nearby hedgerows last week end between showers. Yum
yum.

Masses and masses of mulberries - it will be interesting seeing how many
of the normal berry recipes work well with the much stronger tasting
mulberries.
--
Kay

K wrote:
"Cat(h)" writes

I'm jealous. Not paying attention meant all my lettuces - of which I
am a greedy consumer - went direct to seed over the hot dry summer. I
round myself re-seeding some more only around mid August, and that is
still not ready to consumer :-(

Would cut-and-come-again types be better for late sowing?

I have some that can be cut and will come back. But I sowed whatever I
had - including rocket which seems to grow any time for me, and spinach
- lovely as a salad when young.


The toms are still in production, modest enough crop - they are
outdoors in growbags - but quite tasty after a disappointing start.
Some tend to burst if not consumed within days after picking. It's a
bit odd.

Mine do that if I wash them

I really think it is water related, because it has been extremely wet
here in the last few weeks.



I got the most amazing crop of berries from 2 gooseberry bushes (about
6 kgs of berries, which I froze, and made jam out of 2 kgs this
weekend), about 2 kgs from a single blackcurrant bush - also delicious
jam made from frozen berries last week end. Not to mention the
mountains of my favourite of all times jam, blackberry, made out of the
3 kgs picked from nearby hedgerows last week end between showers. Yum
yum.

Masses and masses of mulberries - it will be interesting seeing how many
of the normal berry recipes work well with the much stronger tasting
mulberries.

Never tasted those.
This week end, I came across some of my second absolute favourite jam:
cloudberry. It's a kind of rubus that grows in sub-arctic bogs.
Delicacy in Sweden and Finland, where I first discovered it. Unless
there is an Ikea store about - and there is none yet in Ireland - it is
extremely difficult to come by the jam :-)


Cat(h)

"K" wrote in reply to
"Cat(h)" who wrote

I'm jealous. Not paying attention meant all my lettuces - of which I
am a greedy consumer - went direct to seed over the hot dry summer. I
round myself re-seeding some more only around mid August, and that is
still not ready to consumer :-(

Would cut-and-come-again types be better for late sowing?


That is the normal wisdom but a few years ago we allowed some mixed lettuce
to go to seed without pulling them up, throughout the winter that part of
the plot had lettuce germinating from the self sown seed and especially red
lettuce. As they grew we replanted into rows and got a very good early crop,
too much actually. Our conclusion is that they are a lot more hardy than one
thinks which is why we are trying Romain lettuce (a favourite and a must for
Cesar Salad) through this winter. I suspect if you have somewhere a bit warm
to germinate seed you could still try some lettuce** for this winter.
**Red type is obviously hardier from what we saw.

--
Regards
Bob H
17mls W. of London.UK