Friday 9 September 2011

Colourful harvests

The vegetables coming out of my garden now are some of the most colourful ones of the year. Just look at this:


In this basket are spinach, carrots, Runner beans, purple French beans, tomatoes (3 types) and chillies.


I was so pleased with the photos above that I went out into the garden the next day to see what else I could find. This second selection has red and golden beetroot, Swiss Chard and "Little Gem" lettuce (Oh, and some more tomatoes - these ones are "Ferline").




Let it never be said that vegetables are dull !


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P.S.  Chilli update.
Jane made a curry last night, and we took the opportunity to do a taste test on my chillies. We tried a little piece of each of the three - Fuego F1, Hot Portugal, and Cherry Bomb. You know what? They all tasted the same! All three were a lot milder than I had hoped, especially since the first two varieties are ones I bought specifically because they were described as hot. We felt that they were all closer to the Sweet Pepper than they ought to have been. Is it perhaps because we have had a poor Summer and they have not had enough warm sunshine to develop their heat? Still, I've got three more varieties to try soon, so here's hoping that at least one of them will be hot...

16 comments:

  1. They look wonderful! Wish I lived round the corner so I could invite myself to tea! ;oD

    PS - you can see the love that went into their care!

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  2. Miriam; you'd be welcome any time! Though you probably wouldn't get a cucumber sandwich...

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  3. What beautiful and colorful baskets of veggies. Your garden was quite successful!

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  4. Is the problem with the chilli's because you left them on the plant too long? I don't know, I haven't grown them yet, but always thought the smaller the chilli the hotter it will be.

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  5. How do you manage to get such perfect specimens of everything. And what variety are your Runners they look fantastic.

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  6. Very productive Mark! Bummer about the chilli's. I hope you get a hot one in the next batch!

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  7. Now they are magazine pictures Mark - you should send some photos in for publishing! What a fabulous harvest, gosh it's lovely to see all your hard work and straight lines pay off :D

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  8. What a fabulous harvest. The chillies and the tomatoes are so glossy.
    If I leave my chillies on the plant for very long, they get really hot, else they're mild. I wonder if the same would apply to yours.

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  9. Elaine: the Runners are "Aintree". I have grown them successfully several times. They always seem to do well.
    Ali: the other day I won a book in a photo+recipe comp in The Times.
    Anita: I'll try your suggestion. I tend to pick my chillis as soon as they have turned completely red, but perhaps I need to lesve them longer.

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  10. So maybe I could manage to cope with those chillies.

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  11. Wonderful harvests. It's supposed to be good for you to have several different coloured vegetables on your plate, you must be brimming with health.

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  12. I have found that the first chilli's I collect from a plant are sometimes milder than subsequent ones. Also that some chillis on a plant are hotter than others. Why this is I don't know but it may be that your next crop from these plants are hotter.

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  13. Gorgeous as always Mark - My cherry bombs have a little heat but not sweat inducing.

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  14. Colourful harvests indeed! We did a chilli taste test last weekend, and we definitely have heat this year, unlike last. What I did differently was water less. There again I am also growing different varieties so who knows. Hope the rest of your crop are more "exciting".

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