All I seemed to have done this week is, weigh in the harvests as they start to come in thick and fast, get them into storage.
Even with Blight hitting the potatoes we have still harvested 37lb this year
They are now stored in hessian sacks out in the barn, I also have a drawer full in the bottom of the fridge, its far to warm in the house to store them.
Onions and Garlic are also stored in the barn
So far we have had 13lb of onions
I have still got some more to harvest.
Garlic we have harvested at 7lb
Everything gets weighed and recorded in the kitchen diary its the only way I can work out if we are growing enough and what is worth growing and what isn't
this brings me on to Chickpeas
The chickpeas have been drying out since they were harvested
Out in the sunshine today I started sorting them
Well what can I say
Not something I will be bothering with again, considering the time, space and effort needed they are just not worth it.
I did harvest today some more courgettes, 3lb of tomatoes and some Broccoli
I have also cut the Coriander that has gone to seed
I have hung the bunch up in paper bag
keeping the seeds in the bag when they dry out and fall.
I am also drying out the last of the peas
The peas were now finished and these are from the pods that were on the plants, they will be used for growing on next year.
I have got another two rows of peas that are just starting to flower, in a few weeks they will be ready to start harvesting.
I have been saving and growing my own peas for 3 years now.
They are a very good pea, called Telegraph its a heritage variety and grows about 7ft tall, from the one 8ft row we have harvested about 18lb of peas.
Diary
Friday October 29th 1982
Went to view sheep at Elgen Jones in the morning, John picked out 43 ewes at £26 a head, then on to Carmarthen to get John's NHS number and collect electoral roll form, back home had lunch then took Landrover and Ifor Williams trailer to pick up sheep, John paid £1,118 by cheque,
phoned up about hire of ram, coming on Monday,
Molly and Douglas arrived 9-45pm and brought Prince up with them.
mother phoned then I wrote a note and sent anniversary card.
I love your organised harvest Dawn! But bummer about the chick peas. They must need acres of them to fill the tins we buy or the dried packets we buy!!
ReplyDeleteIt would be growing them on a large scale if I depended on them protein, thank goodness there are other ways of getting it, I couldnt be a vegetarian
DeleteYou really have got this self-sufficiency off to a fine art Dawn. Shame about the chick peas - but they are cheap to buy/
ReplyDeleteI am not sure about that but its getting there
DeleteOh Dawn. Amazing, really. I sooooo need to figure out better how much to grow. I am ashamed at my potatoe effort this year and resolve to do so much better next year. chick peas look great but as you say the amount is not worth all that effort.
ReplyDeleteyou are doing fine just need to walk before you can run
DeleteI am in awe of your disciplined approach to your harvest, because at the end of the harvest season you can see in black and white exactly what you have produced. I tend to do this with the produce once it is processed and in my store cupboards!
ReplyDeleteI am keeping records properly for the first time I hope it will make planning for next year easier
DeleteYou have to experiment or you wouldn't learn. Chickpeas are so cheap to buy you've lost nothing by trying. I will be tipping out my sweet potato box next month. Who knows if its going to be successful noise.
ReplyDeleteAt least I know if I had to I could grow them
DeleteFantastic harvest Dawn, and you are so organised! Shame about the Chickpeas
ReplyDeleteit was a fun challenge
DeleteSorry but I'm having a chuckle at the chickpea harvest! Never mind you tried. No onions for us this year for the first time in decades. Just runner beans and tomatoes oh and peppers. The joys of moving home. Dad used to grow all our potatoes, onions, quite a few of the peas, runner beans, carrots, beetroot, turnips, parsnips, cabbages, cauliflower, sprouts, lettuce and tomatoes. We also had strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, apples, pears and plums. Not much was purchased. Lots of hard work though. x
ReplyDeletethere is always next year
DeleteDawn - I'd really appreciate it if you'd include or do a post about your kitchen diary. I understand the concept - you weigh what you grow but how does that translate? Do you have a desired weight for each harvest or do you note from 15 tomato plants you got X amount of weight so next year grow 5 more plants etc etc? Really interested to hear more, thanks! Tracy :)
ReplyDeletewill do a post explaining how I will be using it
DeleteLovely, thank you kindly :)
Delete