Yes, it is that time of year in my garden when I start harvesting my little crops. I have so far I have only had one green bean pod from three plants, so the beans have been eaten and the plants were thrown into the compost bin. Tomatoes are starting to come on, I have had quite a few courgettes so far, the pumpkin and squash plants are thriving to the point of overtaking the garden. Rhubarb along with all the herbs are growing like mad, but they do all year round without me having to tend to them.
I harvested some of my potatoes today, and some a few days ago, and I have to say they taste fantastic. I cannot wait to have some more this evening with my dinner.
Being a country boy I have always grown my own produce and started early in life. I have grown everything from veg to fruit. I have grown a few apple trees and tomato plants from seeds from apples and tomatoes that I bought in the supermarket. I found doing this really easy by soaking the seeds in a solution of hydrogen peroxide and distilled water in order to kill off any bacteria or mold spoors that would end up killing it. I then put the seeds in a sandwich of damp paper towels, then place this inside sandwich bags and put them in the fridge for 6 weeks. This caused the seed to go through a “season” and thus germinate. After moving them from the fridge, I placed them in the larder which was cool for a few weeks, representing spring, then out into pots. A few of the seeds had started to sprout already which was great. I did this with seeds from trees which also worked, but some of them I had to do it backwards, in that I prep them but rather than put them in the fridge first, I put them in a cool part of the house for six weeks, then in the fridge for 4, then straight out to plant. Again, some of them had already sprouted too.
One of my apple trees is about 7 foot tall now, and another is about 4 foot, so all going well, and they were transplanted outside last year so winter did not affect them.
A few photos of the potatoes from the garden, and a small courgette. The photo with the red/pink potatoes you can see something that looks like a green tomato, and yes, it was growing on the potato plants. Every year I have a few on the plants. Needless to say, they are not tomatoes, and CANNOT be eaten as they contain massive amounts of solanine which is poisonous. Potatoes are related to tomatoes, so hence the fruit, but it is quite a freak of nature and the weather to get these little potato fruits.
Mr Knitter 